Creating Jobs

Applies To: Windows HPC Server 2008

A Windows HPC Server 2008 cluster job is a request for resources on a cluster, and a payload of tasks to run on those resources. A cluster job can be as simple as a single task, or it can include many tasks. The most common job types are an MPI job, a parametric sweep job, and a task flow job. For more information, see Understanding Job Types.

To create a job, you define a set of properties that determine how the job will run. The job template for the job provides default values for any job property that you do not specify. For more information about job templates, see Job Templates.

After defining the job properties, you can add one or more tasks to the job. A task must include the command to be run. If the task uses a Microsoft Message Passing Interface (MS-MPI) application, the task command must be preceded by mpiexec.

You can define how a task runs by setting task properties. A task can include properties such as the input, output, and error files to be used. You can also specify task properties that are similar to those of the job in terms of required nodes, number of required processors, the run time limit, and node exclusivity.

You can define the order in which tasks run by defining dependencies between tasks. For more information, see Define Task Dependencies.

In this section

• Create a New Job

• Add an MPI Task

• Add a Parametric Task

• Understanding Application and Data Files

• Define Task Dependencies

• Run Jobs with the HPC Basic Profile Web Service

Additional considerations

• You can also submit, manage, and view jobs on a cluster using the HPC command-line tools, HPC PowerShell, or HPC Basic Profile Web Service. For more information, see Online Resources for Windows HPC Server.

• You can reuse the specifications for a job and its tasks, with modifications if necessary, by either copying the job, or by saving the job specifications to an XML file. For more information, see Copy a Job or Task and Save a Job or Task to a File.