HP Scalable Visualization Array Version 2.
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Table of Contents About This Document.......................................................................................................11 1 Intended Audience.............................................................................................................................11 2 Document Organization.....................................................................................................................11 3 Typographic Conventions......................................................
2.4.3.1 Edit Monitor Properties Using SVA Support..................................................................45 2.4.3.2 Change Monitor Properties Manually............................................................................48 2.4.3.3 Regenerate the SVA X Configuration Files.....................................................................49 2.4.4 Define a Stereo Display Surface..............................................................................................49 2.4.4.
List of Figures 2-1 2-2 2-3 2-4 2-5 2-6 2-7 Cabling Reference xw8200, xw8400, xw9300, xw9400: Graphic Card Ports.................................29 Cabling Reference DL140 G3, DL145 G3: Graphic Card Ports......................................................29 Cabling Reference for Multi-Tile Display Blocks: Two Cards.......................................................29 Cabling Reference for Multi-Tile Display Blocks: One Card........................................................
List of Tables 1-1 1-2 1-3 1-4 1-5 1-6 1-7 2-1 2-2 2-3 A-1 Site Configuration File: Tag Definitions for the SVA_JOB Section................................................18 Site Configuration File: Section/Tag Definitions...........................................................................19 Site Configuration File: Section/Tag Definitions (cont.)................................................................20 Site Configuration File: Section/Tag Definitions........................................
List of Examples 2-1 Sample DefaultStereo.monitor File......................................................................................................
About This Document This document describes system administration tasks that are specific to the SVA. 1 Intended Audience Primary: System administrators; secondary: application developers. 2 Document Organization This document is organized as follows: Chapter 1 (page 13) Use this chapter to learn about the data configuration files, including how to change their contents. Chapter 2 (page 27) This chapter describes how to set up display devices to work with SVA.
WARNING A warning calls attention to important information that if not understood or followed will result in personal injury or nonrecoverable system problems. A caution calls attention to important information that if not understood or followed will result in data loss, data corruption, or damage to hardware or software. This alert provides essential information to explain a concept or to complete a task. A note contains additional information to emphasize or supplement important points of the main text.
1 Managing Configuration Data Files This chapter describes the Configuration Data Files. It includes the format and content of the files, as well as how to change the files. 1.1 Format and Content of Configuration Data Files This section describes the general format and content of the Configuration Data Files: • Site Configuration File. • User Configuration File. • Job Settings File. The Configuration Data Files contain information on the configuration of the SVA.
• • Section names that support visualization are preceded with the prefix SVA_. Section names that are site customizations can have any name that is not already in use. Avoid using names that conflict with cluster host names. See Section 1.1.3 for examples. 1.1.2.3 Tag Names Tag names represent general characteristics of the SVA that are needed or useful for allocating resources, launching jobs, and managing the way jobs execute.
1.1.3 Section and Tag Contents There are three Configuration Data Files that interact to provide input to a job whenever you start a visualization session: • • • Site Configuration File. User Configuration File. Job Settings File. Because the three files overlap in several (but not all) of their settings, a hierarchy exists for the use of values specified from the command line or existing in more than one file. This hierarchy is as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Command line options. The Job Settings File.
SVA_RENDER_HOSTS="red[3-4]" SVA_EXECUTION_HOST="red1" SVA_TILE_GEOMETRY="1280x1024" SVA_DISPLAY_HOSTS="red1" red1.COORDINATE="0.0" # Declare a display surface [SVA_DS_1_2] SVA_RENDER_HOSTS="red[3-4]" SVA_EXECUTION_HOST="red2" SVA_TILE_GEOMETRY="1280x1024" SVA_DISPLAY_HOSTS="red2" red2.COORDINATE="0.0" # Declare a display surface [RED1] SVA_RENDER_HOSTS="" SVA_EXECUTION_HOST="red1" SVA_TILE_GEOMETRY="1280x1024" SVA_DISPLAY_HOSTS="red1" red1.COORDINATE="0.
Files. The Job Settings File is located in /hptc_cluster/sva/job/.conf. The in the name of the file is the SLURM Job ID. The Job Settings File has a lifespan equal to that of the job. When the application uses the svaPutData call, values are set in this file. It can be used to communicate options to job components. Refer to the SVA Visualization System Software Reference Guide for the syntax of this call. The content of the Job Settings File varies from job to job.
surface_name The generated name of the Display Surface. Names are generated as SVA_DS_1_1_d_n, where d is the number of display devices in the surface and n is the sequence number of surfaces within a number of devices. Valid characters must be lower and uppercase letters a-z, digits, and underscores. Name must begin with a letter. 1.1.4.2 Site Configuration Section and Tag Entries The following tables define the main sections and their associated tags in the Site Configuration File.
