Define a Basic or MPI Task
Applies To: Microsoft HPC Pack 2008 R2, Microsoft HPC Pack 2012, Microsoft HPC Pack 2012 R2
A Basic task runs a single instance of a serial application or a Message Passing Interface (MPI) application. An MPI application typically runs concurrently on multiple cores and can span multiple nodes, with communication occurring between the processes.
Jobs that work with parallel tasks through MS-MPI require the use of the mpiexec command; therefore, commands for MPI tasks must be in the following format: mpiexec [mpi_options] <myapp.exe> [arguments], where myapp.exe is the name of the application to run. The mpiexec command takes a number of arguments which allow you to control MPI process placement, networking affinity, and other run time parameters. For more information about these parameters, see the Microsoft HPC Pack Command Reference.
You can use the following procedure to create a Basic task using HPC Cluster Manager.
Note
To complete this procedure, you must have been added as a user on the cluster, or you must be a member of a domain group that has been added as a user on the cluster. For more information, contact your cluster administrator.
Create a Basic task
In HPC Cluster Manager, the option to add a task is available in the New Job, Modify Job, and Copy Job dialog boxes. As an example, the following procedure describes how to add a task in the New Job dialog box.
To create a Basic task
In HPC Job Manager, in the Actions pane, click New Job.
In the left pane of the New Job dialog box, click Edit Tasks.
Point to the Add button, click the down arrow, and then click Basic Task.
In the task dialog box, type a name for your task.
Type the task command, relative to the working directory, in the Command line entry box. For example, for an MPI task you can type mpiexec myapp.exe.
Specify the Working directory for your task. In general, a working directory should be indicated with a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path, not a relative or a local path.
Specify the Standard input, Standard output, and Standard error file names relative to the working directory.
Set the minimum and maximum number of cores necessary for your job.
Click OK to add the task to your job. The new task now appears in the list of tasks for your job.
You can define additional task properties, such as the Execution Settings and Required Resources by selecting the task in the list and modifying the property values in the Task Properties pane.
Additional considerations
The New Single-Task Job dialog box provides a quick way to submit a single-task or MPI job. When you use this method, you automatically accept all default job property values as defined by the job template that you use. To specify job property values, you can submit the job using the New Job dialog box instead.
You can run the same executable using different input and output files by creating a parametric sweep job. For more information, see Define a Parametric Sweep Task.