QuickStart Interact

Case: when you log on to the HPC, you begin on the login node. The login and managing nodes are NOT a place to develop or test jobs. Taxing the login or manage nodes will affect everyone鈥檚 use of the cluster. It will also likely get your job killed and get a reminder from the system administrators.

The interact script will reserve a processor on node for your sole use. You can develop or test your job code before you are ready to submit them to the scheduler.

$ interact

  • If used with no options, the script will reserve one batch node for one hour
  • Use $ interact -h to learn the options available
  • The maximum time is eight hours ($ interact -t 8)
  • Use $ exit to end your interact session

NOTE: You should not submit a qsub job from within an interact session.

While an interact session is an easy sandbox to set up, it may not provide for all the resources your testing requires. There are other ways to get a whole playground, if you need it.

qsub -I will create a more private reservation by asking a node with 24 cores for 2 hours.

$ qsub -I -q batch -l nodes=1:ppn=24,walltime=2:00:00

This will reserve the high memory node instead of a node from the default batch queue.

$ qsub -I -q himem -l nodes=1:ppn=1,walltime=1:00:00

If you are not sure how to get resources for your testing, email hpc@kennesaw.edu.