Management console overview

The DataWorks console is a visual platform for environment configuration and resource management. Its management capabilities span two levels: At the global level, you can configure tenant-wide roles and alert rules. At the workspace level, you can configure dedicated computing resources, data sources, and members for each project.

Core concepts and system architecture

Before you begin, understand the core architecture and entity relationships in DataWorks.

Core concept: workspace

A workspace is the fundamental logical unit in DataWorks for project management, permission control, and resource isolation. All activities, such as data development, task O&M, and member management, are performed within a workspace.

Isolation: Nodes, tasks, resources, and members in different workspaces are completely independent.
Container: A workspace acts as a container that hosts functional modules, such as Data Studio and Data Integration, and associates with external entities like data sources, computing resources, and resource groups.

Architecture and entity relationships

The following figure shows the dependencies and relationships among the core entities in DataWorks.

Workspace: Located at the center of the architecture, a workspace is the minimum unit for all operations. Functional modules such as Data Studio, Data Integration, and O&M Center operate within a specific workspace.
Resource group:
Note
A resource group in DataWorks, which provides compute resources for running tasks, is a separately purchased package of computing resources. This is different from the resource group in your Alibaba Cloud Account, which is used for resource isolation and permission management.
- Definition: An entity that provides computing resources (CPU and memory) for task execution. It exists independently of workspaces.
- Relationship: Association is required. As shown on the right, a resource group must be associated with one or more workspaces. This allows Data Integration tasks and periodically scheduled Data Studio tasks within the workspaces to obtain runtime computing resources.
Computing resource:
- Definition: An entity that provides the syntax parsing, compilation, and execution environment for the Data Studio module. Examples include MaxCompute, Hologres, and EMR.
- Relationship: Development dependency. As indicated by the input arrows to the Data Studio module in the figure, you must associate a computing resource with a workspace. This enables developers to write, debug, and submit code, such as SQL and Spark, in the Data Studio module.
Data source:
- Definition: Connection information for accessing external data stores, such as MySQL, Oracle, and OSS.
- Relationship: Integration dependency. As indicated by the input arrows to the Data Integration module in the figure, the source and sink of a Data Integration task depend on pre-configured data sources in the workspace.
Custom image:
- Definition: A packaged environment that contains a specific operating system, runtime environment, and third-party libraries.
- Relationship: Associate as needed. As shown on the left side of the figure, when the personal development environment (Studio) or a specific type of Data Studio node (such as a PyODPS node) requires dependencies beyond the standard environment, like a specific version of a Python library, you can associate a custom image. This is an advanced feature.
Cross-workspace global services:
- As shown at the top of the figure, modules such as Data Governance and Data Map operate above the workspace level. They provide tenant-level global data views and management capabilities. Their permission systems are independent of individual workspaces.

Prerequisites

Permission control: If you cannot view or perform certain operations, contact your Alibaba Cloud Account owner or an administrator to confirm that you have the required permissions. For more information, see Manage member permissions.
Region isolation: DataWorks workspaces and their associated resources are isolated by region. Before any operation, select the correct region where your target resources are located in the top navigation bar of the console.

Get started

If you are configuring DataWorks for the first time, follow this workflow to set up a complete, ready-to-use environment.

Important

Make sure you are using an Alibaba Cloud Account or a RAM user with the AliyunDataWorksFullAccess policy attached. Otherwise, contact an administrator to grant permissions to a RAM user.

1. Create a workspace

Log on to the DataWorks console. In the top navigation bar, select the target region. In the left-side navigation pane, click Workspace, and then click Create Workspace. Select a workspace mode based on your requirements. We recommend using Standard Mode for complete isolation among development, testing, and production environments.

For more information, see Create a workspace.

2. Configure and associate a resource group

Create or purchase a resource group: In the left-side navigation pane of the console, click Resource Group. Purchase a resource group that meets your task workload requirements, such as a serverless resource group.
Associate the resource group with a workspace: This step is a prerequisite for core features such as Data Integration, task scheduling, and DataService Studio to function correctly.

3. Add members to the workspace

Go to the workspace list. In the Actions column of the target workspace, click Details to go to the workspace details page.
Add project team members (RAM users) and grant them appropriate workspace-level roles, such as Workspace Administrator, Developer, and O&M. This enables collaborative development and permission control.
For more information, see Add members to a workspace.

4. Associate a computing resource

On the workspace details page, go to the Computing Resource list and associate an existing computing resource instance, such as a MaxCompute project, with the current workspace. This step is a prerequisite for Data Studio.

