next up previous contents index
Next: 5. Grid Computing Up: 4. Miscellaneous Concepts Previous: 4.4 Hooks   Contents   Index

Subsections


4.5 Application Program Interfaces


4.5.1 Web Service

Condor's Web Service (WS) API provides a way for application developers to interact with Condor, without needing to utilize Condor's command-line tools. In keeping with the Condor philosophy of reliability and fault-tolerance, this API is designed to provide a simple and powerful way to interact with Condor. Condor daemons understand and implement the SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) XML API to provide a web service interface for Condor job submission and management.

To deal with the issues of reliability and fault-tolerance, a two-phase commit mechanism to provides a transaction-based protocol. The following API description describes interaction between a client using the API and both the condor_schedd and condor_collector daemons to illustrate transactions for use in job submission, queue management and ClassAd management functions.


4.5.1.1 Transactions

All applications using the API to interact with the condor_schedd will need to use transactions. A transaction is an ACID unit of work (atomic, consistent, isolated, and durable). The API limits the lifetime of a transaction, and both the client (application) and the server (the condor_schedd daemon) may place a limit on the lifetime. The server reserves the right to specify a maximum duration for a transaction.

The client initiates a transaction using the beginTransaction() method. It ends the transaction with either a commit (using commitTransaction()) or an abort (using abortTransaction()).

Not all operations in the API need to be performed within a transaction. Some accept a null transaction. A null transaction is a SOAP message with 

<transaction xsi:type="ns1:Transaction" xsi:nil="true"/>
Often this is achieved by passing the programming language's equivalent of null in place of a transaction identifier. It is possible that some operations will have access to more information when they are used inside a transaction. For instance, a getJobAds(). query would have access to the jobs that are pending in a transaction, which are not committed and therefore not visible outside of the transaction. Transactions are as ACID compliant as possible. Therefore, do not query for information outside of a transaction on which to make a decision inside a transaction based on the query's results.


4.5.1.2 Job Submission

A ClassAd is required to describe a job. The job ClassAd will be submitted to the condor_schedd within a transaction using the submit() method. The complexity of job ClassAd creation may be simplified by the createJobTemplate() method. It returns an instance of a ClassAd structure that may be further modified. A necessary part of the job ClassAd are the job attributes ClusterId and ProcId, which uniquely identify the cluster and the job within a cluster. Allocation and assignment of (monotonically increasing) ClusterId values utilize the newCluster() method. Jobs may be submitted within the assigned cluster only until the newCluster() method is invoked a subsequent time. Each job is allocated and assigned a (monotonically increasing) ProcId within the current cluster using the newJob() method. Therefore, the sequence of method calls to submit a set of jobs initially calls newCluster(). This is followed by calls to newJob() and then submit() for each job within the cluster.

As an example, here are sample cluster and job numbers that result from the ordered calls to submission methods:

  1. A call to newCluster(), assigns a ClusterId of 6.
  2. A call to newJob(), assigns a ProcId of 0, as this is the first job within the cluster.
  3. A call to submit() results in a job submission numbered 6.0.
  4. A call to newJob(), assigns a ProcId of 1.
  5. A call to submit() results in a job submission numbered 6.1.
  6. A call to newJob(), assigns a ProcId of 2.
  7. A call to submit() results in a job submission numbered 6.2.
  8. A call to newCluster(), assigns a ClusterId of 7.
  9. A call to newJob(), assigns a ProcId of 0, as this is the first job within the cluster.
  10. A call to submit() results in a job submission numbered 7.0.
  11. A call to newJob(), assigns a ProcId of 1.
  12. A call to submit() results in a job submission numbered 7.1.

There is the potential that a call to submit() will fail. Failure means that the job is in the queue, and it typically indicates that something needed by the job has not been sent. As a result the job has no hope in successfully running. It is possible to recover from such a failure by trying to resend information that the job will need. It is also completely acceptable to abort and make another attempt. To simplify the client's effort in figuring out what the job requires, a discoverJobRequirements() method accepting a job ClassAd and returning a list of things that should be sent along with the job is provided.


4.5.1.3 File Transfer

A common job submission case requires the job's executable and input files to be transferred from the machine where the application is running to the machine where the condor_schedd daemon is running. This is the analogous situation to running condor_submit using the -spool or -remote option. The executable and input files must be sent directly to the condor_schedd daemon, which places all files in a spool location.

The two methods declareFile() and sendFile() work in tandem to transfer files to the condor_schedd daemon. The declareFile() method causes the condor_schedd daemon to create the file in its spool location, or indicate in its return value that the file already exists. This increases efficiency, as resending an existing file is a waste of resources. The sendFile() method sends base64 encoded data. sendFile() may be used to send an entire file, or chunks of files as desired.

The declareFile() method has both required and optional arguments. declareFile() requires the name of the file and its size in bytes. The optional arguments relate hash information. A hash type of NOHASH disables file verification; the condor_schedd daemon will not have a reliable way to determine the existence of the file being declared.

Methods for retrieving files are most useful when a job is completed. Consider the categorization of the typical life-cycle for a job:

Birth:
The birth of a job begins with submit().
Childhood:
The job executes.
Middle Age:
A completed job waits to be removed. As the job enters Middle Age, its JobStatus ClassAd attribute becomes Completed (the value 4).
Old Age:
The job's information goes into the history log.

