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This node schedules work items using HQueue in order to execute them on remote machines.
For more information on configuring HQueue, see Getting Started with HQueue or PDG For Design Work Pt. 3 - Setting Up Distributed PDG.
Cook Modes
This scheduler can operate in two different cook modes:
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The normal cook mode connects to your HQueue scheduler and creates jobs for work items as they become ready to execute, and the jobs then communicate back to the submitting machine with status changes. This means that the submitting Houdini session must remain open for the duration of the cook.
This mode is used whenever you select Cook from any of the menus or buttons in the TOP UI.
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The standalone job mode cooks the entire TOP network as a standalone job. In this mode, the submitting Houdini session is detached from the cooking of the TOP network, the
.hipfile is copied if necessary, and a Hython process executes the TOP network using the default scheduler for that topnet. You will also not see any updates to your current Houdini session. To check the progress of your job when using this mode, you will need to use the HQueue web portal.This mode is used whenever you click the Submit Graph As Job > Submit button in the HQueue Scheduler’s parameters.
Network Requirements
As part of the cook, a message queue (MQ) job will be submitted, which is used to communicate information from executing jobs back to the submitting machine. For this reason the farm machines must be able to resolve the hostnames of other farm machines.
Tip
This may be as simple as editing the /etc/hosts (Linux / macOS) or C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts (Windows).
In addition, farm machines must either not have firewalls between them, or you must use the Task Callback Port to specify the open port to use.
When the cook starts, the submitting machine will connect to the farm machine that is running the MQ job, so farm machines must either not have firewalls between themselves and the submitting machine, or you must use the Relay Port to specify the open port.
Warning
Windows Services cannot use mapped drives. Since HQueue jobs on Windows are executed by a Windows Service, you should only use UNC paths. For example, use //myserver/hq/project/myhip.hip instead of H:/project/myhip.hip. Also be careful with backslashes in paths, as they are interpreted as escape sequences when evaluated by Houdini or the command shell.
TOP Attributes
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When the scheduler submits a work item to HQueue, it adds this attribute to the work item in order to track the HQueue job ID. |
Parameters
Scheduler
These are the global parameters for all work items using this scheduler.
Submit
Cooks the entire TOP network as a standalone job. Displays the status URI for the submitted job. The submitting Houdini session is detached from the cooking of the TOP network. The .hip file is copied if necessary and a Hython process executes the TOP network normally using the default scheduler for that topnet.
Tip
You can restart a finished standalone jobs using the HQueue Web UI. However, you should restart the child job named TOP Cook instead of the parent job.
Job Name
The name of the top-level HQueue Job for submitted cooks.
Enable Server
When on, turns on the data layer server for the TOP job that cooks on the farm. This allows PilotPDG or other WebSocket clients to connect to the cooking job remotely to view the state of PDG.
Server Port
This parameter is only available when Enable Server is on.
Determines which server port to use for the data layer server.
Automatic
A free TCP port selected by the node.
Custom
A custom TCP port specified by the user.
This is useful when there is a firewall between the farm machine and the monitoring machine.
Auto Connect
This parameter is only available when Enable Server is on.
When on, the node will try to send a command to create a remote visualizer when the job starts.
If successful, a remote graph is created and it automatically connects to the server executing the job. The client submitting the job must be visible to the server running the job or the connection will fail.
Working Directory
Specifies the directory where the cook generates intermediate files and output. The intermediate files are placed in a subdirectory named pdgtemp.
If you are opening your .hip file in Houdini from the shared network path (for example, from H:/myproj/myhip.hip), you can use $HIP here (the default). However, if you are opening your .hip file from a local directory (for example, from C:/temp/myhip.hip), you have to copy it to a shared network before it can be accessed by farm machines. In this case, the Working Directory should be an absolute or relative path to that shared network location (for example, //MYPC/Shared/myproj).
Job Name
The name of the job that cooks the TOP network.
Job Description
The description of the top-level HQueue job. This can be seen in the Job Properties for the job.
These parameters are only available when Override Local Shared Root is on.
The HQueue farm should be configured with a shared network filesystem and the mount point of this shared file system is specified for each platform.
Load from HQueue
Queries the HQueue server to retrieve the local shared root paths for each platform and fills the parameters below.
Windows
The local shared root path on Windows machines. For example, I:/.
macOS
The local shared root path on macOS machines. For example, /Volumes/hq.
Linux
The local shared root path on Linux machines. For example, /mnt/hq.
HQueue Server
URL of the HQueue server. For example, http://localhost:5000.
Universal HFS
When on, a single path to the $HFS directory (the Houdini install directory) is used by all platforms. You can use $HQROOT and $HQCLIENTARCH to help specify the directory path.
Linux HFS Path
This parameter is only available when Universal HFS is off.