Table 1-2 Site Configuration File: Section/Tag Definitions Section Tag within Section Definition [SVA_CLUSTER] SVA_CLUSTER_NAME The name of the cluster. This can be set by the site administrator using the svaconfigure utility. It defaults to the external node name of the head node. Defines default site settings for the session. This section appears in the Site Configuration File only. Identifies cluster-specific user configuration files when using svagetdata calls.
Table 1-2 Site Configuration File: Section/Tag Definitions (continued) Section Tag within Section Definition Indicates whether the cluster has a KVM. A value of 0 indicates there is no KVM. A value of 1 indicates there is a KVM. The default value is 0. [SVA_ROLES] SVA_DISPLAY_HOSTS Lists of the render and display nodes. A list of node names that can act as display nodes. SVA_COMPUTE_HOSTS A list of node names that can act as compute nodes.
Table 1-4 Site Configuration File: Section/Tag Definitions INSTANCE Tags within INSTANCE Definition [host_name] SVA_ROLE1 The role of the host; that is, render or display. Each display and render host is listed. For this tag and section, the value is always set to DISPLAY. For each display node, it is listed with its specific role, tile number, orientation, and external name. SVA_NUM_TILES1 For each render node with external NICs, it is listed with its specific role Display nodes only.
Table 1-5 User Configuration File: Tag Definitions for the SVA_JOB Section (continued) Tags within Section Definition SVA_EXECUTION_HOST The name of the node on which the master component of an application runs. This tag value is set in the Job Settings File during job allocation. When set in the User Configuration File, it specifies where the DMX server runs and where the application main program runs. The execution host value must be the name of one of the hosts allocated to a job.
Table 1-6 Job Configuration File: Tag Definitions for the SVA_JOB Section Tags within Section Definition SVA_JOB Declares site default settings for all jobs. SVA_DISPLAY_COUNT The number of display nodes assigned to a job. SVA_RENDER_COUNT1 The number of render nodes assigned to a job. SVA_COMPUTE_COUNT1 The number of compute nodes assigned to a job. SVA_RENDER_HOSTS The list of render hosts assigned to a job. SVA_DISPLAY_HOSTS The list of display hosts assigned to a job.
1.2.1 Site Configuration File The Site Configuration File is created by HP when setting up the cluster initially. A post-installation discovery process, the svaconfigure utility, identifies all the nodes in the cluster, characterizes them by role, and defines all Display Surfaces by assuming each display node maps to a single Display Surface. This creates a set of Display Surfaces, each with a single tile, defined by a display node and the display device physically connected it.
A temporary Job Settings File is created when the first get or put command is executed. Subsequent get and put commands use the temporary Job Settings File until the job resources are allocated. The temporary Job Settings File is created by reading the sections and tags from the Site Configuration File to the temporary Job Settings File. Then the User Configuration File (if one exists) is read and its sections and tag values are written to the temporary Job Settings File.
2 Setting Up Display Devices This chapter describes how to set up display devices to work with SVA. Setting up display devices is often an important system management task. Because the display devices are frequently supplied by a vendor other than HP, you may need to rely on the display vendor for help. You likely will refer to the vendor display documentation for specific display settings. 2.
IMPORTANT: Always reboot display nodes after cabling any new display devices. This is necessary so that the graphics card can recognize the displays. It's a good idea to plan out the arrangement of your Display Surface and how you want to drive it using display nodes. Section 2.3 provides additional information on how to plan out your Display Surfaces.
TIP: HP recommends that within a single display node, you use a single type of display device (DVI, VGA). If you mix types, you will likely need to swap graphics cables until the screen is properly configured. This is not an issue when using a KVM.
2.3 Configure Display Nodes and Display Surfaces To understand the way the SVA uses Display Surfaces, you must understand the concept of a display block as used by the SVA. The output from each display node represents a single, virtual display block. The output of a display node is always considered a single display block, no matter how the display node is configured with respect to the number of graphics cards or how many ports are used by each graphics card.