Once the job enters Middle Age, the getFile() method retrieves a file. The listSpool() method assists by providing a list of all the job's files in the spool location.

The job enters Old Age by the application's use of the closeSpool() method. It causes the condor_schedd daemon to remove the job from the queue, and the job's spool files are no longer available. As there is no requirement for the application to invoke the closeSpool() method, jobs can potentially remain in the queue forever. The configuration variable SOAP_LEAVE_IN_QUEUE may mitigate this problem. When this boolean variable evaluates to False, a job enters Old Age. A reasonable example for this configuration variable is 

SOAP_LEAVE_IN_QUEUE = ((JobStatus==4) && ((ServerTime - CompletionDate) < (60 * 60 * 24)))
This expression results in Old age for a job (removed from the queue), once the job has been Middle Aged (been completed) for 24 hours.


4.5.1.4 Implementation Details

Condor daemons understand and communicate using the SOAP XML protocol. An application seeking to use this protocol will require code that handles the communication. The XML WSDL (Web Services Description Language) that Condor implements is included with the Condor distribution. It is in $(RELEASE_DIR)/lib/webservice. The WSDL must be run through a toolkit to produce language-specific routines that do communication. The application is compiled with these routines.

Condor must be configured to enable responses to SOAP calls. Please see section 3.3.33 for definitions of the configuration variables related to the web services API. The WS interface is listening on the condor_schedd daemon's command port. To obtain a list of all the the condor_schedd daemons in the pool with a WS interface, issue the command: 

  %  condor_status -schedd -constraint "HasSOAPInterface=?=TRUE"
With this information, a further command locates the port number to use: 
  % condor_status -schedd -constraint "HasSOAPInterface=?=TRUE" -l | grep MyAddress

Condor's security configuration must be set up such that access is authorized for the SOAP client. See Section 3.6.7 for information on how to set the ALLOW_SOAP and DENY_SOAP configuration variables.

The API's routines can be roughly categorized into ones that deal with

The routines for each of these categories is detailed. Note that the signature provided will accurately reflect a routine's name, but that return values and parameter specification will vary according to the target programming language.


4.5.1.5 Get These Items Correct


4.5.1.6 Methods for Transaction Management

beginTransaction
Begin a transaction. A prototype is

StatusAndTransaction beginTransaction(int duration);

Parameters
  • duration The expected duration of the transaction.
Return Value
If the function succeeds, the return value is SUCCESS; otherwise, see StatusCode for valid return values. Additionally, on success, the return value contains the new transaction.

commitTransaction
Commits a transaction. A prototype is

Status commitTransaction(Transaction transaction);

Parameters
  • transaction The transaction to be committed.
Return Value
If the function succeeds, the return value is SUCCESS; otherwise, see StatusCode for valid return values.

abortTransaction
Abort a transaction. A prototype is

Status abortTransaction(Transaction transaction);

Parameters
  • transaction The transaction to be aborted.
Return Value
If the function succeeds, the return value is SUCCESS; otherwise, see StatusCode for valid return values.

extendTransaction
Request an extension in duration for a specific transaction. A prototype is

StatusAndTransaction extendTransaction( Transaction transaction, int duration);

Parameters
  • transaction The transaction to be extended.
  • duration The duration of the extension.
Return Value
If the function succeeds, the return value is SUCCESS; otherwise, see StatusCode for valid return values. Additionally, on success, the return value contains the transaction with the extended duration.


4.5.1.7 Methods for Job Submission

submit
Submit a job. A prototype is

StatusAndRequirements submit(Transaction transaction, int clusterId, int jobId, ClassAd jobAd);

Parameters
  • transaction The transaction in which the submission takes place.
  • clusterId The cluster identifier.
  • jobId The job identifier.
  • jobAd The ClassAd describing the job. Creation of this ClassAd can be simplified with createJobTemplate();.
Return Value
If the function succeeds, the return value is SUCCESS; otherwise, see StatusCode for valid return values. Additionally, the return value contains the job's requirements.

createJobTemplate
Request a job Class Ad, given some of the job requirements. This job Class Ad will be suitable for use when submitting the job. Note that the job attribute NTDomain is not set by this function, but must be set for jobs that will execute on Windows platforms. A prototype is

StatusAndClassAd createJobTemplate(int clusterId, int jobId, String owner, UniverseType type, String command, String arguments, String requirements);

Parameters
  • clusterId The cluster identifier.
  • jobId The job identifier.
  • owner The name to be associated with the job.
  • type The universe under which the job will run, where type can be one of the following:

    enum UniverseType { STANDARD = 1, VANILLA = 5, SCHEDULER = 7, MPI = 8, GRID = 9, JAVA = 10, PARALLEL = 11, LOCALUNIVERSE = 12, VM = 13 };

  • command The command to execute once the job has started.
  • arguments The command-line arguments for command.
  • requirements The requirements expression for the job. For further details and examples of the expression syntax, please refer to section 4.1.
Return Value
If the function succeeds, the return value is SUCCESS; otherwise, see StatusCode for valid return values.

discoverJobRequirements
Discover the requirements of a job, given a Class Ad. May be helpful in determining what should be sent along with the job. A prototype is

StatusAndRequirements discoverJobRequirements( ClassAd jobAd);

Parameters
  • jobAd The ClassAd of the job.
Return Value
If the function succeeds, the return value is SUCCESS; otherwise, see StatusCode for valid return values. Additionally, on success, the return value contains the job's requirements.


