next up previous contents index
Next: condor_ submit_dag Up: 9. Command Reference Manual Previous: condor_ store_cred   Contents   Index

Subsections


condor_ submit

Queue jobs for execution under Condor

Synopsis

condor_ submit [-verbose] [-name schedd_name] [-remote schedd_name] [-pool pool_name] [-disable] [-password passphrase] [-debug] [-append command ... ] [-spool] [submit description file]

Description

condor_ submit is the program for submitting jobs for execution under Condor. condor_ submit requires a submit description file which contains commands to direct the queuing of jobs. One submit description file may contain specifications for the queuing of many Condor jobs at once. A single invocation of condor_ submit may cause one or more clusters. A cluster is a set of jobs specified in the submit description file between queue commands for which the executable is not changed. It is advantageous to submit multiple jobs as a single cluster because:

Multiple clusters may be specified within a single submit description file. Each cluster must specify a single executable.

The job ClassAd attribute ClusterId identifies a cluster. See section 2.5.2 for specifics on this attribute.

Note that submission of jobs from a Windows machine requires a stashed password to allow Condor to impersonate the user submitting the job. To stash a password, use the condor_ store_cred command. See the manual page at page [*] for details.

SUBMIT DESCRIPTION FILE COMMANDS

Each submit description file describes one cluster of jobs to be placed in the Condor execution pool. All jobs in a cluster must share the same executable, but they may have different input and output files, and different program arguments. The submit description file is the only command-line argument to condor_ submit.

The submit description file must contain one executable command and at least one queue command. All of the other commands have default actions.

The commands which can appear in the submit description file are numerous. They are listed here in alphabetical order by category.

BASIC COMMANDS

arguments = <argument_list>
List of arguments to be supplied to the program on the command line. In the Java Universe, the first argument must be the name of the class containing main.

There are two permissible formats for specifying arguments. The new syntax supports uniform quoting of spaces within arguments; the old syntax supports spaces in arguments only in special circumstances.

In the old syntax, arguments are delimited (separated) by space characters. Double-quotes must be escaped with a backslash (i.e. put a backslash in front of each double-quote).

Further interpretation of the argument string differs depending on the universe and operating system. On Windows, your argument string is simply passed verbatim (other than the backslash in front of double-quotes) to the windows application. Most Windows applications will allow you to put spaces within an argument value by surrounding the argument with double-quotes. In the grid universe, arguments are passed verbatim (other than the backslash in front of double-quotes) into the RSL string used by Globus. See section 5.3.2 for further details. In all other cases, there is no further interpretation of the arguments.

Example: 

arguments = one \"two\" 'three'

Produces in unix vanilla universe: 

argument 1: one
argument 2: "two"
argument 3: 'three'

Here are the rules for using the new syntax:

  1. Put double quotes around the entire argument string. This distinguishes the new syntax from the old, because these double-quotes are not escaped with backslashes, as required in the old syntax. Any literal double-quotes within the string must be escaped by repeating them.

  2. Use whitespace (e.g. spaces or tabs) to separate arguments.

  3. To put any whitespace in an argument, you must surround the space and as much of the surrounding argument as you like with single-quotes.

  4. To insert a literal single-quote, you must repeat it anywhere inside of a single-quoted section.

Example: 

arguments = "one ""two"" 'spacey ''quoted'' argument'"

Produces: 

argument 1: one
argument 2: "two"
argument 3: spacey 'quoted' argument

Notice that in the new syntax, backslash has no special meaning. This is for the convenience of Windows users.

environment = <parameter_list>
List of environment variables.

There are two different formats for specifying the environment variables: the old format and the new format. The old format is retained for backward-compatibility. It suffers from a platform-dependent syntax and the inability to insert some special characters into the environment.

The new syntax for specifying environment values:

  1. Put double quote marks around the entire argument string. This distinguishes the new syntax from the old. The old syntax does not have double quote marks around it. Any literal double quote marks within the string must be escaped by repeating the double quote mark.

