Node Management in Windows HPC Server 2008 Quick Reference

Applies To: Windows HPC Server 2008

This topic provides a quick reference for common node management actions. The tables below provide links to help topics or brief instructions for performing these actions using the three primary job submission interfaces in Windows® HPC Server 2008: HPC Job Manager, the Command Prompt window, and HPC PowerShell.

Note

All cluster nodes must have an associated node template. Node templates define the necessary tasks for adding, configuring, and maintaining compute nodes in your cluster. For more information, see Node Templates.

In this topic:

• Manage nodes

• View node information

Manage nodes

The following table lists actions that are related to managing nodes.

Action	HPC Cluster Manager	Command-prompt window	HPC PowerShell
Deploy nodes from bare metal	Deploy Compute Nodes from Bare Metal	Not available	Not available
Add preconfigured nodes	Add Preconfigured Compute Nodes	Not available	Not available
Add nodes by importing a node XML file	Add Compute Nodes by Importing a Node XML File	Not available	Import-HpcNodeXml
Start a node	In List view or Heat Map view, right-click a node, then click Start.	Not available	Start-HpcNode
Bring a node online	In List view or Heat Map view, right-click a node, then click Bring Online.	node resume	Set-HpcNodeState Include the parameter: -State Online
Take a node offline	In List view or Heat Map view, right-click a node, then click Take Offline.	node pause	Set-HpcNodeState Include the parameter: -State Offline
Reboot a node	In List view or Heat Map view, right-click a node, then click Reboot.	Not available	Restart-HpcNode
Shut down a node	In List view or Heat Map view, right-click a node, then click Shut Down.	Not available	Shutdown-HpcNode
Reject a node	In List view or Heat Map view, right-click a node, then click Reject.	Not available	Set-HpcNodeState Include the parameter: -State Rejected
Organize nodes into groups	Grouping Compute Nodes	Not available	Create a new node group: New-HpcGroup Add nodes to a node group: Add-HpcGroup
Edit node location and product key information	In List view or Heat Map view, right-click a node, then click Edit.	Not available	Set-HpcNode
Configure a WCF broker node	Configuring WCF Broker Nodes	Not available	Take the node offline before changing the node role. Change the node role using: Set-HpcNode Include the parameter: -Role BrokerNode
Run a command on a node	In List view or Heat Map view, right-click a node, then click Run command. For more information, see: Running Clusrun Commands	clusrun	Not available
Install applications on nodes	Either run the Post Install Command task in the node template, see: Maintaining Nodes Or use clusrun to run a command across a set of nodes, see: Running Clusrun Commands	clusrun	Run the Post Install command in the node template using: Assign-HpcNodeTemplate Include the parameter: -Maintain A Post Install Command can be added as a Maintenance task to the node template. For more information, see Maintaining Nodes.
Update nodes	Run the Apply Updates task in the node template: Maintaining Nodes	Not available	Run the Apply Updates task in the node template using: Assign-HpcNodeTemplate Include the parameter: -Maintain An Apply Updates task can be added as a Maintenance task to the node template. For more information, see Maintaining Nodes.
Reimage a node	Reimage Compute Nodes	Not available	Assign-HpcNodeTemplate

Additional references

• Appendix 5: Scriptable Power Control Tools: Includes information for customizing default commands such as node Start, Reboot, and Shut Down.

• Windows HPC Server 2008 Design and Deployment Guide: Includes considerations and steps for adding nodes to your cluster.

• Creating a Node XML File in Windows HPC Server 2008 Step-by-Step Guide: Includes steps for generating a base node XML file on the cluster head node, and editing the node XML file to include information about nodes you want to add to the cluster.

• Managing SOA Sessions in Windows HPC Server 2008 Step-by-Step Guide: Includes steps for configuring and monitoring a Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) broker node and for monitoring Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) sessions.

View node information

The following table lists actions that are related to viewing information about nodes.

Action	HPC Cluster Manager	Command-prompt window	HPC PowerShell
View current node states	View Nodes	node list	Get-HpcNode
View node details	View Nodes	node view Optionally use with the parameters: /detailed or /history	Get-HpcNode Use with fl (Format-List). For example: get-hpcnode –name myNode|fl
View node performance counters	For a single node: In List view, select a node, then in the Detail Pane, click the Metrics tab. To compare metrics across nodes: Use Heat Map view, or customize the displayed columns in List view (in the toolbar, click View, then click Column Chooser). View Performance Charts	Not available	Get-HpcMetricValue
View jobs running on a node	In List view or Heat Map view, select a node, then in Actions, under Pivot To, click Jobs for the Selected Nodes.	Not available	Get-HpcJob Include the parameter: -NodeName
View node operations	Read the Operations Log	Not available	Get-HpcOperation Get-HpcOperationLog
View node events	View Node Events	Not available	Not available
Open a remote desktop connection to a node	Open a Remote Desktop Connection	Not available	Not available
Run diagnostic tests on a node	Run Diagnostic Tests	Not available	Invoke-HpcTest

Additional references

• Customize Metrics Collection in Windows HPC Server 2008: Includes information and steps for modifying, removing, or adding new metrics to the metrics collection that is available for monitoring your nodes.

• Understanding Node States and Operations: Includes detailed information about node and operation states.

• Monitoring Nodes: Includes information about using HPC Cluster Manager to monitor cluster status and correlate monitoring information between nodes, jobs, operations and diagnostics.