Multiple clients, single machine

A guide on how to run multiple HQueue clients on a single machine.

HQueue permits running multiple clients on a single machine. This can be useful for running multiple jobs concurrently on a machine or simulating a farm on a single machine before rolling out to a production farm.

Note

You can also use the CPUs per Job parameter on the HQueue Render ROP, HQueue Simulation ROP and HQueue Scheduler TOP nodes as an easier alternative for running multiple jobs concurrently on a single machine.

The CPUs per Job parameter sets the cpus property and removes the single tag from the underlying HQueue job specification allowing multiple jobs to run concurrently on the same machine.

Installing multiple clients ¶

The sections below describe how to run two HQueue clients on a single machine for each platform. You can extend the instructions to install even more clients on a machine.

Installing multiple clients on Linux ¶

To install multiple clients on Linux:

Install one HQueue Client as instructed in Installing HQueue > Installing HQueue on Linux > Add a client machine.
Stop the HQueue Client by following the instructions here.
Copy the HQueue Client installation directory to a new location. For example:
```
cd /home/hquser
cp -a hqclient hqclient2
```
Add a unique name to each HQueue Client installation.
1. Open the hqnode.ini file in each of the HQueue Client installation directories.
2. In the first installation directory, add a new line, name = alpha, to the end of the [main] section in the file. Save the changes to the file.
3. In the second installation directory, add a new line, name = beta, to the end of the [main] section in the file. Save the changes to the file.
Restart the HQueue Client in each of the installation directories (i.e. /home/hquser/hqclient and /home/hquser/hqclient2) as instructed here. For example:
```
cd /home/hquser/hqclient
./hqclientd restart

cd /home/hquser/hqclient2
./hqclientd restart
```
Go to the clients page on the HQueue website. You should now see two clients running on the farm, <machine_name>:alpha and <machine_name>:beta.

Installing multiple clients on macOS ¶

To install multiple clients on macOS:

Install one HQueue Client as instructed in Installing HQueue > Installing HQueue on macOS > Add a client machine.
Stop the HQueue Client by following the instructions here.
Copy the HQueue Client installation directory to a new location. For example:
```
sudo cp -a /Library/HQueueClient /Library/HQueueClient2
```

Copy and paste the HQueue Client launchctl plist file. For example:

sudo cp -a /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.sidefx.hqclient.plist /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.sidefx.hqclient2.plist

Point the plist file copy to the new HQueue Client installation directory.
1. Open /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.sidefx.hqclient2.plist in a text editor.
2. Replace instances of “/Library/HQueueClient” in the plist file with “/Library/HQueueClient2”.
3. Save changes to the plist file.
Add a unique name to each HQueue Client installation.
1. Open the hqnode.ini file in each of the HQueue Client installation directories.
2. In the first installation directory, add a new line, name = alpha, to the end of the [main] section in the file. Save the changes to the file.
3. In the second installation directory, add a new line, name = beta, to the end of the [main] section in the file. Save the changes to the file.
Restart the HQueue Client in each of the installation directories (i.e. /Library/HQueueClient and /Library/HQueueClient2) as instructed here. For example:
```
sudo launchctl load -F /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.sidefx.hqclient.plist

sudo launchctl load -F /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.sidefx.hqclient2.plist
```
Go to the clients page on the HQueue website. You should now see two clients running on the farm, <machine_name>:alpha and <machine_name>:beta.

Installing multiple clients on Windows ¶

To install multiple clients on Windows:

Install one HQueue Client as instructed in Installing HQueue > Installing HQueue on Windows > Add a client machine.
Stop the HQueue Client by following the instructions here.
Copy the HQueue Client installation directory to a new location. For example, in the Windows File Explorer, copy C:\HQueueClient and paste it as C:\HQueueClient2.
Create a new scheduled task for the new HQueue Client installation.
1. Go to Windows Start menu ▸ Task Scheduler.
2. In the Task Scheduler, click on Create a Basic Task….
3. When creating the new basic task, set the following properties:
  - Name → HQueueClient2
  - Start → When the computer starts
  - Action → Start a program
  - Program/script → cmd
  - Add arguments → - /c "cd /d C:\HQueueClient2 && hqclientd.bat"
Add a unique name to each HQueue Client installation.
1. Open the hqnode.ini file in each of the HQueue Client installation directories.
2. In the first installation directory, add a new line, name = alpha, to the end of the [main] section in the file. Save the changes to the file.
3. In the second installation directory, add a new line, name = beta, to the end of the [main] section in the file. Save the changes to the file.
Restart the HQueue Client in each of the installation directories (i.e. C:\HQueueClient and C:\HQueueClient2) as instructed here. For example, in the task scheduler, RMB on the HQueueClient task and select Run. Do the same for the HQueueClient2 task.
Go to the clients page on the HQueue website. You should now see two clients running on the farm, <machine_name>:alpha and <machine_name>:beta.

Multiple clients, single machine

Installing multiple clients ¶

Installing multiple clients on Linux ¶

Installing multiple clients on macOS ¶

Installing multiple clients on Windows ¶

HQueue

Getting started ¶

Managing the farm ¶

Next steps ¶

Guru level ¶