  2. Each environment entry has the form 

    <name>=<value>

  3. Use whitespace (space or tab characters) to separate environment entries.

  4. To put any whitespace in an environment entry, surround the space and as much of the surrounding entry as desired with single quote marks.

  5. To insert a literal single quote mark, repeat the single quote mark anywhere inside of a section surrounded by single quote marks.

Example: 

environment = "one=1 two=""2"" three='spacey ''quoted'' value'"

Produces the following environment entries: 

one=1
two="2"
three=spacey 'quoted' value

Under the old syntax, there are no double quote marks surrounding the environment specification. Each environment entry remains of the form 

<name>=<value>
Under Unix, list multiple environment entries by separating them with a semicolon (;). Under Windows, separate multiple entries with a vertical bar (| ). There is no way to insert a literal semicolon under Unix or a literal vertical bar under Windows. Note that spaces are accepted, but rarely desired, characters within parameter names and values, because they are treated as literal characters, not separators or ignored whitespace. Place spaces within the parameter list only if required.

A Unix example: 

environment = one=1;two=2;three="quotes have no 'special' meaning"

This produces the following: 

one=1
two=2
three="quotes have no 'special' meaning"

error = <pathname>
A path and file name used by Condor to capture any error messages the program would normally write to the screen (that is, this file becomes stderr). If not specified, the default value of /dev/null is used for submission to a Unix machine. If not specified, error messages are ignored for submission to a Windows machine. More than one job should not use the same error file, since this will cause one job to overwrite the errors of another. The error file and the output file should not be the same file as the outputs will overwrite each other or be lost. For grid universe jobs, error may be a URL that the Globus tool globus_url_copy understands.

executable = <pathname>
An optional path and a required file name of the executable file for this job cluster. Only one executable command within a submit description file is guaranteed to work properly. More than one often works.

If no path or a relative path is used, then the executable file is presumed to be relative to the current working directory of the user as the condor_ submit command is issued.

If submitting into the standard universe (the default), then the named executable must have been re-linked with the Condor libraries (such as via the condor_ compile command). If submitting into the vanilla universe, then the named executable need not be re-linked and can be any process which can run in the background (shell scripts work fine as well). If submitting into the Java universe, then the argument must be a compiled .class file.

getenv = <True | False>
If getenv is set to True, then condor_ submit will copy all of the user's current shell environment variables at the time of job submission into the job ClassAd. The job will therefore execute with the same set of environment variables that the user had at submit time. Defaults to False.

input = <pathname>
Condor assumes that its jobs are long-running, and that the user will not wait at the terminal for their completion. Because of this, the standard files which normally access the terminal, (stdin, stdout, and stderr), must refer to files. Thus, the file name specified with input should contain any keyboard input the program requires (that is, this file becomes stdin). If not specified, the default value of /dev/null is used for submission to a Unix machine. If not specified, input is ignored for submission to a Windows machine. For grid universe jobs, input may be a URL that the Globus tool globus_url_copy understands.

Note that this command does not refer to the command-line arguments of the program. The command-line arguments are specified by the arguments command.

log = <pathname>
Use log to specify a file name where Condor will write a log file of what is happening with this job cluster. For example, Condor will place a log entry into this file when and where the job begins running, when the job produces a checkpoint, or moves (migrates) to another machine, and when the job completes. Most users find specifying a log file to be handy; its use is recommended. If no log entry is specified, Condor does not create a log for this cluster.

log_xml = <True | False>
If log_xml is True, then the log file will be written in ClassAd XML. If not specified, XML is not used. Note that the file is an XML fragment; it is missing the file header and footer. Do not mix XML and non-XML within a single file. If multiple jobs write to a single log file, ensure that all of the jobs specify this option in the same way.

