Re: [Condor-users] using mw with executables

[Jeff Linderoth <jtl3@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Arun,

On Thu, 2004-07-08 at 13:04, A Nayar wrote:
> I have a compiled executable which needs to be run as a task on the worker 
> nodes, all the examples I know pass data from master to worker and then 
> executes a set piece  of code. In my case I need to pass the executable and a 
> parameter file and the exe has to execute with the par file. I tried to pass 
> pointers to the files as input to MWTask but it is not able to get reference 
> to the files. I s it possible to do what I am trying using MW and condor?
> 
> Arun

There are (at least) two issues/questions as I see it...

1) You would like to be able to run an executable as the computational
task.  I believe we could make it happen.  (Either by a kludgy way right
now or by adding the functionality to the interface).

2) (This is the one that is not clear for me).  What would you like MW
to do when your executable is finished?  What is the "result" portion of
the task?


Here is one idea, though there is no guarantee that it will work, and
its behavior will likely be different depending on which version of the
MWRMComm you use and your particular Condor setup. It is quite likely
that someone more knowledgeable in the WaysOfCondor will respond and
tell you this is a horrible idea, doomed to failure from the start... 

1) Have condor stage the executable file that you would like to run as
your task.

2) In YourTask::pack_work(), pack up the data in the parameter file

3) In YourTask::unpack_work(), unpack the data and create the parameter
file.

4) In YourWorker::execute_task(), do a system call to run the executable
with the argument of the parameter file you created on the worker.

5) When the executable is done, parse whatever output files you need to
in order to obtain the result of the task, which will be packed up and
sent back to YourMaster.

I hope this helps.  We're happy to do what I can to try and make this
work for you, though the MW Team is a bit short-staffed at the moment...

Best of luck,
-Jeff
-- 
------------------------------------------------------------
Jeff Linderoth				     O: 610-758-4879
Asst. Professor				     
Industrial and Systems Engineering	     jtl3@xxxxxxxxxx
Lehigh University			www.lehigh.edu/~jtl3