HECC's batch job processing software, PBS Professional (PBS Pro), is being updated from Version 13 to Version 19 on HECC systems. PBS Pro Version 19 will be the basis for several features that we plan to introduce over the next year. 

Merope Dedicated Time on Oct. 15

Merope will be the first system to be updated tp PBS Pro 19, during a dedicated time on Tuesday, October 15, from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. (Pacific Time). Once the Merope update is complete and any issues have been addressed, we will begin updating the other systems.

No changes to your workflows are necessary. 

Two new features will be available right away, after the update is complete. These are described below.

Initial New Features

One new feature that will be available right away is the "d" (direct) option to the qsub "-k" argument. The "d" option changes the way the standard output and error files from a job are handled. Usually, the output and error files are collected until the job ends and only then copied back to their destination files. With -kod, the job writes directly to its output file as it is running. Similarly, with -ked, the error file is written directly. This allows you to better monitor the job as it runs.

There are a couple caveats to this feature. First, the output or error files must be available to the nodes where the job runs. That is, the files should be on your /home or /nobackup filesystems, not on a local filesystem such as /tmp. Second, if the files already exist, they will be appended to, rather than overwritten, as would be the case without -k. If multiple jobs specify the same output file, the outputs from the jobs can be intermingled in the final file.

Another new feature is the "-F json" argument to qstat. This requests the qstat output be in computer readable JSON format, rather than its usual human readable format. This feature makes it easier to use qstat in scripts, etc.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at (650) 604-4444, (800) 331-8737, or support@nas.nasa.gov.