notification = <Always | Complete | Error | Never>
Owners of Condor jobs are notified by e-mail when certain events occur. If defined by Always, the owner will be notified whenever the job produces a checkpoint, as well as when the job completes. If defined by Complete (the default), the owner will be notified when the job terminates. If defined by Error, the owner will only be notified if the job terminates abnormally. If defined by Never, the owner will not receive e-mail, regardless to what happens to the job. The statistics included in the e-mail are documented in section 2.6.7 on page [*].

notify_user = <email-address>
Used to specify the e-mail address to use when Condor sends e-mail about a job. If not specified, Condor defaults to using the e-mail address defined by 
job-owner@UID_DOMAIN
where the configuration variable UID_DOMAIN is specified by the Condor site administrator. If UID_DOMAIN has not been specified, Condor sends the e-mail to: 
job-owner@submit-machine-name

output = <pathname>
The output file captures any information the program would ordinarily write to the screen (that is, this file becomes stdout). If not specified, the default value of /dev/null is used for submission to a Unix machine. If not specified, output is ignored for submission to a Windows machine. Multiple jobs should not use the same output file, since this will cause one job to overwrite the output of another. The output file and the error file should not be the same file as the outputs will overwrite each other or be lost. For grid universe jobs, output may be a URL that the Globus tool globus_url_copy understands.

Note that if a program explicitly opens and writes to a file, that file should not be specified as the output file.

priority = <integer>
A Condor job priority can be any integer, with 0 being the default. Jobs with higher numerical priority will run before jobs with lower numerical priority. Note that this priority is on a per user basis. One user with many jobs may use this command to order his/her own jobs, and this will have no effect on whether or not these jobs will run ahead of another user's jobs.

queue [number-of-procs]
Places one or more copies of the job into the Condor queue. The optional argument number-of-procs specifies how many times to submit the job to the queue, and it defaults to 1. If desired, any commands may be placed between subsequent queue commands, such as new input, output, error, initialdir, or arguments commands. This is handy when submitting multiple runs into one cluster with one submit description file.

universe = <vanilla | standard | pvm | scheduler | local | grid | mpi | java>
Specifies which Condor Universe to use when running this job. The Condor Universe specifies a Condor execution environment. The standard Universe is the default (except where the configuration variable DEFAULT_UNIVERSE defines it otherwise), and tells Condor that this job has been re-linked via condor_ compile with the Condor libraries and therefore supports checkpointing and remote system calls. The vanilla Universe is an execution environment for jobs which have not been linked with the Condor libraries. Note: Use the vanilla Universe to submit shell scripts to Condor. The pvm Universe is for a parallel job written with PVM 3.4. The scheduler is for a job that should act as a metascheduler. The grid universe forwards the job to an external job management system. Further specification of the grid universe is done with the grid_resource command. The mpi universe is for running mpi jobs made with the MPICH package. The java Universe is for programs written to the Java Virtual Machine.

COMMANDS FOR MATCHMAKING

rank = <ClassAd Float Expression>
A ClassAd Floating-Point expression that states how to rank machines which have already met the requirements expression. Essentially, rank expresses preference. A higher numeric value equals better rank. Condor will give the job the machine with the highest rank. For example, 
        requirements = Memory > 60
        rank = Memory
asks Condor to find all available machines with more than 60 megabytes of memory and give to the job the machine with the most amount of memory. See section 2.5.2 within the Condor Users Manual for complete information on the syntax and available attributes that can be used in the ClassAd expression.