$HFS path for Linux.
macOS HFS Path
This parameter is only available when Universal HFS is off.
$HFS path for macOS.
Windows HFS Path
This parameter is only available when Universal HFS is off.
$HFS path for Windows.
Python
Select which python interpreter should be used for python jobs. This python can be specified in a command using the PDG_PYTHON token.
From HFS: Use the python interpreter that is installed with Houdini.
From HQClient: Use the same python interpreter that HQClient is using on the farm machine.
Custom: Use the executable path specified by Python Executable
Python Executable
The full path to the python executable to use for python jobs.
Create Queue
Determines whether or not Message Queue jobs are created for interactive cooks.
The Message Queue is useful when the submitting Houdini session is not reachable by farm machines due to networking restrictions or firewalls.
Automatically
The Message Queue is created for interactive cooks.
Jobs on the farm communicate their status changes to the Message Queue, which in turn is connected to the submitting Houdini session.
Never
The Message Queue is not created for interactive cooks.
Jobs on the farm communicate their status changes directly back to the submitting Houdini session.
Task Callback Port
Sets the TCP Port used by the Message Queue Server for the XMLRPC callback API. This port must be accessible between farm clients.
Relay Port
Sets the TCP Port used by the Message Queue Server connection between PDG and the client that is running the Message Queue Command. This port must be reachable on farm clients by the PDG/user machine.
Verbose Logging
Print extra debugging information in job output logs.
Tick Period
The minimum time in seconds between calls to the onTick callback.
Max Items Per Tick
The maximum number of ready item onSchedule callbacks between ticks.
Job Parms
These job-specific parameters affect all submitted jobs, but can be overridden on a node-by-node basis. For more information, see Scheduler Job Parms / Properties.
Note
Many of these parameters correspond directly to the HQueue Job Properties.
Job Priority
The job’s HQueue priority.
Jobs with higher priorities are scheduled and processed before jobs with lower priorities. 0 is the lowest priority.
Assign To
Which clients to assign priority to.
Any Client
Assign to any client.
Listed Clients
Assign to specified clients.
Clients from Listed Groups
Assign to specified client groups.
Clients
This parameter is only available when Assign To is set to Listed Clients.
Names of clients to assign jobs to separated by spaces.
Select Clients
This parameter is only available when Assign To is set to Listed Clients.
Selects clients from HQueue to populate the Clients list.
Client Groups
This parameter is only available when Assign To is set to Clients from Listed Groups.
Names of client groups to assign jobs to separated by spaces.
Select Groups
This parameter is only available when Assign To is set to Clients from Listed Groups.
Selects client groups from HQueue to populate the Client Groups list.
CPUs per Job
The maximum number of CPUs that will be consumed by the job. If the number exceeds a client machine’s number of free CPUs, then the client machine will not be assigned the job.
Note that you can control the multi-threading of some jobs with Houdini Max Threads. You can also use the Tags parm to control if this job needs a dedicated machine.
Job Description
Description property for the job.
Allowed Host
The host name of the machine that the job should execute on.
Resources
A space-separated list of HQueue Resources that the job consumes. For example, sidefx.license.render sidefx.license.engine.
Maximum Run Time
The maximum amount of time (in seconds) that the work item is permitted to run for. If it’s running time exceeds the maximum time then it is automatically canceled by HQueue.
Handle By
Customize what to do when the command fails (Returns a non-zero exit code).
Reporting Error
The work item fails.
Reporting Warning
The work item succeeds and a warning is added to the node.
Retrying Task
The work item is retried by HQueue for the number of Retries remaining.
Ignoring Exit Code
The work item succeeds.
Handle All Non Zero
When off, you can specify a particular exit code.
Exit Code
This parameter is only available when Handle All Non Zero is off.
Specifies the exit code that you want to handle using Handle By. All other non-zero exit codes will be treated as a failure as normal.
Retries
This parameter is only available when Handle By is set to Retrying Task.
Number of times to retry the job when the command fails.
Houdini Max Threads
When on, sets the HOUDINI_MAXTHREADS environment to the specified value.
If CPUs per Job is on, then Houdini Max Threads is set to its value. If CPUs per Job is off, then Houdini Max Threads is set to 0 by default, which means that the job will use all available processors.
Positive values limit the number of threads that can be used. For example, a value of 1 disables multi-threading entirely by limiting the job to one thread. Positive values are also clamped to the number of available CPU cores.
If the value is negative, the value is added to the maximum number of processors to determine the threading limit for the job. For example, a value of -1 uses all CPU cores except 1.
Inherit Local Environment
When on, the environment variables in the current Houdini session are copied into the job’s environment.
Environment Variables
Adds custom key-value environment variables to each task.
| See also |
Local Scheduler
Tractor Scheduler
Deadline Scheduler
