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Introduction to FME Flow

Nia Colebrooke
Nia Colebrooke
  • Updated

What is FME Flow?

FME Flow allows you to share, automate, orchestrate, and scale workspaces authored in FME Form. With FME Flow, an unlimited number of users can access and run your workflows, even if they have zero knowledge of FME.

Other key features include…

To see some of these features in action, check out our video, FME Platform Overview: Flow Capabilities.

Where Can I install FME Flow?

You can install FME Flow anywhere… we mean it!

After installation, FME Flow can be scaled both vertically and horizontally. And, you don’t even have to install FME Flow to use and scale it. We also offer FME Flow Hosted as a fully managed, PAAS solution.

Want to give FME Flow a try? Reach out to our sales team for more information or a trial license.

Additional Resources

What Comes With an FME Flow installation?

FME Flow installations have five different components that work together to provide all the features you need for your workflows.

  • Engines: Engines execute your workspaces as jobs. This is the only licensed part of the FME Flow, meaning the engine count determines the product's cost. The number of engines in your installation is equal to the number of jobs you can run at the same time.
  • Core: Routes jobs to the engines.
  • Web Application Server: Provides the web user interface using Apache Tomcat.
    • Linux only - NGINX: An optional reverse proxy included with Linux installations to improve user permissions and make configuring FME Flow for HTTPS easier.
  • Database: Stores configuration and metadata. FME Flow ships with a PostgreSQL database by default, but you can use your own database with a distributed or fault-tolerant installation.
  • System share: A directory you provide for FME Flow to store repositories, logs, and more.

Because engines are the only licensed component of FME Flow, you can install as many core and web application nodes as you want. And, you can add an unlimited number of users to your FME Flow instance.

Do I Have to Manage all This Myself?

If you don’t want to manage FME Flow’s components yourself, you don’t have to! We offer FME Flow Hosted as a fully managed, PAAS solution.

For self-hosted solutions, different installation types vary in complexity, with more complex ones requiring greater knowledge of the components to manage effectively. See the FME Flow installation types section for more information.

We also have extensive documentation available to help you set up and maintain your own environment.

If you’re looking for more hands-on guidance, prioritized support, or consultation regarding installing and maintaining FME Flow, you can take advantage of our network of partners or our premium support offerings.

  • Partner network: Our partners span different countries and industries. Each one offers their own services and unique insights. Leverage the knowledge, experience, and expertise of people who get you. 
  • Premium support: Select a level of premium support that’s right for you to increase the priority of your support tickets, get a technical account manager for a dedicated point of contact, or get 24/7 support.

For general inquiries and for troubleshooting, you can also reach out to sales or submit a support ticket.

FME Flow Installation Types

There are three basic types of FME Flow installations: express, distributed, and fault-tolerant

  • Express, where FME Flow is installed on a single machine for maximum simplicity.
  • Distributed, where FME Flow is installed across multiple machines for easy scaling and more control over its components.
  • Fault Tolerant, where FME Flow is installed with redundant components across multiple machines for high availability and maximum scalability.

Each of these installation types allows you to use remote engines to go wherever your data takes you, and/or implement a disaster recovery strategy for business continuity planning.

For more information on these architectures and how to know what’s best for you, check out our article, A Guide to Choosing Your FME Flow Deployment Architecture.

Additional resources

FME Flow, Data Privacy, and Security

Here at Safe Software, security and data privacy are in everything we do. To learn more about our security posture and request security documentation, such as white papers, check out our trust center.

For security updates or to sign up for security advisory notifications, visit our security webpage.

FME Flow is also built to be secure, with many built-in security features.

Pricing and Sales

To learn more about pricing for FME Flow, please visit our pricing page.

To see success stories in your industry, check out our customer stories page.

To see demos of how FME Flow can extend the reach of your workspaces, see our demos page.

For quotes or to try FME, contact sales.

How do I Use FME Flow Once it’s Installed?

Ready to get started with FME Flow? Check out these resources to hit the ground running.

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As of January 14th, 2026, comments on knowledge base articles have been closed. To make sure questions don’t get missed and to enable more community support, we’ve moved discussions to the FME Community. If you have a question or a comment about this article, please create a new post or create a support ticket.