SharePoint 2013 Designer Workflow is not started and the initiator is Anonymous

Issue Description

Workflow created using SharePoint designer is not getting started and the initiator is Anonymous.

Recently I ran across an issue where a SharePoint Designer workflow associated with a list was showing the below symptoms. It was a simple list and a basic workflow sending an email. 
The status of the workflow showed :

Initiator : Anonymous and Internal Status : Not started

Screenshot below

How to fix this

1. Make sure that the below services are in Running state

Workflow Manager Backend

Service Bus Message Broker

Service Bus Gateway

Windows Fabric Host Service (FabricHostSvc)

2. Restart the WorkflowServiceBackend service

net stop WorkflowServiceBackend

net start WorkflowServiceBackend

Configure Workflow Manager on a server that is NOT part of the SharePoint 2013 farm

Note: For configuring Workflow Manager on a server that is NOT part of the SharePoint 2013 farm, you must install the Workflow Manager Client on each server in the SharePoint farm before you run the pairing cmdlet.

For downloading and installing the Workflow Manager Client go here

To configure Workflow Manager on a server that is NOT part of the SharePoint 2013 farm and on which communication takes place by using HTTP

1. Log on to each server in the SharePoint Server 2013 farm.

2. Install the Workflow Manager Client on each server in the SharePoint farm.

3. Open the SharePoint Management Shell as an administrator. This is accomplished by right-clicking the SharePoint 2013 Management Shell command and choosing Run as administrator.

4. Run the Register-SPWorkflowService cmdlet. The cmdlet should be run only once and can be run from any of the servers in the SharePoint farm.

Register-SPWorkflowService -SPSite "http://myserver/mysitecollection" -WorkflowHostUri "http://workflow.example.com:12291" -AllowOAuthHttp

To configure Workflow Manager on a server that is NOT part of the SharePoint 2013 farm and on which communication takes place by using HTTPS

1. Determine whether you need to install Workflow Manager certificates in SharePoint 2013.

2. Log on to each server in the SharePoint Server 2013 farm.

3. Install the Workflow Manager Client on each server in the SharePoint farm.

4. Open the SharePoint Management Shell as an administrator. This is accomplished by right-clicking the SharePoint 2013 Management Shell command and choosing Run as administrator.

5. Run the Register-SPWorkflowService cmdlet.

Register-SPWorkflowService -SPSite "https://myserver/mysitecollection" -WorkflowHostUri "https://workflow.example.com:12290"

Reference

Configure Workflow Manager on a server that is part of the SharePoint 2013 farm

To configure Workflow Manager on a server that is part of the SharePoint 2013 farm and on which communication takes place by using HTTP

1. Log on to the computer in the SharePoint Server 2013 farm where Workflow Manager was installed.

2. Open the SharePoint Management Shell as an administrator. This is accomplished by right-clicking the SharePoint 2013 Management Shell and choosing Run as administrator.

3. Run the Register-SPWorkflowService cmdlet.

Register-SPWorkflowService -SPSite "http://myserver/mysitecollection" -WorkflowHostUri "http://workflow.example.com:12291" -AllowOAuthHttp

4. Log on to each server in the SharePoint Server 2013 farm. Each server in the SharePoint Server 2013 farm must have the Workflow Manager Client installed.

5. Install the Workflow Manager Client on each server in the SharePoint farm.

To configure Workflow Manager on a server that is part of the SharePoint 2013 farm and on which communication takes place by using HTTPS

1. Determine if you need to install Workflow Manager certificates in SharePoint.

2. Log into the computer in the SharePoint Server 2013 farm where Workflow Manager was installed.

3. Open the SharePoint Management Shell as an administrator. This is accomplished by right-clicking the SharePoint 2013 Management Shell and choosing Run as administrator.

4. Run the Register-SPWorkflowService cmdlet.

Register-SPWorkflowService -SPSite "https://myserver/mysitecollection" -WorkflowHostUri "https://workflow.example.com:12290"

5. Log on to each server in the SharePoint Server 2013 farm. Each server in the SharePoint Server 2013 farm must have the Workflow Manager Client installed.

6. Install the Workflow Manager Client on each server in the SharePoint farm.

For downloading and installing the Workflow Manager Client go here

Reference

Install and configure workflow for SharePoint Server 2013

1. Install and configure SharePoint Server 2013

2. Install and configure Workflow Manager

3. Configure Workflow Manager to work with the SharePoint Server 2013 farm

The following two key factors needs to be considered before configuring Workflow Manager to work with SharePoint Server 2013.

1. Is Workflow Manager installed on a server that is part of the SharePoint farm?

2. Will communication between Workflow Manager and SharePoint Server 2013 use HTTP or HTTPS?

These factors translate into four scenarios. Each scenario configures a SharePoint Server 2013 farm to communicate and function with the Workflow Manager farm.

1: Workflow Manager is installed on a server that is part of the SharePoint 2013 farm. Communication takes place by using HTTP.

2: Workflow Manager is installed on a server that is part of the SharePoint 2013 farm. Communication takes place by using HTTPS.

3: Workflow Manager is installed on a server that is NOT part of the SharePoint 2013 farm. Communication takes place by using HTTP.

4: Workflow Manager is installed on a server that is NOT part of the SharePoint 2013 farm. Communication takes place by using HTTPS.

Reference