Understanding Activation and Submission Filters
Applies To: Windows HPC Server 2008
You can enforce site-specific job submission policies and job activation policies by creating custom filters. These are referred to as job submission filters and job activation filters.
For more information about how to write submission or activation filters, including C# code samples, see Creating and Installing Job Submission and Activation Filters in Windows HPC Server 2008 Step-by-Step Guide.
Job submission filters
A job submission filter is a program (either a .exe or a .cmd file) that is accessible from the head node of the cluster that the HPC Job Scheduler Service runs every time a job is submitted. The job submission filter can either reject, accept, or change jobs that users submit to the cluster. A job submission filter parses the job description file to check for options that are disallowed or for failure to include a required option. For example, you might want to disallow the default Run Time value of Infinite. This could be done by a submission filter that checks the job description file for "Infinite," and, if it finds it, changes it to a finite value.
Note
Submission filters allow you to change job property values only. Task property options cannot be changed using a submission filter.
As another example, you might want to require a new job option that was created by editing the job schema. These are called extended options and they are not checked by the scheduler. Therefore, a submission filter would be necessary to enforce the requirement and to prevent a job from entering the queue if the option is not found.
Job activation filters
A job activation filter is a program (either a .exe of a .cmd file) that is accessible from the head node of the cluster that the HPC Job Scheduler Service runs every time a job is ready to be started, and can either delay or allow the start of the job. A job activation filter checks a queued job for factors that would cause the job to fail if activated, such as unavailability of licenses or exceeded usage time for the submitting user. If the filter detects the condition, it prevents the job from activating.