Subject: Re: [MTT users] Patch to add --local-scratch option
From: Tim Mattox (timattox_at_[hidden])
Date: 2008-09-18 10:08:02
OK, so how about calling it --mpi-build-scratch?
Once we get a consensus on what to call it, I can commit the patch to svn.
Can anyone check it quick for vpath builds?
Just a FYI, I've already run into the "downside" I mentioned once this week.
I had to rerun my MTT to get access to the build directory, since it
was on /tmp on some random BigRed compute node. Hmm... maybe a
feature enhancement would be to copy it to your regular --scratch if
a build failure was detected? Maybe later I'll do that as yet another option,
say, --copy-mpi-build-on-failure. No time this week, but hey, its an idea.
On Thu, Sep 18, 2008 at 9:10 AM, Jeff Squyres <jsquyres_at_[hidden]> wrote:
> Patch looks good. Please also update the CHANGES file (this file reflects
> bullets for things that have happened since the core testers branch).
>
>
> On Sep 15, 2008, at 6:15 PM, Tim Mattox wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>> Attached is a patchfile for the mtt trunk that adds a
>> --local-scratch <dir_name>
>> option to client/mtt. You can also specify something like
>> this in your [MTT] ini section:
>> local_scratch = &shell("echo /tmp/`whoami`_mtt")
>>
>> This local-scratch directory is then used for part of the --mpi-install
>> phase to speed up your run. Specifically, the source-code of the
>> MPI is untarred there, configure is run, make all, and make check.
>> Then, when make install is invoked the MPI is installed into the
>> usual place as if you hadn't used --local-scratch. If you don't
>> use --local-scratch, then the builds occur in the usual place that
>> they have before.
>>
>> For the clusters at IU that seem to have slow NSF home directories,
>> this cuts the --mpi-install phase time in half.
>>
>> The downside is that if the MPI build fails, your build directory is out
>> on some compile-node's /tmp and is harder to go debug. But, since
>> mpi build failures are now rare, this should make for quicker turnaround
>> for the general case.
>>
>> I think I adjusted the code properly for the vpath build case, but I've
>> never used that so haven't tested it. Also, I adjusted the free disk
>> space
>> check code. Right now it only checks the free space on --scratch,
>> and won't detect if --local-scratch is full. If people really care, I
>> could make it check both later. But for now, if your /tmp is full
>> you probably have other problems to worry about.
>>
>> Comments? Can you try it out, and if I get no objections, I'd like
>> to put this into the MTT trunk this week.
>> --
>> Tim Mattox, Ph.D. - http://homepage.mac.com/tmattox/
>> tmattox_at_[hidden] || timattox_at_[hidden]
>> I'm a bright... http://www.the-brights.net/
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>> mtt-users_at_[hidden]
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>
>
> --
> Jeff Squyres
> Cisco Systems
>
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-- Tim Mattox, Ph.D. - http://homepage.mac.com/tmattox/ tmattox_at_[hidden] || timattox_at_[hidden] I'm a bright... http://www.the-brights.net/