Table 2-1 Display Block Configurations in a Sample Cluster (continued) Display Node Name Number of Graphics Cards Number of Ports Display Block Layout Used for Each Based on Single Tile Graphics Card Units vis6 2 2 2Wx2H vis7 2 2 1Wx4H vis8 2 2 1Wx4H 1 Display Block Layout Showing Tiles1 Display blocks are outlined in solid black; tiles within display blocks are separated by a dashed line. Applications display images using a Display Surface.
Table 2-2 Display Surfaces in a Sample Cluster Display Surface Name Display Nodes from Table 2-1 Display Block Layout from Table 2-1 Resulting Display Surface Display Surface Layout Layout in Terms of Tile Showing Display Blocks, Units Including Tiles1 display_a vis1 1Wx1H 1Wx1H display_b vis1, vis2 1Wx1H 2Wx1H display_c vis1, vis2 1Wx1H 1Wx2H display_d vis3, vis4 2Wx1H 2Wx2H display_e vis3, vis4 2Wx1H 4Wx1H display_f vis5, vis6 2Wx2H 4Wx2H display_g vis7, vis8 1Wx4H 2W4H 1
When you re-configure a display node's display block, that is, change the layout of tiles in the display block, the tool automatically updates any Display Surfaces that use that node. For example, you might choose to re-configure vis3 and vis4 display block layouts to be 1 W x 2 H. The display_d Display Surface in Table 2-2 would be updated automatically to have a Display Surface layout of 1 W x 4 H. Note that you would need to change both display blocks to have the same spatial arrangement.
block in tiles, for example, 2W x 1H. At this point, the tool attempts to update all existing Display Surfaces that use the re-configured display nodes using the specified display blocks. You may be warned that one or more Display Surfaces will now have inconsistent display block geometry. This is because Display Surfaces must use display blocks of the same tile orientation.
To list existing Display Surfaces, enter the List Display Surfaces option. Output from the Site Configuration File appears. For example: Current Display Surfaces are: display_a, display_b, display_c, display_d, display_e, display_f, display_g To get information on a specific Display Surface, choose the Print Display Surface Information option.
Figure 2-5 Creating a 2 W x 1 H Display Surface Two Tiles File View Display Block 1Wx1H Vis1 Vis2 Display Block 1Wx1H Display Nodes Display Surface (2 W x 1 H) To create the Display Surface, follow these steps: 1. 2. Choose the Create option and enter the name for the new Display Surface. Valid characters must be lower and uppercase letters a-z, digits, and underscores. Names must begin with a letter.
Select the tile resolution from the list above [7]: 9 3. Next, you see a list of the available display blocks, for example: 1) 2) 3) 4) Width 1 2 2 1 Height 1 1 2 4 Number of Nodes 2 2 2 2 Pick the type of display block you want to use. In this example, enter the number 1 because you want to use 1 W x 1 H display blocks. Pick a display block: 1 4. Indicate how you want the display blocks oriented as this is a case of multi-block Display Surfaces ( 2 W x 1 H).
After you successfully create a new Display Surface, it is added to the list of available Display Surfaces in the Site Configuration File. It is now available for use when launching a visualization job. Now consider the example display_d from Table 2-2 of a 2W x 2 H Display Surface as shown in Figure 2-6. In this case, each display block has a 2 W x 1 H configuration using two display devices.
3. For this example, you would enter the following display block arrangement: What is the width of the display surface (in display blocks)? 1 What is the height of the display surface (in blocks)? 2 You have chosen a display surface that will look like the diagram below: +====+ | 2 | +====+ | 1 | +====+ 4. Next, specify the host name of the display node for each display block, in this case two display nodes for the two display blocks, which correspond to four display devices.
Please enter the hostname of the display node connected to display block 2 (press ENTER to list all display nodes): syntho2 Please enter the hostname of the display node connected to display block 3 (press ENTER to list all display nodes): syntho3 2.3.2.3 Replace Nodes in a Display Surface with Different Nodes This section shows an example Display Surface using a different set of nodes than those found in Table 2-1 and Table 2-2.
2.3.2.5 Replace One Display Node with Another This section shows an example Display Surface using a different set of nodes than that found in Table 2-1 and Table 2-2. This option lets you replace one node with a different node in one or more Display Surfaces. For example, use this option to replace node A with node B in one or more of the Display Surfaces that contain node A. Press the Enter key to see a list of available nodes or Display Surfaces.