4.5.1.8 Methods for File Transfer

declareFile
Declare a file that may be used by a job. A prototype is

Status declareFile(Transaction transaction, int clusterId, int jobId, String name, int size, HashType hashType, String hash);

Parameters
  • transaction The transaction in which this file is declared.
  • clusterId The cluster identifier.
  • jobId An identifier of the job that will use the file.
  • name The name of the file.
  • size The size of the file.
  • hashType The type of hash mechanism used to verify file integrity, where hashType can be one of the following:

    enum HashType { NOHASH, MD5HASH };

  • hash An optionally zero-length string encoding of the file hash.
Return Value
If the function succeeds, the return value is SUCCESS; otherwise, see StatusCode for valid return values.

sendFile
Send a file that a job may use. A prototype is

Status sendFile(Transaction transaction, int clusterId, int jobId, String name, int offset, Base64 data);

Parameters
  • transaction The transaction in which this file is send.
  • clusterId The cluster identifier.
  • jobId An identifier of the job that will use the file.
  • name The name of the file being sent.
  • offset The starting offset within the file being sent.
  • length The length from the offset to send.
  • data The data block being sent. This could be the entire file or a sub-section of the file as defined by offset and length.
Return Value
If the function succeeds, the return value is SUCCESS; otherwise, see StatusCode for valid return values.

getFile
Get a file from a job's spool. A prototype is

StatusAndBase64 getFile(Transaction transaction, int clusterId, int jobId, String name, int offset, int length);

Parameters
  • transaction An optionally nullable transaction, meaning this call does not need to occur in a transaction.
  • clusterId The cluster in which to search.
  • jobId The job identifier the file is associated with.
  • name The name of the file to retrieve.
  • offset The starting offset withing the file being retrieved.
  • length The length from the offset to retrieve.
Return Value
If the function succeeds, the return value is SUCCESS; otherwise, see StatusCode for valid return values. Additionally, on success, the return value contains the file or a sub-section of the file as defined by offset and length.

closeSpool
Close a job's spool. All the files in the job's spool can be deleted. A prototype is

Status closeSpool(Transaction transaction, int clusterId, int jobId);

Parameters
  • transaction An optionally nullable transaction, meaning this call does not need to occur in a transaction.
  • clusterId The cluster identifier which the job is associated with.
  • jobId The job identifier for which the spool is to be removed.
Return Value
If the function succeeds, the return value is SUCCESS; otherwise, see StatusCode for valid return values.

listSpool
List the files in a job's spool. A prototype is

StatusAndFileInfoArray listSpool(Transaction transaction, int clusterId, int jobId);

Parameters
  • transaction An optionally nullable transaction, meaning this call does not need to occur in a transaction.
  • clusterId The cluster in which to search.
  • jobId The job identifier to search for.
Return Value
If the function succeeds, the return value is SUCCESS; otherwise, see StatusCode for valid return values. Additionally, on success, the return value contains a list of files and their respective sizes.


4.5.1.9 Methods for Job Management

newCluster
Create a new job cluster. A prototype is

StatusAndInt newCluster(Transaction transaction);

Parameters
  • transaction The transaction in which this cluster is created.
Return Value
If the function succeeds, the return value is SUCCESS; otherwise, see StatusCode for valid return values. Additionally, on success, the return value contains the cluster id.

removeCluster
Remove a job cluster, and all the jobs within it. A prototype is

Status removeCluster(Transaction transaction, int clusterId, String reason);

Parameters
  • transaction An optionally nullable transaction, meaning this call does not need to occur in a transaction.
  • clusterId The cluster to remove.
  • reason The reason for the removal.
Return Value
If the function succeeds, the return value is SUCCESS; otherwise, see StatusCode for valid return values.

newJob
Creates a new job within the most recently created job cluster. A prototype is

StatusAndInt newJob(Transaction transaction, int clusterId);

Parameters
  • transaction The transaction in which this job is created.
  • clusterId The cluster identifier of the most recently created cluster.
Return Value
If the function succeeds, the return value is SUCCESS; otherwise, see StatusCode for valid return values. Additionally, on success, the return value contains the job id.

removeJob
Remove a job, regardless of the job's state. A prototype is

Status removeJob(Transaction transaction, int clusterId, int jobId, String reason, boolean forceRemoval);

Parameters
  • transaction An optionally nullable transaction, meaning this call does not need to occur in a transaction.
  • clusterId The cluster identifier to search in.
  • jobId The job identifier to search for.
  • reason The reason for the release.
  • forceRemoval Set if the job should be forcibly removed.
Return Value
If the function succeeds, the return value is SUCCESS; otherwise, see StatusCode for valid return values.

holdJob
Put a job into the Hold state, regardless of the job's current state. A prototype is

Status holdJob(Transaction transaction, int clusterId, int jobId, string reason, boolean emailUser, boolean emailAdmin, boolean systemHold);

