| title | Introduction |
|---|---|
| category | Introduction |
| draft | false |
| weight | 100 |
| aliases | /intro/introduction/ |
{{< param product_name >}} is an open-source multi-cloud and edge orchestration platform.
{{< param product_name >}} allows organizations an effortless transition to public cloud and Cloud-Native architecture by enabling them to automate their existing infrastructure alongside cloud native and distributed edge resources. {{< param product_name >}} also allows users to manage different orchestration and automation domains as part of one common CI/CD pipeline.
[Service Composition]({{< relref "working_with/service_composition/_index.md" >}}) Domain-Specific Language (DSL) - enabling modeling of a composite service, containing components from multiple {{< param product_name >}} services and other orchestration domains. It specifically handles the modeling of the relationship between services, handles cascading workflows, shared resources, distributed life-cycle management, and more.
Built-in integration with infrastructure orchestration domains such as [AWS Cloud formation]({{< relref "working_with/official_plugins/Infrastructure/aws.md" >}}), [Azure ARM]({{< relref "working_with/official_plugins/Infrastructure/azure.md" >}}), [Ansible]({{< relref "working_with/official_plugins/Configuration/ansible.md" >}}), and [Terraform]({{< relref "working_with/official_plugins/Orchestration/terraform.md" >}}).
Orchestration of cloud-native [Kubernetes services]({{< relref "working_with/official_plugins/Orchestration/kubernetes.md" >}}) across multiple Kubernetes clusters such as OpenShift, GKE, EKS, AKS, and KubeSpray. {{< param product_name >}} also provides a built-in blueprint to automate cluster setup and configuration.
Built-in Integration with [Jenkins]({{< relref "working_with/integration/jenkins-plugin.md" >}}) and other CI/CD platforms provides a single ‘stop-shop’ for integrating all orchestration domains into the CI/CD pipeline.
{{< param product_name >}} uses intent-based modeling (also known as Infrastructure as Code) where users define the desired state of the system rather than the way to get there. {{< param product_name >}} autogenerates the install, uninstall, heal, and scale workflow from that definition a.k.a [implicit workflow]({{< relref "working_with/workflows/built-in-workflows.md" >}}). {{< param product_name >}} also allows users to define their own custom workflow to interact with the system as part of the day-2 operation. {{< param product_name >}} supports multiple execution methods starting from SSH using Fabric and script as well as using a configuration management platform such as Ansible.
{{< param product_name >}} is designed with ease of operation in mind. Enhancing the level of information the user can get while reducing the level of {{< param product_name >}} expertise required to do so. The new [{{< param cfy_console_name >}}]({{< relref "working_with/console/" >}}) provides a simple way to navigate through the topology view (Intent) via the actual workflow steps that have been executed on a particular deployment instance. Troubleshooting is made easy via a dependency graph and filtering relevant logs that are associated with a specific step in that workflow.
All this functionality is available also through [Command Line Interface]({{< relref "cli" >}}) and [REST API]({{< relref "developer/apis/" >}}).
{{< param product_name >}} provides a highly customized [catalog and portal]({{< relref "developer/writing_widgets/" >}}) framework that is suitable for providing a self-service experience and is tenant aware. It can be easily white-labeled, adding preferred custom widgets and pages and customizing views that each user has based on role.
{{< param product_name >}} provides end [security] ({{< relref "cloudify_manager/architecture/security">}}) of its internal and external resources. This includes support for secret store, encryption of all internal communication channels, as well as multi-tenancy and RBAC support to control who gets access to each of the {{< param product_name >}} managed resources.
The [{{< param cfy_composer_name >}}]({{< relref "developer/composer" >}}) (blueprint designer) provides a simple way to write blueprints. It supports both textual and graphical editing and allows users to switch between these two modes during the same editing session.
Pluggability is one of the core, unique features of {{< param product_name >}}. It provides reusable components abstraction for the system.
You can model anything that you want in descriptive language, for example, IaaS, clouds, configuration management tools, SDN components, NFV components, and so on.
{{< param product_name >}} includes a number of [officially supported out-of-the-box plugins]({{< relref "/working_with/official_plugins/" >}}), but you can also build your own.
{{< param cfy_spire_name >}} was designed to handle large-scale deployment such as multi-site and Edge use cases. {{< param cfy_spire_name >}} is built as a ‘manager of the manager’ architecture where each manager acts as an autonomous unit of scale that controls a subset of the overall resources. {{< param cfy_spire_name >}} provides single-point access to manage all managers as well as maintain their daily operations such as upgrading, healing, and scaling.