2.4 Configure SVA for Stereo or Exotic Mono Displays In order to display stereo images on an SVA, you need to use SVA launch scripts to run a stereo-compliant application on a Display Surface that is properly configured for stereo. Configuring SVA for stereo is a system administration task. CAUTION: The stereo capabilities provided in SVA best support a single class of mono display devices and a single class of stereo display devices at any one time on the cluster.
3. Regenerate Valid X Configuration Files for your displays. This primarily involves modifying the Monitor Properties for the X Configuration Files with the correct refresh rates and modeline values that correspond to any new supported resolutions you may have added to the Site Configuration File (see Step 2). You then regenerate the X Server Configuration Files. This is described in Section 2.4.3. 4. Define your Display Surface.
2.4.1 Install SVA Kits By the end of a full SVA Kit installation (or a patch kit installation), SVA generates the following: • An SVA Site Configuration File, with appropriate default settings for mono and stereo displays. After installation, you may need to modify the Site Configuration File to provide additional supported resolutions and refresh rates for atypical mono displays and stereo displays.
Tip: The default supported resolutions are meant as a starting point and you should review and add to them as needed for your display devices. Changes to these tags require regenerating the SVA Configuration Files as described in Section 2.4.3.3. The values for these tags determine valid resolution options for the SVA launch scripts. If the display device you want to use with your cluster requires an unsupported resolution, you need to add it to the Site Configuration File.
/hptc_cluster/sva/etc/X11/templates/monitors, SVA provides two files, DefaultMono.monitor and DefaultStereo.monitor, that let you specify the following properties: • • • HorizSync VertRefresh Modelines If your changes are for a mono display, edit DefaultMono.monitor; if your changes are for a stereo display, edit DefaultStereo.monitor. Example 2-1 provides an example of the DefaultStereo.monitor file.
IMPORTANT: Consult your display device documentation for your display's specific properties. The more exotic your display (for example, stereo, projector, cave systems), the more likely you need to use the display vendor's documentation for the modeline information, refresh rate, and resolution. Once you have this information, you can proceed with changes to the Monitor Properties Files.
Example 2-1 Sample DefaultStereo.monitor File Section "Monitor" Identifier "SVAStereoMonitor" # These settings represent a generic, stereo-capable monitor. # You should replace these values with values that are appropriate for # your stereo-capable monitor. VendorName "Generic" ModelName "Generic Stereo Monitor" HorizSync 31-82 VertRefresh 55-120 Modeline Modeline Modeline Modeline Modeline Modeline Modeline Modeline Modeline Modeline EndSection "1280x1024" 211.
IMPORTANT: The SVA X Configuration Files in /etc/X11 are regenerated during SVA installation imaging. You will lose your changes if the cluster is re-imaged. Please notify HP SVA Engineering so that this type of property change to X Configuration Files can be supported in future releases. 2.4.3.3 Regenerate the SVA X Configuration Files You need to regenerate the SVA X Configuration Files when you do either of the following: • • Add to the supported resolutions in the Site Configuration File.
3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Delete a Display Surface Change the arrangement of nodes in a Display Surface Replace nodes in a Display Surface with different nodes Completely redefine a Display Surface Replace one display node with another in one or more Display Surfaces Exit Enter request:2 Please enter the display surface name to create. Stereo_1 Is this display used for stereo graphics? y/[n] y The following types of stereo display are supported: 1) 2) 3) 4) Active stereo using DDC glasses.
3 Common System Administration Tasks This chapter describes additional tasks system administrators commonly do on the Scalable Visualization Array (SVA). Many of the tasks described in this chapter typically require root privileges and knowledge of the hardware components of the SVA and its software configuration. 3.1 Accessing Application Data Files Data set sizes for visualization applications can range from less than 1GB to more than 100GB.
http://www.macrovision.com SVA relies on the HP XC license to validate its use; it has no unique license of its own. HP Manufacturing installs and tests XC customer licenses when they build the cluster. The cluster arrives at the customer site with these licenses installed. If you are reinstalling an SVA Software Kit, you need the HP XC licenses that are installed on your cluster when it arrives.
3.4 Configuring HP Remote Graphics Software (RGS) RGS is an optional package that you can use to display images created on the SVA on a display device that is remote to the cluster. RGS requires some additional configuration and installation steps that are not documented in the RGS installation instructions. Refer to the HP XC System Software Installation Guide for details.