Parameters
  • transaction An optionally nullable transaction, meaning this call does not need to occur in a transaction.
  • clusterId The cluster in which to search.
  • jobId The job identifier to search for.
  • reason The reason for the release.
  • emailUser Set if the submitting user should be notified.
  • emailAdmin Set if the administrator should be notified.
  • systemHold Set if the job should be put on hold.
Return Value
If the function succeeds, the return value is SUCCESS; otherwise, see StatusCode for valid return values.

releaseJob
Release a job that has been in the Hold state. A prototype is

Status releaseJob(Transaction transaction, int clusterId, int jobId, String reason, boolean emailUser, boolean emailAdmin);

Parameters
  • transaction An optionally nullable transaction, meaning this call does not need to occur in a transaction.
  • clusterId The cluster in which to search.
  • jobId The job identifier to search for.
  • reason The reason for the release.
  • emailUser Set if the submitting user should be notified.
  • emailAdmin Set if the administrator should be notified.
Return Value
If the function succeeds, the return value is SUCCESS; otherwise, see StatusCode for valid return values.

getJobAds
A prototype is

StatusAndClassAdArray getJobAds(Transaction transaction, String constraint);

Parameters
  • transaction An optionally nullable transaction, meaning this call does not need to occur in a transaction.
  • constraint A string constraining the number ClassAds to return. For further details and examples of the constraint syntax, please refer to section 4.1.
Return Value
If the function succeeds, the return value is SUCCESS; otherwise, see StatusCode for valid return values. Additionally, on success, the return value contains all job ClassAds matching the given constraint.

getJobAd
Finds a specific job ClassAd.

This method does much the same as the first element from the array returned by 

getJobAds(transaction, "(ClusterId==clusterId && JobId==jobId)")

A prototype is

StatusAndClassAd getJobAd(Transaction transaction, int clusterId, int jobId);

Parameters
  • transaction An optionally nullable transaction, meaning this call does not need to occur in a transaction.
  • clusterId The cluster in which to search.
  • jobId The job identifier to search for.
Return Value
If the function succeeds, the return value is SUCCESS; otherwise, see StatusCode for valid return values. Additionally, on success, the return value contains the requested ClassAd.

requestReschedule
Request a condor_reschedule from the condor_schedd daemon. A prototype is

Status requestReschedule();

Return Value
If the function succeeds, the return value is SUCCESS; otherwise, see StatusCode for valid return values.


4.5.1.10 Methods for ClassAd Management

insertAd
A prototype is

Status insertAd(ClassAdType type, ClassAdStruct ad);

Parameters
  • type The type of ClassAd to insert, where type can be one of the following:

    enum ClassAdType { STARTD_AD_TYPE, QUILL_AD_TYPE, SCHEDD_AD_TYPE, SUBMITTOR_AD_TYPE, LICENSE_AD_TYPE, MASTER_AD_TYPE, CKPTSRVR_AD_TYPE, COLLECTOR_AD_TYPE, STORAGE_AD_TYPE, NEGOTIATOR_AD_TYPE, HAD_AD_TYPE, GENERIC_AD_TYPE };

  • ad The ClassAd to insert.
Return Value
If the function succeeds, the return value is SUCCESS; otherwise, see StatusCode for valid return values.

queryStartdAds
A prototype is

ClassAdArray queryStartdAds(String constraint);

Parameters
  • constraint A string constraining the number ClassAds to return. For further details and examples of the constraint syntax, please refer to section 4.1.
Return Value
A list of all the condor_startd ClassAds matching the given constraint.

queryScheddAds
A prototype is

ClassAdArray queryScheddAds(String constraint);

Parameters
  • constraint A string constraining the number ClassAds to return. For further details and examples of the constraint syntax, please refer to section 4.1.
Return Value
A list of all the condor_schedd ClassAds matching the given constraint.

queryMasterAds
A prototype is

ClassAdArray queryMasterAds(String constraint);

Parameters
  • constraint A string constraining the number ClassAds to return. For further details and examples of the constraint syntax, please refer to section 4.1.
Return Value
A list of all the condor_master ClassAds matching the given constraint.

querySubmittorAds
A prototype is

ClassAdArray querySubmittorAds(String constraint);

Parameters
  • constraint A string constraining the number ClassAds to return. For further details and examples of the constraint syntax, please refer to section 4.1.
Return Value
A list of all the submitters ClassAds matching the given constraint.

queryLicenseAds
A prototype is

ClassAdArray queryLicenseAds(String constraint);

Parameters
  • constraint A string constraining the number ClassAds to return.For further details and examples of the constraint syntax, please refer to section 4.1.
Return Value
A list of all the license ClassAds matching the given constraint.

queryStorageAds
A prototype is

ClassAdArray queryStorageAds(String constraint);

Parameters
  • constraint A string constraining the number ClassAds to return. For further details and examples of the constraint syntax, please refer to section 4.1.
Return Value
A list of all the storage ClassAds matching the given constraint.

queryAnyAds
A prototype is

ClassAdArray queryAnyAds(String constraint);

Parameters
  • constraint A string constraining the number ClassAds to return. For further details and examples of the constraint syntax, please refer to section 4.1.
Return Value
A list of all the ClassAds matching the given constraint. to return.


4.5.1.11 Methods for Version Information

getVersionString
A prototype is

StatusAndString getVersionString();

Return Value
Returns the Condor version as a string.

getPlatformString
A prototype is

StatusAndString getPlatformString();

Return Value
Returns the platform information Condor is running on as string.


4.5.1.12 Common Data Structures

Many methods return a status. Table 4.5 lists and defines the StatusCode return values.


Table 4.5: StatusCode definitions
Value Identifier Definition
0 SUCCESS All OK
1 FAIL An error occurred that is not specific to another error code
2 INVALIDTRANSACTION No such transaction exists
3 UNKNOWNCLUSTER The specified cluster is not the currently active one
4 UNKNOWNJOB The specified job does not exist within the specified cluster
5 UNKNOWNFILE  
6 INCOMPLETE  
7 INVALIDOFFSET  
8 ALREADYEXISTS For this job, the specified file already exists



4.5.2 The DRMAA API

The following quote from the DRMAA Specification 1.0 abstract nicely describes the purpose of the API:

The Distributed Resource Management Application API (DRMAA), developed by a working group of the Global Grid Forum (GGF),

provides a generalized API to distributed resource management systems (DRMSs) in order to facilitate integration of application programs. The scope of DRMAA is limited to job submission, job monitoring and control, and the retrieval of the finished job status. DRMAA provides application developers and distributed resource management builders with a programming model that enables the development of distributed applications tightly coupled to an underlying DRMS. For deployers of such distributed applications, DRMAA preserves flexibility and choice in system design.

The API allows users who write programs using DRMAA functions and link to a DRMAA library to submit, control, and retrieve information about jobs to a Grid system. The Condor implementation of a portion of the API allows programs (applications) to use the library functions provided to submit, monitor and control Condor jobs.

See the DRMAA site (http://www.drmaa.org) to find the API specification for DRMA 1.0 for further details on the API.


4.5.2.1 Implementation Details

The library was developed from the DRMA API Specification 1.0 of January 2004 and the DRMAA C Bindings v0.9 of September 2003. It is a static C library that expects a POSIX thread model on Unix systems and a Windows thread model on Windows systems. Unix systems that do not support POSIX threads are not guaranteed thread safety when calling the library's functions.

The object library file is called libcondordrmaa.a, and it is located within the <release>/lib directory in the Condor download. Its header file is called lib_condor_drmaa.h, and it is located within the <release>/include directory in the Condor download. Also within <release>/include is the file lib_condor_drmaa.README, which gives further details on the implementation.

Use of the library requires that a local condor_schedd daemon must be running, and the program linked to the library must have sufficient spool space. This space should be in /tmp or specified by the environment variables TEMP, TMP, or SPOOL. The program linked to the library and the local condor_schedd daemon must have read, write, and traverse rights to the spool space.

The library currently supports the following specification-defined job attributes:

DRMAA_REMOTE_COMMAND
DRMAA_JS_STATE
DRMAA_NATIVE_SPECIFICATION
DRMAA_BLOCK_EMAIL
DRMAA_INPUT_PATH
DRMAA_OUTPUT_PATH
DRMAA_ERROR_PATH
DRMAA_V_ARGV
DRMAA_V_ENV
DRMAA_V_EMAIL

The attribute DRMAA_NATIVE_SPECIFICATION can be used to direct all commands supported within submit description files. See the condor_submit manual page at section 9 for a complete list. Multiple commands can be specified if separated by newlines.

As in the normal submit file, arbitrary attributes can be added to the job's ClassAd by prefixing the attribute with +. In this case, you will need to put string values in quotation marks, the same as in a submit file.

Thus to tell Condor that the job will likely use 64 megabytes of memory (65536 kilobytes), to more highly rank machines with more memory, and to add the arbitrary attribute of department set to chemistry, you would set AttrDRMAA_NATIVE_SPECIFICATION to the C string: 

  drmaa_set_attribute(jobtemplate, DRMAA_NATIVE_SPECIFICATION,
      "image_size=65536\nrank=Memory\n+department=\"chemistry\"",
      err_buf, sizeof(err_buf)-1);


4.5.3 The Condor User and Job Log Reader API

Condor has the ability to log a Condor job's significant events during its lifetime. This is enabled in the job's submit description file with the Log command.

This section describes the API defined by the C++ ReadUserLog class, which provides a programming interface for applications to read and parse events, polling for events, and saving and restoring reader state.

4.5.3.1 Constants and Enumerated Types

The following define enumerated types useful to the API.

4.5.3.2 Constructors and Destructors

All ReadUserLog constructors invoke one of the initialize() methods. Since C++ constructors cannot return errors, an application using any but the default constructor should call isIinitialized() to verify that the object initialized correctly, and for example, had permissions to open required files.

Note that because the constructors cannot return status information, most of these constructors will be eliminated in the future. All constructors, except for the default constructor with no parameters, will be removed. The application will need to call the appropriate initialize() method.

4.5.3.3 Initializers

These methods are used to perform the initialization of the ReadUserLog objects. These initializers are used by all constructors that do real work. Applications should never use those constructors, should use the default constructor, and should instead use one of these initializer methods.

All of these functions will return false if there are problems such as being unable to open the log file, or true if successful.

