Appendix 4: Job Template Properties

Applies To: Windows HPC Server 2008

You can use the Job Template Editor in HPC Cluster Manager to add properties to a job template. Some of these properties are added to new templates when you create them using the Generate Job Template Wizard.

To add properties to a job template using the Job Template Editor

  1. If HPC Cluster Manager is not already open on the head node, open it. Click Start, point to All Programs, click Microsoft HPC Pack, and then click HPC Cluster Manager.

  2. In Configuration, click Job Templates.

  3. In the Views pane, click the job template to which you want to add properties.

  4. In the Actions pane, click Edit. The Job Template Editor appears.

  5. To add a property, click Add, and then click the property that you want to add from the list of available properties. For more information about each job template property, see Available job template properties.

  6. Repeat the previous step for all properties that you want to add to the job template. After you are done adding properties, click Save.

Available job template properties

The following table lists all the job properties that you can set in a job template. The properties that you set in a job template constrain the properties that a cluster user can choose when submitting a job to the cluster using that template.

Job Property Description

Auto Calculate Maximum

If True is selected as the only valid value, the cluster user cannot specify the maximum number of resources (cores, sockets, or nodes) assigned to the job, and resources will be automatically calculated based on the tasks in the job. If False is selected as the only valid value, the cluster user must specify the maximum number of resources assigned to the job. If True and False are selected as valid values, the cluster user can choose to specify the maximum number of resources, or to have them automatically calculated.

Auto Calculate Minimum

If True is selected as the only valid value, the cluster user cannot specify the minimum number of resources (cores, sockets, or nodes) assigned to the job, and resources will be automatically calculated based on the tasks in the job. If False is selected as the only valid value, the cluster user must specify the minimum number of resources assigned to the job. If True and False are selected as valid values, the cluster user can choose to specify the minimum number of resources, or to have them automatically calculated.

Exclusive

If True is selected as the only valid value, no other jobs can run on a compute node at the same time as the job being submitted by the cluster user. If False is selected as the only valid value, the cluster user cannot select this property when submitting the job. If True and False are selected as valid values, the cluster user can select or unselect this property when submitting the job.

Fail on Task Failure

If True is selected as the only valid value, the failure of any task in the job that is submitted by the cluster user will cause the entire job to fail immediately. If False is selected as the only valid value, the cluster user cannot select this property when submitting the job. If True and False are selected as valid values, the cluster user can select or unselect this property when submitting the job.

Job Name

Specifies a list of names that the cluster user can select for the job. If you set this property, the cluster user cannot specify a job name that is not on the list.

Licenses

Specifies a list of licenses that the cluster user can select for the job. If you set this property, the cluster user cannot specify a license that is not on the list. Licenses in this list can be validated by a job activation filter that is defined by the cluster administrator.

Maximum Cores

Specifies a range of values for the maximum number of cores that the cluster user can assign to the job. This property has no effect if any of these conditions is true:

  • The Auto Calculate Maximum property has been added to the template with True selected as the only valid value

  • The Unit Type property has been added to the template and the list of the type of resources that can be assigned to the job does not include Core

  • The user selects a different type of resource to assign to the job (that is, sockets or nodes)

Maximum Nodes

Specifies a range of values for the maximum number of cluster nodes that the cluster user can assign to the job. This property has no effect if any of these conditions is true:

  • The Auto Calculate Maximum property has been added to the template with True selected as the only valid value

  • The Unit Type property has been added to the template and the list of the type of resources that can be assigned to the job does not include Node

  • The user selects a different type of resource to assign to the job (that is, sockets or cores)

Maximum Sockets

Specifies a range of values for the maximum number of sockets that the cluster user can assign to the job. This property has no effect if:

  • The Auto Calculate Maximum property has been added to the template with True selected as the only valid value

  • The Unit Type property has been added to the template and the list of the type of resources that can be assigned to the job does not include Socket

  • The user selects a different type of resource to assign to the job (that is, nodes or cores)

Minimum Cores

Specifies a range of values for the minimum number of cores that the cluster user can assign to the job. This property has no effect if:

  • The Auto Calculate Minimum property has been added to the template with True selected as the only valid value

