Using PBS Professional on HP XC

Procedures
The following topics are covered in this XC How To:
• Installation planning.
• Installation actions specific to HP XC.
• Configuration of PBS Professional™.
• Replicating execution nodes and starting services.
• User-level setup.
• Running HP MPI tasks
Before you install PBS Professional™, read the HP XC-specific instructions in this XC How To, and then
follow the installation instructions from the PBS Pro Quick Start Guide
Installing PBS Professional™ under HP XC
The information in this section supplements the vendor’s installation guide.
Planning the installation
Determine the type of installation that you require for each node of the cluster. Choose one of three
following installation types for each node in the cluster, based on how you intend to use the node:
• Designate one node of the cluster (possibly the HP XC head node) as the PBS server. This node
runs the server and scheduler daemons. Other documentation might refer to the PBS server as the
front-end node.
• You can designate a number of nodes to run user tasks, referred to as PBS execution nodes.
Execution nodes run the PBS Professional™ MOM (Machine Oriented Miniserver) daemon.
On a HP XC cluster, you designate the compute nodes to function as PBS execution nodes. You
can choose to use all the compute nodes, or a subset of the compute nodes. The PBS server node
(front-end-node) is automatically designated as an execution node. See Adding nodes to the
PBS Professional™ configuration for information.
• Optionally, you can designate a number of PBS client nodes. Client nodes do not run any
daemons and are not used to execute user tasks. The PBS Professional™ software is installed on
all client nodes, enabling these nodes to interact with the PBS server (front-end-node).
You can submit user tasks and monitor the tasks from a client node. In an HP XC cluster, there
are typically one or more nodes (other than the head node) that are designated for interactive
logins. Because these servers are not used as compute nodes, you can configure them as PBS
clients.
Performing installation actions specific to HP XC.
Use the following installation sequence:
1. Install the PBS server node (front-end-node) first, using the installation script provided by the
software vendor, and specifying the following values: