Ada:Batch Job Files

Building Job files

While not the only method of submitted programs to be executed, job files fulfill the needs of most users.

The general idea behind job files follows:

• Make resource requests
• Add your commands and/or scripting
• Submit the job to the batch system

Basic Job Specifications

Several of the most important options are described below. These basic options are typically all that is needed to run a job on Ada.

Basic Ada (LSF) Job Specifications

Specification	Option	Example	Example-Purpose
Job Name	-J [SomeText]	-J MyJob1	Set the job name to "MyJob1"
Shell	-L [Shell]	-L /bin/bash	Uses the bash shell to initialize the job's execution environment.
Wall Clock Limit	-W [hh:mm]	-W 1:15	Set wall clock limit to 1 hour 15 min
Core count	-n ##	-n 20	Assigns 20 job slots/cores.
Cores per node	-R "span[ptile=##]"	-R "span[ptile=5]"	Request 5 cores per node.
Memory Per Core	-M [MB]	-M 2560	Sets the per process memory limit to 2560 MB.
Memory Per Core	-R "rusage[mem=[MB]]"	-R "rusage[mem=2560]"	Schedules job on nodes that have at least 2560 MBs available per core.
Combined stdout and stderr	-o [OutputName].%j	-o stdout1.%j	Collect stdout/err in stdout.[JobID]

Optional Job Specifications

A variety of optional specifications are available to customize your job. The table below lists the specifications which are most useful for users of Ada.

Optional Ada (LSF) Job Specifications

Specification	Option	Example	Example-Purpose
Set Allocation	-P ######	-P 274839	Set allocation to charge to 274839
Email Notification I	-u [email-address]	-u howdy@tamu.edu	Send emails to howdy@tamu.edu.
Email Notification II	-[B|N]	-B -N	Send email on beginning (-B) and end (-N) of job.
Specify Queue	-q [queue]	-q xlarge	Request only nodes in xlarge subset.
Exclusive Node Usage	-x		Assigns a whole node exclusively for the job.

Environment Variables

All the nodes enlisted for the execution of a job carry most of the environment variables the login process created: HOME, PWD, PATH, USER, etc. In addition, LSF defines new ones in the environment of an executing job. Below, is a list of most commonly used environment variables.

Basic Ada (LSF) Environment Variables

Variable	Usage	Description
Job ID	$LSB_JOBID	Batch job ID assigned by LSF.
Job Name	$LSB_JOBNAME	The name of the Job.
Queue	$LSB_QUEUE	The name of the queue the job is dispatched from.
Error File	$LSB_ERRORFILE	Name of the error file specified with a bsub -e.
Submit Directory	$LSB_SUBCWD	The directory the job was submitted from.
Hosts I	$LSB_HOSTS	The list of nodes that are used to run the batch job, repeated according to ptile value.
Hosts II	$LSB_MCPU_HOSTS	The list of nodes and the specified or default ptile value per node to run the batch job.
Host file	$LSB_DJOB_HOSTFILE	The hostfile containing the list of nodes that are used to run the batch job.

Clarification on Memory, Core, and Node Specifications

Memory Specifications are IMPORTANT.
For examples on calculating memory, core, and/or node specifications on Ada: Specification Clarification.