4.5.3.4 Primary Methods

4.5.3.5 Accessors

4.5.3.6 Methods for saving and restoring persistent reader state

The ReadUserLog::FileState structure is used to save and restore the state of the ReadUserLog state for persistence. The application should always use InitFileState() to initialize this structure.

All of these methods take a reference to a state buffer as their only parameter.

All of these methods return true upon success.

4.5.3.7 Save state to persistent storage

To save the state, do something like this: 
  ReadUserLog                reader;
  ReadUserLog::FileState     statebuf;

  status = ReadUserLog::InitFileState( statebuf );

  status = reader.GetFileState( statebuf );
  write( fd, statebuf.buf, statebuf.size );
  ...
  status = reader.GetFileState( statebuf );
  write( fd, statebuf.buf, statebuf.size );
  ...

  status = UninitFileState( statebuf );

4.5.3.8 Restore state from persistent storage

To restore the state, do something like this: 
  ReadUserLog::FileState     statebuf;
  status = ReadUserLog::InitFileState( statebuf );

  read( fd, statebuf.buf, statebuf.size );

  ReadUserLog                reader;
  status = reader.initialize( statebuf );

  status = UninitFileState( statebuf );
  ....

4.5.3.9 API Reference

4.5.3.10 Access to the persistent state data

If the application needs access to the data elements in a persistent state, it should instantiate a ReadUserLogStateAccess object.

4.5.3.11 Future persistence API

The ReadUserLog::FileState will likely be replaced with a new C++ ReadUserLog::NewFileState, or a similarly named class that will self initialize.

Additionally, the functionality of ReadUserLogStateAccess will be integrated into this class.


4.5.4 Chirp


4.5.5 The Command Line Interface


4.5.6 The Condor GAHP


4.5.7 The Condor Perl Module

The Condor Perl module facilitates automatic submitting and monitoring of Condor jobs, along with automated administration of Condor. The most common use of this module is the monitoring of Condor jobs. The Condor Perl module can be used as a meta scheduler for the submission of Condor jobs.

The Condor Perl module provides several subroutines. Some of the subroutines are used as callbacks; an event triggers the execution of a specific subroutine. Other of the subroutines denote actions to be taken by Perl. Some of these subroutines take other subroutines as arguments.

4.5.7.1 Subroutines

Submit(submit_description_file)
This subroutine takes the action of submitting a job to Condor. The argument is the name of a submit description file. The condor_submit program should be in the path of the user. If the user wishes to monitor the job with condor they must specify a log file in the command file. The cluster submitted is returned. For more information see the condor_submit man page.

Vacate(machine)
This subroutine takes the action of sending a condor_vacate command to the machine specified as an argument. The machine may be specified either by host name, or by sinful string. For more information see the condor_vacate man page.

Reschedule(machine)
This subroutine takes the action of sending a condor_reschedule command to the machine specified as an argument. The machine may be specified either by host name, or by sinful string. For more information see the condor_reschedule man page.

Monitor(cluster)
Takes the action of monitoring this cluster. It returns when all jobs in cluster terminate.

Wait()
Takes the action of waiting until all monitor subroutines finish, and then exits the Perl script.

DebugOn()
Takes the action of turning debug messages on. This may be useful when attempting to debug the Perl script.

DebugOff()
Takes the action of turning debug messages off.

RegisterEvicted(sub)
Register a subroutine (called sub) to be used as a callback when a job from a specified cluster is evicted. The subroutine will be called with two arguments: cluster and job. The cluster and job are the cluster number and process number of the job that was evicted.

RegisterEvictedWithCheckpoint(sub)
Same as RegisterEvicted except that the handler is called when the evicted job was checkpointed.

RegisterEvictedWithoutCheckpoint(sub)
Same as RegisterEvicted except that the handler is called when the evicted job was not checkpointed.

RegisterExit(sub)
Register a termination handler that is called when a job exits. The termination handler will be called with two arguments: cluster and job. The cluster and job are the cluster and process numbers of the existing job.

RegisterExitSuccess(sub)
Register a termination handler that is called when a job exits without errors. The termination handler will be called with two arguments: cluster and job The cluster and job are the cluster and process numbers of the existing job.

RegisterExitFailure(sub)
Register a termination handler that is called when a job exits with errors. The termination handler will be called with three arguments: cluster, job and retval. The cluster and job are the cluster and process numbers of the existing job and the retval is the exit code of the job.

RegisterExitAbnormal(sub)
Register an termination handler that is called when a job abnormally exits (segmentation fault, bus error, ...). The termination handler will be called with four arguments: cluster, job signal and core. The cluster and job are the cluster and process numbers of the existing job. The signal indicates the signal that the job died with and core indicates whether a core file was created and if so, what the full path to the core file is.

RegisterAbort(sub)
Register a handler that is called when a job is aborted by a user.

RegisterJobErr(sub)
Register a handler that is called when a job is not executable.

RegisterExecute(sub)
Register an execution handler that is called whenever a job starts running on a given host. The handler is called with four arguments: cluster, job host, and sinful. Cluster and job are the cluster and process numbers for the job, host is the Internet address of the machine running the job, and sinful is the Internet address and command port of the condor_starter supervising the job.