5. Add a data source

On the workspace details page, click Data Sources and then click Add Data Source. Configure the connection information for the source or sink databases for data synchronization, and then test the connectivity.

After completing these five steps, your DataWorks workspace is ready for development and operations. You can now start working in Data Integration and Data Studio.

Management features

Overview and navigation

The left-side navigation pane of the console provides access to all management features, including the workspace list, resource group list, image management, and purchased resources and services. Log on to the DataWorks console. By default, you are redirected to the Overview page. This page provides quick access to core use cases, your frequently used workspaces, product updates, and other information.

Global-level configurations

The following configurations are at the tenant level and apply to all workspaces in the current region.

In the navigation pane, choose More > Management Center, or click the Manage button in the Actions column of a workspace to go to the Management Center.

View the tenant's Alerts, Tenant Members and Roles, and Extension.

Feature	Description and core actions
Alert Settings	View and configure DataWorks alert contacts and set alert quotas. • Alert resources: View the usage of alert resources (SMS messages and phone calls) and set a daily alert limit. After the limit is reached, no more alerts are sent. • Alert contacts: Configure contacts to receive task alerts. You can synchronize contacts from RAM or manually add them. Contacts must be active to receive alerts. For more information, see View and configure alert contacts.
Tenant Members and Roles	• Tenant members: Configure members who have permissions on global modules such as Data Security Guard and Data Map. • Tenant roles: View or customize global roles and their permissions. For more information, see Permission control for global services.
Extensions	Enable or configure extension applications from the open platform to validate and control development and O&M workflows. For more information, see Extensions.

Workspace-level configurations

The following configurations apply only to the current workspace.

Feature	Description and core actions
Workspace Settings	Manage basic properties and security settings of the workspace, such as whether to allow the downloading of `SELECT` results. For more information, see Configure a workspace.
Data sources	Centrally manage the connection information about the sources and sinks that are used for data synchronization in the current workspace. For more information, see Data source management.
Computing Resource	Associate and manage the computing resources used for data development in the workspace, such as MaxCompute, Hologres, and AnalyticDB. For more information, see Manage computing resources.
Cluster Management	Register and manage self-managed CDH, CDP, and EMR clusters, and configure authentication files and account mappings. This feature is visible only for workspaces that do not use the new version of Data Studio.
Workspace Members and Roles	View the permissions of predefined roles, or customize new roles and configure their functional permissions and role mappings for computing resources. You can also add members to or remove members from the workspace and assign them predefined or custom workspace-level roles. For more information, see Manage permissions on workspace-level services.

Workspace management

In the left-side navigation pane of the console, click Workspace to view all workspaces under the current tenant in a specific region. You can manage the workspaces that you have joined or create new workspaces.

Note

A RAM user can view only the workspaces that they have joined. To allow a RAM user to view a workspace, you must add the user as a workspace member. For more information, see Add members to a workspace.

Area	Feature	Description	Related documentation
1	Select region	Select the DataWorks region. The list of workspaces varies based on the selected region.	-
2	Create workspace	Creates a DataWorks workspace.	Configure a workspace.
3	View basic workspace information	Displays basic information about the workspace, such as its mode and administrator. Key information includes: Workspace template: Supports All Features and OpenLake workspaces. Mode: The current mode of the workspace. DataWorks supports Basic Mode and Standard Mode. We recommend that you use Standard Mode for production development. Administrator: The administrator of the workspace. On the Management Center > Workspace > Workspace Members page, the administrator can add RAM users to the workspace. Resource group ID: The ID of the resource group to which your current workspace is assigned. This is the Default Resource Group that you created in Alibaba Cloud Resource Management. Important The resource group displayed here is a mechanism for managing and grouping resources under your Alibaba Cloud Account to simplify resource organization and authorization. It is a different concept from the resource group required for running tasks in DataWorks. Make sure to distinguish between them. For more information about Alibaba Cloud resource groups, see What is Resource Management?.	For information about the differences between the two workspace modes, see Workspace modes. You can upgrade a Basic Mode workspace to Standard Mode. For more information, see Upgrade a workspace mode. Add members to a workspace and manage their roles and permissions.
4	Workspace-related operations	View key metrics for the current workspace, quickly access specific modules, or perform workspace-related operations. Details: View data about instance runs from the previous business date, as well as issues requiring governance, models, and metrics. Quick access: Quickly navigate to functional modules related to the current workspace. Manage: Quickly navigate to the Management Center to configure the workspace and manage members, roles, data sources, clusters, and extensions. Create data source: Quickly create a data source for subsequent tasks such as data integration and data development. Associate computing resource: Associate a computing resource with the workspace for subsequent big data development tasks. Delete workspace: This action cannot be undone. Disable workspace: If you no longer need DataWorks, you can disable the workspace. After a workspace is disabled, its tasks are no longer automatically scheduled. However, associated computing resources may remain active and continue to incur fees.	Configure a workspace Management console overview Manage data sources Manage computing resources Billing of a disabled service
5	Edition upgrade	Upgrade your current DataWorks edition. Higher-end editions provide more features. The available features vary by edition. Editions are activated at the region level. After you purchase an edition, all workspaces in the current region can use its features.	For more information about the differences between editions, see Features of different DataWorks editions.
5	Purchase exclusive resource group	You can purchase a serverless resource group. After the purchase, you can click Resource Group in the left-side navigation pane to view details of the resource group.	Manage resource groups