3.5.2 Set User Passwords This is not a system manager task. It is included here so that you are aware of the need for users to complete this step before using VirtualGL and TurboVNC. If not done already, individual users must set the TurboVNC passwords for their username account using the following command: % /opt/TurboVNC/bin/vncpasswd The password is saved in ~/.vnc/passwd. Individual users can provide both user and view-only passwords. These should be different.
A Troubleshooting A.1 Troubleshooting Setup Use Table A-1 for solutions to a variety of problems. Table A-1 Troubleshooting Problem Remark Console monitor displays message that the input signal is out of range. Large display has video output visible. Resolution available via KVM or RKM is too low compared to the resolution in use by the large display. This is unsupported.
Table A-1 Troubleshooting (continued) Problem Remark Sub-portions of an image (individual tiles) are different sizes relative to one another on a multi-tile display. This could be a problem with your display devices. If you are using a video switch between your display nodes and display devices, try hooking your display devices directly to the display nodes. Another possibility may appear using the sva_chromium_dmx.sh script. Depending on the display hardware on your cluster, use of the sva_chromium_dmx.
Table A-1 Troubleshooting (continued) Problem Remark Login to the GUI of the cluster either locally or remotely, for example, for an RGS session, terminates prematurely (ten seconds or so). Other users can login without this problem. This may be an indication of a login file that is incompatible with the cluster environment. A number of environment variables are automatically set and can be overridden by login values. Review, edit, and simplify your login file as needed.
Diagnostic Commands This Reference Section describes the SVA diagnostic utilities. The following standard terminology is used in the Description section for each command: • Users: Users of the diagnostic command. • Runs On: The type of nodes on which the diagnostic runs, specifically, administrative node or cluster nodes. • Mode: The type of system access the command requires. Non-exclusive access means that a diagnostic can run even if other utilities are using the subsystem being tested.
sva_ovp(8) NAME sva_ovp -- Verifies that the components of an SVA system are working properly. Synopsis sva_ovp { -d display-surface,... } [ -g geometry ,...] [ -i display ] [ -l ] [ -h ] Options -d display-surface or --display-surface name -g geometry or --tile_geometry geometry -i display or --input_display display -l or --long-runtime -h or --help Specifies the list of Display Surfaces to test. It defaults to the first supported display resolution. Specifies the tile geometries (resolutions) to test.
• Passed with (w/X.X dB of noise) This means that the test image was successfully generated and it was close enough to the HP reference image that it is a match. • ERROR: Test file never generated. The OpenGL application didn't save the final frame to disk. Most likely, this is because the application never ran. • ERROR: Test and Ref files are different.(w/X.X dB of noise) This means that although the image was generated, it was considered different than the reference image.
svaverify(8) NAME svaverify -- Verifies that the Site Configuration Data File is valid. Synopsis svaverify [ -v ] [ -V ] [ -h ] Options -v or --verbose -V or --Version -h or --help Displays readable output of the allocation process. Used for debugging only. Displays the version number of this program. Prints usage information. Description Users Runs On Mode Subsystems Tested Supply Chain, Delivery, Field Service, System Administrator. Head node. Non-exclusive. • Directly: Site Configuration File.
Glossary Administrative Network Connects all nodes in the cluster. In an HP XC compute cluster, this consists of two branches: the Administrative Network and the Console Network. This private local Ethernet network runs TCP/IP. The Administrative Network is Gigabit Ethernet (GigE); the Console Network is 10/100 BaseT. Because the visualization nodes do not support console functions, visualization nodes are not connected to a console branch.
Node Configuration Tool Defines the display block output from a single display node, including the relative spatial arrangement of the tiles. Invoked using the svaconfigurenode command. Requires root privileges. ParaView An open-source, multi-platform, extensible application designed for visualizing large datasets. This scalable application runs on single-processor workstations as well as on large parallel supercomputers.
Index C L Change node type, 33 Configuration data files changes to, 23 check syntax for, 25 general format of, 13 hierarchy of, 15 include statement within, 14 Section and Tag definitions, 17 Configuration File Checker, 25, 62 License managment, 51 login node X Config file on, 48 Lustre use to access data, 51 D Data file access, 51 Diagnostic commands Configuration File Checker, 62 SVA OVP, 60 Display block defined, 30 relation to display devices, 30 restriction on configurations used in Display Surface
