Create a subscription or pay-as-you-go workspace - Realtime Compute for Apache Flink

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

An Alibaba Cloud account. If you don't have one, register first.
(If using a RAM user or RAM role) The required permissions to access the Realtime Compute for Apache Flink console. See Permission management.
An OSS bucket in the same region where you plan to create the workspace. The bucket must use the Standard storage class. For cross-zone workspaces, the bucket must use the Zone-redundant Storage class. See Activate OSS if you haven't activated OSS.

OSS bucket requirements

Review these requirements before selecting an OSS bucket during workspace configuration.

The OSS bucket cannot be changed after the workspace is created.
Do not set versioning or compliance retention policies on the attached OSS bucket. These policies can prevent Flink jobs from running correctly.
- If versioning is already enabled, configure a lifecycle rule to periodically clean up delete markers and unneeded historical versions. This reduces storage costs and improves OSS performance. See Use a lifecycle rule based on the last modified time to reduce storage costs when versioning is used.
- If versioning is disabled, do not set a purge policy for Flink-related folders: artifacts, flink-jobs, flink-savepoints, sql-artifacts, plan, and flink-sessionclusters. A purge policy on these folders deletes Flink state files and causes jobs to fail.
When activating a workspace with an OSS bucket, ensure the bucket uses the Zone-redundant Storage class to ensure zone-redundant high availability. Otherwise, if a zone becomes unavailable, state data cannot be accessed, and Flink cannot guarantee stateful job startup.
If the storage type is OSS bucket, disable the Malicious File Detection SDK in Security Center. Enabling this detection triggers OSS traffic control and causes Flink jobs to get stuck in the initialization state.

Billing notes

Creating a Flink workspace involves other Alibaba Cloud services, including Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), OSS, and monitoring. For the full list of fees, see Billing items.

Each Flink development console and its components require 2 CUs of management resources. These are configured automatically.

Activate a subscription workspace

Important

To activate more than 1,000 CUs at a time, you must submit a ticket.

For subscription billing details, see Subscription.

Log on to the Realtime Compute for Apache Flink console.
Next to Stream Compute Flink, click Buy Now.
If this is your first purchase, grant Flink access to the required cloud resources. Click Go to RAM for Authorization. On the Resource Access Authorization page, click Agree to Authorization. Flink is then granted the required permissions.

On the purchase page, configure the workspace.