RegisterSubmit(sub)
Register a submit handler that is called whenever a job is submitted with the given cluster. The handler is called with cluster, job host, and sinful. Cluster and job are the cluster and process numbers for the job, host is the Internet address of the machine running the job, and sinful is the Internet address and command port of the condor_schedd responsible for the job.

Monitor(cluster)
Begin monitoring this cluster. Returns when all jobs in cluster terminate.

Wait()
Wait until all monitors finish and exit.

DebugOn()
Turn debug messages on. This may be useful if you don't understand what your script is doing.

DebugOff()
Turn debug messages off.

TestSubmit(command_file)
This subroutine submits a job to Condor for testing, and places all variables from the command file into the Perl hash %submit_info. Does not reset the state of variables, so that testing preserves callbacks.

SubmitDagman(DAG_file, DAGMan_args)
Takes the action of submitting a DAG using condor_dagman. The first argument is the name of the DAG input file, and the second argument is the command line arguments for condor_dagman. Information from the submit description file generated by condor_dagman is placed into the Perl hash %submit_info for access during callbacks.

TestSubmitDagman(DAG_file, DAGMan_args)
This subroutine submits a condor_dagman to Condor for testing, and places information from the submit description file generated by condor_dagman into the Perl hash %submit_info for access during callbacks. The first argument is the name of the DAG input file, and the second argument is the command line arguments for condor_dagman. Does not reset the state of variables, so that testing preserves callbacks.

RegisterEvictedWithRequeue(sub)
Register a subroutine (called sub) to be used as a callback when a job from a specified cluster is requeued. The subroutine will be called with two arguments: cluster and job. The cluster and job are the cluster number and process number of the job that was requeued.

RegisterShadow(sub)
Register a subroutine (called sub) to be used as a callback when a shadow exception occurs.

RegisterHold(sub)
Register a subroutine (called sub) to be used as a callback when a job enters the hold state.

RegisterRelease(sub)
Register a subroutine (called sub) to be used as a callback when a job is released.

RegisterWantError(sub)
Register a subroutine (called sub) to be used as a callback when a system call invoked using runCommand experiences an error.

runCommand(string)
string identifies a syscall that is invoked. If the syscall exits abnormally or exits with an error, the callback registered with RegisterWantError() is called, and an error message is issued.

RegisterTimed(sub, seconds)
Register a subroutine (called sub) to be called back at a delay of seconds time from this registration time. Only one callback may be registered, as subsequent calls modify the timer only.

RemoveTimed()
Remove the single, timed callback registered with RegisterTimed().


4.5.7.2 Examples

The following is an example that uses the Condor Perl module. The example uses the submit description file mycmdfile.cmd to specify the submission of a job. As the job is matched with a machine and begins to execute, a callback subroutine (called execute) sends a condor_vacate signal to the job, and it increments a counter which keeps track of the number of times this callback executes. A second callback keeps a count of the number of times that the job was evicted before the job completes. After the job completes, the termination callback (called normal) prints out a summary of what happened. 

#!/usr/bin/perl
use Condor;

$CMD_FILE = 'mycmdfile.cmd';
$evicts = 0;
$vacates = 0;

# A subroutine that will be used as the normal execution callback
$normal = sub
{
    %parameters = @_;
    $cluster = $parameters{'cluster'};
    $job = $parameters{'job'};

    print "Job $cluster.$job exited normally without errors.\n";
    print "Job was vacated $vacates times and evicted $evicts times\n";
    exit(0);
};	

$evicted = sub
{
    %parameters = @_;
    $cluster = $parameters{'cluster'};
    $job = $parameters{'job'};

    print "Job $cluster, $job was evicted.\n";
    $evicts++;
    &Condor::Reschedule();	
};

$execute = sub
{
    %parameters = @_;
    $cluster = $parameters{'cluster'};
    $job = $parameters{'job'};
    $host = $parameters{'host'};
    $sinful = $parameters{'sinful'};

    print "Job running on $sinful, vacating...\n";
    &Condor::Vacate($sinful);
    $vacates++;
};

$cluster = Condor::Submit($CMD_FILE);
printf("Could not open. Access Denied\n");
			break;
&Condor::RegisterExitSuccess($normal);
&Condor::RegisterEvicted($evicted);
&Condor::RegisterExecute($execute);
&Condor::Monitor($cluster);
&Condor::Wait();

This example program will submit the command file 'mycmdfile.cmd' and attempt to vacate any machine that the job runs on. The termination handler then prints out a summary of what has happened.

A second example Perl script facilitates the meta-scheduling of two of Condor jobs. It submits a second job if the first job successfully completes. 