AI and agent

The AI menu group in the left-side navigation pane provides centralized access to AI and Agent-related features.

Feature	Description and core actions
Data Agent	Provides an AI agent chat experience in a dedicated full-page view, with built-in DataWorks Skills that cover scenarios such as data integration, data development, data governance, and data security. Click to go to the Data Agent conversation page. For more information, see New Data Agent.
AI assistant service	The AI assistant service supports direct conversations from the DataWorks console and integrates with IM platforms such as DingTalk and Lark. You can perform tasks like alert analysis, task diagnosis, code modification, task O&M, and data governance by using natural language in your IM client. For more information, see Overview of AI assistant service.
LLM service	Provides efficient deployment and easy invocation of large language models (LLMs). You can deploy models on DataWorks serverless resource groups and call them directly in Data Integration and Data Studio tasks. For more information, see Manage LLM services.
Seat management	Use the seat management tab on the Data Agent settings page to centrally manage seat allocation and usage for Data Agent. For more information, see Seat management.

Resource groups

In the left-side navigation pane, click Resource Group. You can purchase required resources or view details of purchased resources in the corresponding region and perform management operations.

Area	Feature	Description	Related documentation
1	Create resource group	Creates a serverless resource group.	Manage resource groups
2	View basic resource group information	View basic information about a resource group, such as its running status, expiration time, and usage. Area 2, resource group Status Starting: The resource group is starting up after purchase. Please wait. Running: The resource group is running normally and can execute tasks. Updating: The resource group is undergoing a change, such as scaling. Note The update process takes some time to complete. Please wait. Expired: If a subscription resource group is not renewed by its expiration date, its status changes to Expired and it can no longer be used. If it is not renewed within a specific grace period, its record is removed from the console. Frozen: A pay-as-you-go resource group is automatically frozen if it remains unused for seven consecutive days. Area 3, resource group usage: If resource group usage is too high, task performance may degrade. Check the resource consumption of specific tasks and optimize any inefficient tasks.	Use serverless resource groups Manage renewals for subscription products Billing and overdue payments Expiration and renewal
3	View basic resource group information
4	Basic resource group operations	View detailed information about a resource group and perform related change operations. Details: View basic information, resource usage, scheduling concurrency usage, and usage across modules such as Data Integration, data computing, DataService Studio, scheduling, and personal development environments. Network settings: If you need to access a special network environment, you must configure the network for the resource group. Before you configure the network, select a network connectivity solution and follow the instructions in its documentation. Associate with workspace: After you purchase a resource group, you must associate it with a specific workspace to use it in that workspace. You must have the ModifyResourceGroup permission to change its workspace association. For information about how to grant permissions, see Console-level fine-grained permission control: Custom policies. More operations: You can click to perform operations on the resource group, such as Scale Out, Scale In, Renew, Unsubscribe, Quota Management, Change billing method, and Change Concurrency Limit for Data Scheduling. Note Changes to a resource group take some time to process. Please wait.	Use serverless resource groups Manage renewals for subscription products Overview of network connection solutions

Image management

In the left-side navigation pane, click Image Management to view official DataWorks images. If a task that runs on a serverless resource group requires a specific development environment, such as third-party library dependencies, you can create a custom image that integrates the necessary development packages and dependencies. Then, when you run the task, you can specify the serverless resource group as the execution resource and specify the custom image as the runtime environment. For more information, see Custom images.

Purchased resources and services

In the left-side navigation pane, click Purchased Resources and Services. On this page, you can view details of your subscription and pay-as-you-go DataWorks services and resource groups. You can also view the corresponding Bills and Billing rules, or perform operations such as Renew, Upgrade, Downgrade, and Unsubscribe. For related documentation, see View bill details and Billing overview.