Category	Configuration item	Description	Example
Basic configurations	Billing method	Set this to Subscription. For more information about billing, see Subscription.	Subscription
	Duration	Select the subscription duration.	1 Month
	Auto-renewal	If you do not select Enable, you can later modify the renewal policy in the Alibaba Cloud Management Console by choosing Expenses > Renewal Management.	-
	Processor architecture	The Intel x86 and YiTian ARM architectures are available to meet your requirements. Note Currently, the YiTian ARM architecture is supported only for subscription workspaces in the China (Beijing), China (Ulanqab), and China (Hangzhou) regions. The actual options on the console prevail.	Intel x86 architecture
	Region	We recommend that you select the same region as your upstream and downstream storage.	Beijing
Network configurations	Deployment mode	This option is available only for some subscription workspaces that use the Intel x86 architecture. The supported deployment modes are as follows: Single zone (cost-effective): Flink automatically allocates the optimal compute zone in the selected region and connects the resource inventory of the zone. This enables imperceptible resource scheduling across zones and improves elastic scaling. Cross-zone (high business availability): This mode provides zone-redundant high availability. When the zone where a cross-zone project job is running fails, the job is automatically rescheduled to another stable zone in the same region to resume. This effectively prevents service interruptions caused by single-zone failures and ensures job continuity and high availability. Important To ensure end-to-end high availability, you must make sure that your upstream and downstream systems are also highly available. If you do not set Deployment Mode to Cross-zone during activation, you can enable zone-redundant high availability later using other methods. However, you must ensure that the workspace has sufficient cross-zone CU resources. For more information, see Methods 2 and 3 in Zone-redundant high availability.	-
	CU information	Deployment mode is Single Zone: You only need to configure Single Zone compute resources. If the deployment mode is Cross-zone, you can select or deselect Enable Single-zone Hybrid Purchase as needed. If you clear this option, you only need to configure cross-zone compute resources. If you select this option, you must set the Compute Resource Quota for both single-zone and cross-zone resources. Note Each Realtime Compute for Apache Flink development console and its necessary components require an additional 2 CUs of management resources. These resources are configured automatically. For more information, see Billing items.	-
	VPC	Select a VPC in the corresponding region. You cannot change the VPC after the workspace is activated. To create a VPC, see Create a VPC and a vSwitch. If the target upstream and downstream storage is in a VPC, the Flink workspace must be in the same VPC. Only the 192.168.0.0/16, 172.16.0.0/12, and 10.0.0.0/8 standard private CIDR blocks and their subnets are supported.	flink-test-vpc
	vSwitch	If Deployment Mode is set to Cross-zone, you must select two vSwitches in different zones. Each workspace requires two to three IP addresses. You must select at least one vSwitch for each zone. Plan your CIDR blocks based on the scale of your Flink jobs. Note Only created vSwitches that are in the target VPC and in zones supported by Flink are displayed. You can modify the vSwitches after activation. The zone of the selected vSwitch is independent of the zone where the job runs. The vSwitch is used only for network connectivity to ensure that your jobs can access network resources. Do not modify or delete the configurations of these vSwitches. This can affect network connectivity and normal job operation.	flinktest
Workspace configuration	Workspace name	The name must start with a lowercase letter and can contain lowercase letters, digits, and hyphens (-). It cannot end with a hyphen. The name must be 1 to 60 characters in length. Important The workspace name must be globally unique, including across workspaces created by other users. If the name is a duplicate, the system prompts that the workspace name already exists. You must change the name. The name cannot be changed after the workspace is activated.	flinktestnamespace
Storage configuration	OSS storage	The OSS Bucket is used to store information such as system checkpoints, job snapshots, logs, and JAR packages. For more information about the content stored in each folder of the OSS Bucket, see File management. Important When you attach an OSS Bucket, see Notes. If Deployment Mode is set to Cross-zone, the OSS configuration is verified. Only OSS Buckets of the Zone-redundant Storage class are displayed. You cannot change the OSS Bucket after the Flink workspace is created.	flink-test-oss
Tags and tag values		A tag consists of a tag key and a tag value. Tags identify cloud resources. They help you classify, search for, and aggregate cloud resources that have the same characteristics from different dimensions. This simplifies resource management. You can manage tags in a centralized manner in Tag Management.	-
Monitoring service	Monitoring service	You can select Free Monitoring Service or Pay-as-you-go Prometheus Service. For a comparison of their features, see Feature comparison between Cloud Monitor and ARMS alerting. Free Monitoring Service: After you create the Flink workspace, Cloud Monitor provides basic monitoring and alerting capabilities. For more information, see Free trial. Prometheus Service: After you create the Flink workspace, ARMS is automatically activated to provide commercial Prometheus monitoring and alerting features. For more information about billing, see Billing of Prometheus Service.	Free Monitoring Service

Select Terms of Service, click Buy Now, and complete the payment.
After payment, click Management Console to view the workspace. Workspace creation is typically complete within 5–10 minutes.

Activate a pay-as-you-go workspace

Important

To activate more than 1,000 CUs at a time, submit a ticketsubmit a ticket first.

For pay-as-you-go billing details, see Pay-as-you-go.

Log on to the Realtime Compute for Apache Flink console.
Next to Stream Compute Flink, click Buy Now.
(First purchase only) Grant Flink access to the required cloud resources. Click Go to RAM for Authorization. On the Resource Access Authorization page, click Agree to Authorization. Skip this step if you have purchased before.

On the purchase page, configure the workspace.