requirements = <ClassAd Boolean Expression>
The requirements command is a boolean ClassAd expression which uses C-like operators. In order for any job in this cluster to run on a given machine, this requirements expression must evaluate to true on the given machine. For example, to require that whatever machine executes a Condor job has a least 64 Meg of RAM and has a MIPS performance rating greater than 45, use: 
requirements = Memory >= 64 && Mips > 45
Only one requirements command may be present in a submit description file. By default, condor_ submit appends the following clauses to the requirements expression:
  1. Arch and OpSys are set equal to the Arch and OpSys of the submit machine. In other words: unless you request otherwise, Condor will give your job machines with the same architecture and operating system version as the machine running condor_ submit.
  2. Disk >= DiskUsage. The DiskUsage attribute is initialized to the size of the executable plus the size of any files specified in a transfer_input_files command. It exists to ensure there is enough disk space on the target machine for Condor to copy over both the executable and needed input files. The DiskUsage attribute represents the maximum amount of total disk space required by the job in kilobytes. Condor automatically updates the DiskUsage attribute approximately every 20 minutes while the job runs with the amount of space being used by the job on the execute machine.
  3. (Memory * 1024) >= ImageSize. To ensure the target machine has enough memory to run your job.
  4. If Universe is set to Vanilla, FileSystemDomain is set equal to the submit machine's FileSystemDomain.
View the requirements of a job which has already been submitted (along with everything else about the job ClassAd) with the command condor_ q -l; see the command reference for condor_ q on page [*]. Also, see the Condor Users Manual for complete information on the syntax and available attributes that can be used in the ClassAd expression.

FILE TRANSFER COMMANDS

should_transfer_files = <YES | NO | IF_NEEDED >
The should_transfer_files setting is used to define if Condor should transfer files to and from the remote machine where the job runs. The file transfer mechanism is used to run jobs which are not in the standard universe (and can therefore use remote system calls for file access) on machines which do not have a shared file system with the submit machine. should_transfer_files equal to YES will cause Condor to always transfer files for the job. NO disables Condor's file transfer mechanism. IF_NEEDED will not transfer files for the job if it is matched with a resource in the same FileSystemDomain as the submit machine (and therefore, on a machine with the same shared file system). If the job is matched with a remote resource in a different FileSystemDomain, Condor will transfer the necessary files.

If defining should_transfer_files you must also define when_to_transfer_output (described below). For more information about this and other settings related to transferring files, see section 2.5.4 on page [*].

Note that should_transfer_files is not supported for jobs submitted to the grid universe.

stream_error = <True | False>
If True, then stderr is streamed back to the machine from which the job was submitted. If False, stderr is stored locally and transferred back when the job completes. This command is ignored if the job ClassAd attribute TransferErr is False. The default value is True in the grid universe and False otherwise.

stream_input = <True | False>
If True, then stdin is streamed from the machine on which the job was submitted. The default value is False. The command is only relevant for jobs submitted to the vanilla or java universes, and it is ignored by the grid universe.

stream_output = <True | False>
If True, then stdout is streamed back to the machine from which the job was submitted. If False, stdout is stored locally and transferred back when the job completes. This command is ignored if the job ClassAd attribute TransferOut is False. The default value is True in the grid universe and False otherwise.

transfer_executable = <True | False>
This command is applicable to jobs submitted to the grid, vanilla, and MPI universes. If transfer_executable is set to False, then Condor looks for the executable on the remote machine, and does not transfer the executable over. This is useful for an already pre-staged executable; Condor behaves more like rsh. The default value is True.

transfer_input_files = < file1,file2,file... >
A comma-delimited list of all the files to be transferred into the working directory for the job before the job is started. By default, the file specified in the executable command and any file specified in the input command (for example, stdin) are transferred.

Only the transfer of files is available; the transfer of subdirectories is not supported.

For more information about this and other settings related to transferring files, see section 2.5.4 on page [*].

transfer_output_files = < file1,file2,file... >
This command forms an explicit list of output files to be transferred back from the temporary working directory on the execute machine to the submit machine. Most of the time, there is no need to use this command. Other than for grid universe jobs, if transfer_output_files is not specified, Condor will automatically transfer back all files in the job's temporary working directory which have been modified or created by the job. This is usually the desired behavior. Explicitly listing output files is typically only done when the job creates many files, and the user wants to keep a subset of those files. If there are multiple files, they must be delimited with commas. WARNING: Do not specify transfer_output_files in the submit description file unless there is a really good reason - it is best to let Condor figure things out by itself based upon what the job produces.