#!/s/std/bin/perl

# tell Perl where to find the Condor library
use lib '/unsup/condor/lib';
# tell Perl to use what it finds in the Condor library
use Condor;

$SUBMIT_FILE1 = 'Asubmit.cmd';
$SUBMIT_FILE2 = 'Bsubmit.cmd';

# Callback used when first job exits without errors.
$firstOK = sub
{
    %parameters = @_;
    $cluster = $parameters{'cluster'};
    $job = $parameters{'job'};

    $cluster = Condor::Submit($SUBMIT_FILE2);
    if (($cluster) == 0)
    {
        printf("Could not open $SUBMIT_FILE2.\n");
    }

    &Condor::RegisterExitSuccess($secondOK);
    &Condor::RegisterExitFailure($secondfails);
    &Condor::Monitor($cluster);
};	

$firstfails = sub
{
    %parameters = @_;
    $cluster = $parameters{'cluster'};
    $job = $parameters{'job'};

    print "The first job, $cluster.$job failed, exiting with an error. \n";
    exit(0);
};	

# Callback used when second job exits without errors.
$secondOK = sub
{
    %parameters = @_;
    $cluster = $parameters{'cluster'};
    $job = $parameters{'job'};

    print "The second job, $cluster.$job successfully completed. \n";
    exit(0);
};	

# Callback used when second job exits WITH an error.
$secondfails = sub
{
    %parameters = @_;
    $cluster = $parameters{'cluster'};
    $job = $parameters{'job'};

    print "The second job ($cluster.$job) failed. \n";
    exit(0);
};	


$cluster = Condor::Submit($SUBMIT_FILE1);
if (($cluster) == 0)
{
    printf("Could not open $SUBMIT_FILE1. \n");
}
&Condor::RegisterExitSuccess($firstOK);
&Condor::RegisterExitFailure($firstfails);


&Condor::Monitor($cluster);
&Condor::Wait();

Some notes are in order about this example. The same task could be accomplished using the Condor DAGMan metascheduler. The first job is the parent, and the second job is the child. The input file to DAGMan is significantly simpler than this Perl script.

A third example using the Condor Perl module expands upon the second example. Whereas the second example could have been more easily implemented using DAGMan, this third example shows the versatility of using Perl as a metascheduler.

In this example, the result generated from the successful completion of the first job are used to decide which subsequent job should be submitted. This is a very simple example of a branch and bound technique, to focus the search for a problem solution. 

#!/s/std/bin/perl

# tell Perl where to find the Condor library
use lib '/unsup/condor/lib';
# tell Perl to use what it finds in the Condor library
use Condor;

$SUBMIT_FILE1 = 'Asubmit.cmd';
$SUBMIT_FILE2 = 'Bsubmit.cmd';
$SUBMIT_FILE3 = 'Csubmit.cmd';

# Callback used when first job exits without errors.
$firstOK = sub
{
    %parameters = @_;
    $cluster = $parameters{'cluster'};
    $job = $parameters{'job'};

    # open output file from first job, and read the result
    if ( -f "A.output" )
    {
        open(RESULTFILE, "A.output") or die "Could not open result file.";
        $result = <RESULTFILE>;
        close(RESULTFILE);
        # next job to submit is based on output from first job
        if ($result < 100)
        {
            $cluster = Condor::Submit($SUBMIT_FILE2);
            if (($cluster) == 0)
            {
                printf("Could not open $SUBMIT_FILE2.\n");
            }

            &Condor::RegisterExitSuccess($secondOK);
            &Condor::RegisterExitFailure($secondfails);
            &Condor::Monitor($cluster);
        }
        else
        {
            $cluster = Condor::Submit($SUBMIT_FILE3);
            if (($cluster) == 0)
            {
                printf("Could not open $SUBMIT_FILE3.\n");
            }

            &Condor::RegisterExitSuccess($thirdOK);
            &Condor::RegisterExitFailure($thirdfails);
            &Condor::Monitor($cluster);
        }
    }
    else
    {
        
        printf("Results file does not exist.\n");
    }
};	

$firstfails = sub
{
    %parameters = @_;
    $cluster = $parameters{'cluster'};
    $job = $parameters{'job'};

    print "The first job, $cluster.$job failed, exiting with an error. \n";
    exit(0);
};	


# Callback used when second job exits without errors.
$secondOK = sub
{
    %parameters = @_;
    $cluster = $parameters{'cluster'};
    $job = $parameters{'job'};

    print "The second job, $cluster.$job successfully completed. \n";
    exit(0);
};	


# Callback used when third job exits without errors.
$thirdOK = sub
{
    %parameters = @_;
    $cluster = $parameters{'cluster'};
    $job = $parameters{'job'};

    print "The third job, $cluster.$job successfully completed. \n";
    exit(0);
};	


# Callback used when second job exits WITH an error.
$secondfails = sub
{
    %parameters = @_;
    $cluster = $parameters{'cluster'};
    $job = $parameters{'job'};

    print "The second job ($cluster.$job) failed. \n";
    exit(0);
};	

# Callback used when third job exits WITH an error.
$thirdfails = sub
{
    %parameters = @_;
    $cluster = $parameters{'cluster'};
    $job = $parameters{'job'};

    print "The third job ($cluster.$job) failed. \n";
    exit(0);
};	


$cluster = Condor::Submit($SUBMIT_FILE1);
if (($cluster) == 0)
{
    printf("Could not open $SUBMIT_FILE1. \n");
}
&Condor::RegisterExitSuccess($firstOK);
&Condor::RegisterExitFailure($firstfails);


&Condor::Monitor($cluster);
&Condor::Wait();

next up previous contents index
Next: 5. Grid Computing Up: 4. Miscellaneous Concepts Previous: 4.4 Hooks   Contents   Index
condor-admin@cs.wisc.edu