Category	Configuration item	Description	Example
Basic configurations	Billing method	Set this to Pay-as-you-go. For more information about billing, see Pay-as-you-go.	Pay-as-you-go
Basic configurations	Region	We recommend that you select the same region as your upstream and downstream storage.	Beijing
Network configurations	VPC	Select a VPC in the corresponding region. You cannot change the VPC after the workspace is activated. To create a VPC, see Create a VPC and a vSwitch. If the target upstream and downstream storage is in a VPC, the Flink workspace must be in the same VPC. Only the 192.168.0.0/16, 172.16.0.0/12, and 10.0.0.0/8 standard private CIDR blocks and their subnets are supported.	flink-test-vpc
Network configurations	vSwitch	If Deployment Mode is set to Cross-zone, you must select two vSwitches in different zones. Each workspace requires two to three IP addresses. You must select at least one vSwitch for each zone. Plan your CIDR blocks based on the scale of your Flink jobs. Note Only created vSwitches that are in the target VPC and in zones supported by Flink are displayed. You can modify the vSwitches after activation. The zone of the selected vSwitch is independent of the zone where the job runs. The vSwitch is used only for network connectivity to ensure that your jobs can access network resources. Do not modify or delete the configurations of these vSwitches. This can affect network connectivity and normal job operation.	flinktest
Workspace configuration	Workspace name	The name must start with a lowercase letter and can contain lowercase letters, digits, and hyphens (-). It cannot end with a hyphen. The name must be 1 to 60 characters in length. Important The workspace name must be globally unique, including across workspaces created by other users. If the name is a duplicate, the system prompts that the workspace name already exists. You must change the name. The name cannot be changed after the workspace is activated.	flinktestnamespace
Workspace configuration	Compute resource Quota Limit	The default value is 1,000 CUs. You can change this value. The maximum value is 9,999,999. Note Each Realtime Compute for Apache Flink development console and its necessary components require an additional 2 CUs of management resources. These resources are configured automatically. For more information, see Billing items.	100
Storage configuration	OSS storage	The OSS Bucket is used to store information such as system checkpoints, job snapshots, logs, and JAR packages. For more information about the content stored in each folder of the OSS Bucket, see File management. Important When you attach an OSS Bucket, see Notes. If Deployment Mode is set to Cross-zone, the OSS configuration is verified. Only OSS Buckets of the Zone-redundant Storage class are displayed. You cannot change the OSS Bucket after the Flink workspace is created.	flink-test-oss
Tags and tag values		A tag consists of a tag key and a tag value. Tags identify cloud resources. They help you classify, search for, and aggregate cloud resources that have the same characteristics from different dimensions. This simplifies resource management. You can manage tags in a centralized manner in Tag Management.	-
Monitoring service	Monitoring service	You can select Free Monitoring Service or Pay-as-you-go Prometheus Service. For a comparison of their features, see Feature comparison between Cloud Monitor and ARMS alerting. Free Monitoring Service: After you create the Flink workspace, Cloud Monitor provides basic monitoring and alerting capabilities. For more information, see Free trial. Prometheus Service: After you create the Flink workspace, ARMS is automatically activated to provide commercial Prometheus monitoring and alerting features. For more information about billing, see Billing of Prometheus Service.	Free Monitoring Service

Select Terms of Service, click Buy Now, and complete the payment.
After payment, click Management Console to view the workspace. Workspace creation is typically complete within 5–10 minutes.

What to do next

After the workspace is running, here are common next steps.

Task	How to do it
View workspace details	In the Realtime Compute for Apache Flink console, click More > Workspace Details for the target workspace to view the workspace name, ID, OSS bucket, VPC name and ID, and vSwitch.
Add elastic computing resources	Add pay-as-you-go resources on top of a subscription workspace to handle peak loads without committing to additional reserved capacity. See Hybrid billing.
Learn the key concepts	Understand the hierarchy of workspaces, projects, and jobs before developing your first job.
Set up permissions	RAM users and roles need both RAM permissions (for console access) and project permissions (for job development and O&M).
Add a project	A project is the basic unit for managing Flink jobs. A default project is created automatically: named `workspace-name-default` for single-zone workspaces, or `workspace-name-default-ha` for cross-zone workspaces. Create additional projects to isolate resources and permissions across teams.
Develop and manage jobs	In the Actions column, click Console to open the Flink development console. For operations management, see Operations management. Flink includes built-in connectors for common upstream and downstream systems. See Supported connectors.
Adjust resources	Scale the compute resources allocated to workspaces and projects.
Switch billing methods	Switch between pay-as-you-go and subscription at any time.
Modify a vSwitch	Add or change vSwitches to resolve job startup failures caused by insufficient IP addresses.
Release resources	Click More > Release Resources for the target workspace. After resources are released, the workspace stops billing and the associated ARMS resources are released.

Realtime Compute for Apache Flink:Create a workspace