  • The Unit Type property has been added to the template and the list of the type of resources that can be assigned to the job does not include Core

  • The user selects a different type of resource to assign to the job (that is, sockets or nodes)

Minimum Nodes

Specifies a range of values for the minimum number of cluster nodes that the cluster user can assign to the job. This property has no effect if:

  • The Auto Calculate Minimum property has been added to the template with True selected as the only valid value

  • The Unit Type property has been added to the template and the list of the type of resources that can be assigned to the job does not include Node

  • The user selects a different type of resource to assign to the job (that is, sockets or cores)

Minimum Sockets

Specifies a range of values for the minimum number of sockets that the cluster user can assign to the job. This property has no effect if:

  • The Auto Calculate Minimum property has been added to the template with True selected as the only valid value

  • The Unit Type property has been added to the template and the list of the type of resources that can be assigned to the job does not include Sockets

  • The user selects a different type of resource to assign to the job (that is, nodes or cores)

Node Groups

Specifies a list of node groups that the cluster user is required to select for the job. If you set this property, the cluster user can still specify a node group that is not on the list, but cannot remove any of the node groups that are listed as required.

Node Ordering

Specifies the ordering to use when assigning nodes to run the job. This property gives preference to nodes with specific attributes. The node ordering options are:

  • Memory Size (Ascending). The job will be assigned first to nodes that have the smallest amount of memory.

  • Memory Size (Descending). The job will be assigned first to nodes that have the largest amount of memory.

  • Processor Number (Ascending). The job will be assigned first to nodes that have the smallest number of cores.

  • Processor Number (Descending). The job will be assigned first to nodes that have the largest number of cores.

Preemptable

If True is selected as the default value (Default Value parameter for this property), the job being submitted by the cluster user can be preempted by another job that has a higher priority, if there are not enough resources to run the higher priority job. If False is selected as the default value, the job being submitted by the cluster user cannot be preempted by another job.

noteNote
This property has no effect if the preemption policy for the HPC Job Scheduler Service is set to No pre-emption. To review or configure the preemption policy for the HPC Job Scheduler Service, in HPC Cluster Manager, from the Options menu, click Job Scheduler Configuration.

Note

If True and False are selected as valid values for this property (Valid Value parameter), a cluster user that is using the job template can submit a job that cannot be preempted by using the HPC API, independently of the value that was selected as the default value. It is not possible to specify that a job cannot be preempted by submitting it using HPC Cluster Manager, HPC Job Manager, the HPC PowerShell, or the HPC command-line tools. It is only possible to do this by using the HPC API. For more information about the HPC API, see the Microsoft HPC Pack (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=123849).

Note

If you want to allow only certain cluster users to submit jobs that cannot be preempted, create a job template that includes this property with False selected as the default and the only valid value. Then, select which users can submit jobs with the job template by setting permissions for the template. Permissions for a template can be set in HPC Cluster Manager, in Configuration, under Job Templates (Set Permissions action).

Priority

Specifies a list of priority values that the user can select for the job. If you set this property, the cluster user cannot specify a priority value that is not on the list.

Project

Specifies a list of project names that the cluster user can select for the job. If you set this property, the cluster user cannot specify a project name that is not on the list.

Requested Nodes

Specifies a list of nodes that the cluster user can select to run the job. If you set this property, the cluster user cannot select a node that is not on the list.

Run Time

Specifies a range of values for the amount of time that the cluster user can specify the job is allowed to run. If a task in the job is still running after the specified run time is reached, the task is stopped and the job is automatically canceled by the HPC Job Scheduler Service.

Run Until Canceled

If True is selected as the only valid value, the job runs until it is canceled or until its run time expires. If False is selected as the only valid value, the cluster user cannot select this property when submitting the job. If True and False are selected as valid values, the cluster user can select or unselect this property when submitting the job.

Service Name

Specifies a list of services names that the cluster user can select for a Service-Oriented Application (SOA) job. If you set this property, the cluster user cannot specify a service name that is not on the list.

Unit Type

Specifies a list of the type of resources (cores, sockets, or nodes) that can be assigned to the job. If you set this property, the cluster user cannot specify a resource type that is not on the list.