# Install apache-flink with Homebrew, Nix

Scalable batch and stream data processing. Version 2.3.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-25. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#flink.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:apache-flink
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install apache-flink
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#flink
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/fl/flink/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:apache-flink
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 2.3.0
- **Source summary:** Scalable batch and stream data processing
- **Homepage:** <https://flink.apache.org/>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/apache/flink>
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-25T22:55:51Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- flink (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 2.3.0
## Project history and usage

Apache Flink is a distributed stream and batch processing engine for stateful computations over bounded and unbounded data streams, with APIs ranging from low-level DataStream jobs to Table API and SQL.

### Project history

Flink grew out of the Stratosphere research project, which began in 2009 around TU Berlin and related European data-management research groups. The project entered the Apache Incubator in April 2014, released 0.6-incubating later that year, and graduated as an Apache top-level project in December 2014.

The ASF top-level announcement framed Flink as a system that deliberately combined streaming/pipelining and batch processing techniques. From early on, the project included its own serialization, memory management, and cost-based query optimization pieces, which made it more than just a wrapper around MapReduce-era execution.

### Adoption history

Flink's early adoption story centered on companies experimenting with or adopting it for production data infrastructure. ASF's 2014 announcement quoted ResearchGate, Spotify, and Amadeus discussing production or exploratory use, while noting more than 70 contributors by the time of graduation.

Over time, Flink became a common choice for event-time processing, exactly-once state, streaming SQL, continuous ETL, and event-driven applications. Its ecosystem later externalized many connectors into separate Apache repositories, which matters for packages because the main flink CLI is only the core of a broader connector and deployment stack.

### How it is used

The Homebrew package exposes the flink command, which developers use to run and inspect jobs, interact with local clusters, and submit work to configured deployments. Apache's current stable docs describe Flink as designed for common cluster environments, in-memory speed, and scale.

Starting with Flink 2.0, Apache's docs say the supported configuration file is config.yaml in the conf directory. That makes $FLINK_HOME/conf/config.yaml the package-level config location for the current formula.

### Why package nerds care

Flink is package-nerd material because it is both a developer CLI and a distributed runtime. A local install needs Java, shell scripts, a config directory, plugin/connectors, logs, and often a clear boundary between the package's $FLINK_HOME and the user's deployment configuration.

It is also one of the major Java data engines where versioning matters deeply: jobs, connectors, state formats, savepoints, and cluster versions are coupled enough that packaging the latest major line and a versioned 1.x line is practically useful.

### Timeline

- 2009: The Stratosphere research project begins.
- 2014: Flink enters the Apache Incubator.
- 2014: Apache Flink 0.6-incubating is released.
- 2014: Flink graduates as an Apache top-level project.
- 2026: Current docs describe config.yaml as the Flink 2.x configuration file.

### Related projects

- Stratosphere is Flink's research-project predecessor.
- Apache Kafka, Hadoop YARN, Kubernetes, Apache Paimon, Flink CDC, and the externalized Flink connector repositories are common adjacent projects.

### Sources

- <https://github.com/apache/flink>
- <https://incubator.apache.org/projects/flink.html>
- <https://news.apache.org/foundation/entry/the_apache_software_foundation_announces69>
- <https://nightlies.apache.org/flink/flink-docs-stable/docs/deployment/config/>


## Security Notes

No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for apache-flink. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.



## Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.


## Configuration files

- Unix: $FLINK_HOME/conf/config.yaml
## Other Package-Manager Records

- Nix - flink: installed executable or alias match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/fl/flink/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/apache-flink.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/apache-flink.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph