Step 1: Generate a Base Node XML File

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Applies To: Windows Server 2008

A base node XML file can be quickly generated to simplify the creation process of the node XML file that you will use to add compute nodes to your cluster. That way you will have an XML file that you can use as a starting point, instead of having to create a node XML file from scratch. You can then use this base node XML file to add information about all of the compute nodes that you will be adding to your HPC cluster.

The base node XML file is generated on the head node by using HPC Cluster Manager to export a node XML file of a subset of the compute nodes that you will be adding to your HPC cluster. Only a subset of the compute nodes is needed to generate the base node XML file, but you can include all of them in the base node XML file if you prefer. The only limitation is that you will need to turn on the computers that will be included in the base node XML file, so you might prefer to only turn on a subset of them and then add the rest when you edit the base node XML file.

To generate a base node XML file

  1. On the head node, open HPC Cluster Manager. Click Start, point to All Programs, click Microsoft HPC Pack, and then click HPC Cluster Manager.

  2. To set the Windows Deployment Services mode to respond to all PXE requests:

    1. In the menu bar, click Options, and then click Deployment Settings. The Deployment Settings dialog box appears.

    2. Click Respond to all PXE requests, and then click OK.

  3. Turn on the computers that you want to include in the base node XML file.

  4. In Node Management, in the Navigation Pane, under Nodes, under By State, click Unknown. The new compute nodes will be listed in the views pane as they contact the head node during PXE boot. They will be named using the naming series that you specified when you configured the head node.

    The following image shows an example of a group of new compute nodes listed under the Unknown state.

    A list of unknown nodes

  5. Select all of the new compute nodes that are listed in the views pane.

  6. In the Actions pane, click Export Node XML File. The Save As dialog box opens.

  7. To save the node XML file, browse to the folder where you want to save it, type a file name for it, and then click Save.

  8. Turn off the computers that you turned on in step 3 of this procedure. They do not need to be turned on again until after you have finished editing the node XML file and you are ready to add them to your HPC cluster.

  9. While all compute nodes are still selected in the views pane, in the Actions pane, click Delete, and then click Yes to confirm that you want to delete them from the cluster database. These nodes will be added back to the database when you import the final node XML file.

The base node XML that you generated will list all of the compute nodes that you selected to include in it, with some basic information for each node. For example, the node XML file for the four compute nodes shown in the previous image will look similar to this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Nodes xmlns:xsi="https://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="https://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns="https://schemas.microsoft.com/HpcNodeConfigurationFile/2007/12">
  <Node
    Name="COMPUTENODE1"
    Domain="CONTOSO"
    MachineGuid="{12345678-75e6-11dd-bbda-5ac28fca0021}">
    <MacAddress>43215AC28FCA</MacAddress>
    <Tag>ComputeNodes</Tag>
  </Node>
  <Node
    Name="COMPUTENODE2"
    Domain="CONTOSO"
    MachineGuid="{12345678-75e6-11dd-bbda-5ac28f7e0021}">
    <MacAddress>43215AC28F7E</MacAddress>
    <Tag>ComputeNodes</Tag>
  </Node>
  <Node
    Name="COMPUTENODE3"
    Domain="CONTOSO"
    MachineGuid="{12345678-75e6-11dd-bbda-5ac3c59e0021}">
    <MacAddress>43215AC3C59E</MacAddress>
    <Tag>ComputeNodes</Tag>
  </Node>
  <Node
    Name="COMPUTENODE4"
    Domain="CONTOSO"
    MachineGuid="{12345678-75e7-11dd-bbda-5ac1b7ac0021}">
    <MacAddress>43215AC1B7AC</MacAddress>
    <Tag>ComputeNodes</Tag>
  </Node>
</Nodes>