Installing Apache NiFi on macOS: A Complete Beginner's Guide

  

Apache NiFi is one of the most powerful tools available for building data flows and automating data movement between systems. Before we start learning processors, FlowFiles, relationships, and data pipelines, we first need a working NiFi installation on our local machine.

 

In this guide, we'll install Apache NiFi 2.x on macOS and verify that everything is working correctly.

 

Prerequisites

Before installing Apache NiFi, ensure your Mac has:

 

·      macOS (Intel or Apple Silicon)

·      Internet connection

·      Terminal access

·      Java 21 installed

 

Apache NiFi 2.x requires Java 21 or later.

 

Step 1: Verify Whether Java Is Already Installed

Open Terminal and execute:

java -version

   

Expected output looks like below.

 

$java -version
java version "24.0.1" 2025-04-15
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 24.0.1+9-30)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 24.0.1+9-30, mixed mode, sharing)

   

Make sure JAVA_HOME is set.

 

Step 2: Download Apache NiFi

Navigate to the url https://nifi.apache.org/download/, and download NiFi Standard binaries.

 

Extract the downloaded zip file. Navigate to the extracted folder, you can see following folder hierarchy.

 

$ls
bin		docs		lib		NOTICE		README
conf		extensions	LICENSE		python

   

Step 3: Start Apache NiFi

Navigate to the installation directory and execute following command to start NiFi.

 

bin/nifi.sh start

   

Once the NiFi started, execute following command to check the status.

bin/nifi.sh status

 

$bin/nifi.sh status

2026-06-12 14:06:55,410 INFO [main] org.apache.nifi.bootstrap.Command Application Process [48463] Command Status [SUCCESS] HTTP 200
2026-06-12 14:06:55,411 INFO [main] org.apache.nifi.bootstrap.Command Status: UP

   

Open the url ‘https://localhost:8443’

 

Username and password are available in log files. You can query the logs by executing below command.

grep Generated logs/nifi-app*log

 

$grep Generated logs/nifi-app*log
logs/nifi-app_2026-06-12_13.0.log:Generated Username [81179b1f-84c2-4b93-bb09-8779e6f74f18]
logs/nifi-app_2026-06-12_13.0.log:Generated Password [ZBJO7lRvDrhshXa/EKc+cfe6rDpcOhUL]

   

You will be taken to NiFi homepage.

 

Stop NiFi instance by executing below command.

bin/nifi.sh stop

   

In summary, installing Apache NiFi on macOS is surprisingly straightforward. The only major prerequisite is Java 21. Once NiFi is started, you get access to a powerful web-based platform capable of moving, transforming, routing, and monitoring data across virtually any system. By understanding the installation process and the purpose of the major NiFi directories and commands, you establish a solid foundation for exploring more advanced topics such as FlowFiles, processors, backpressure, clustering, provenance tracking, and enterprise-scale data integration.

 

In the next step of your NiFi journey, we'll explore the NiFi architecture and understand what happens behind the scenes when data enters and flows through a NiFi pipeline.

  

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