Create a Task Flow Job

Applies To: Windows HPC Server 2008

A task flow job contains a set of tasks that run in a prescribed order. You can establish the order in which tasks are run by defining dependencies between the tasks.

Use the following procedure to create a task flow job using HPC Job Manager.

To create a task flow job

1. In the Actions pane, click New Job.

2. In the left pane of the New Job dialog box, click Job Details, and then provide the following details for the job:

   1. In the Job name text box, type a name for the job.

   2. In the Job template drop-down list, choose a template.

3. In the left pane of the New Job dialog box, click Task List.

4. Add tasks to your job:

   • To create a new task, point to the Add button, click the down arrow, then click Basic Task or Parametric Task. In the task dialog box, provide information for your task, then click Save to add the task to your job and return to the New Job dialog box.

   • To add a saved task to your job, point to the Add button, click the down arrow, then click From Task File. Navigate to the location of the task XML file and click Open to add the task to your job and return to the New Job dialog box.

   In the New Job dialog box, you can see a list of the tasks that you added.

5. To set the order in which the tasks are run, click the Dependency button.

6. In the Task Dependency dialog box, you can organize your tasks into groups. All tasks in a group will complete before any tasks in the next group are started. Initially, all of your tasks are part of Group 1.

   1. Under Groups, click the Add button to add a group. Add as many groups as your job requires. Note that the Remove button only removes the selected grouping level, it does not remove the tasks themselves.

   2. Click one or more tasks, then use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to move the selected tasks between groups.

   3. Click OK to accept the task dependency grouping and return to the Create New Job dialog box.

   Note

   By default, tasks are assigned to Group 1. If you add more tasks to your job, return to the Task Dependency dialog box to ensure that the tasks are ordered as you intended.

7. Use the New Job dialog box to set additional job properties as needed.

8. Click Submit.

Additional considerations

• You can create more complex, non-linear task dependencies using the Command Prompt window, HPC PowerShell, HPC Basic Profile web service, or by using the HPC application programming interfaces (APIs). For more information, see Online Resources.

• To open HPC Job Manager, click Start, point to All Programs, click Microsoft HPC Pack, and then click HPC Job Manager.

Additional references

• Understanding Job Templates

• Understanding Application and Data Files

• Managing Jobs and Tasks

• Understanding Job and Task Properties