For grid universe jobs, to have files other than standard output and standard error transferred from the execute machine back to the submit machine, do use transfer_output_files, listing all files to be transferred. These files are found on the execute machine in the working directory of the job.

For more information about this and other settings related to transferring files, see section 2.5.4 on page [*].

transfer_output_remaps = < `` name = newname ; name2 = newname2 ... ''>
This specifies the name (and optionally path) to use when downloading output files from the completed job. Normally, output files are transferred back to the initial working directory with the same name they had in the execution directory. This gives you the option to save them with a different path or name. If you specify a relative path, the final path will be relative to the job's initial working directory.

name describes an output file name produced by your job, and newname describes the file name it should be downloaded to. Multiple remaps can be specified by separating each with a semicolon. If you wish to remap file names that contain equals signs or semicolons, these special characters may be escaped with a backslash.

when_to_transfer_output = < ON_EXIT | ON_EXIT_OR_EVICT >

Setting when_to_transfer_output equal to ON_EXIT will cause Condor to transfer the job's output files back to the submitting machine only when the job completes (exits on its own).

The ON_EXIT_OR_EVICT option is intended for fault tolerant jobs which periodically save their own state and can restart where they left off. In this case, files are spooled to the submit machine any time the job leaves a remote site, either because it exited on its own, or was evicted by the Condor system for any reason prior to job completion. The files spooled back are placed in a directory defined by the value of the SPOOL configuration variable. Any output files transferred back to the submit machine are automatically sent back out again as input files if the job restarts.

For more information about this and other settings related to transferring files, see section 2.5.4 on page [*].

POLICY COMMANDS

hold = <True | False>
If hold is set to True, then the job will be submitted in the hold state. Jobs in the hold state will not run until released by condor_ release. Defaults to false.

leave_in_queue = <ClassAd Boolean Expression>
When the ClassAd Expression evaluates to True, the job is not removed from the queue upon completion. The job remains in the queue until the user runs condor_ rm to remove the job from the queue. This allows the user of a remotely spooled job to retrieve output files in cases where Condor would have removed them as part of the cleanup associated with completion. Defaults to False.

on_exit_hold = <ClassAd Boolean Expression>
This expression is checked when the job exits and if true, places the job on hold. If false then nothing happens and the on_exit_remove expression is checked to determine if that needs to be applied.

For example: Suppose a job is known to run for a minimum of an hour. If the job exits after less than an hour, the job should be placed on hold and an e-mail notification sent, instead of being allowed to leave the queue. 

        on_exit_hold = (CurrentTime - JobStartDate) < (60 * $(MINUTE))

This expression places the job on hold if it exits for any reason before running for an hour. An e-mail will be sent to the user explaining that the job was placed on hold because this expression became True.

periodic_* expressions take precedence over on_exit_* expressions, and *_hold expressions take precedence over a *_remove expressions.

If left unspecified, this will default to False.

This expression is available for the vanilla, java, and scheduler universes. It is additionally available, when submitted from a Unix machine, for the standard universe.

on_exit_remove = <ClassAd Boolean Expression>
This expression is checked when the job exits and if true, then it allows the job to leave the queue normally. If false, then the job is placed back into the Idle state. If the user job runs under the vanilla universe, then the job restarts from the beginning. If the user job runs under the standard universe, then it continues from where it left off, using the last checkpoint.

For example, suppose you have a job that occasionally segfaults, but you know if you run the job again with the same data, chances are that the will finish successfully. This is how you would represent that with on_exit_remove (assuming the signal identifier for segmentation fault is 11 on the platform where your job will be running): 

        on_exit_remove = (ExitBySignal == False) || (ExitSignal != 11)
This expression will only let the job leave the queue if the job was not killed by a signal (it exited normally on its own) or if it was killed by a signal other than 11 (representing segmentation fault). So, if it was killed by signal 11, it will stay in the job queue. In any other case of the job exiting, the job will leave the queue as it normally would have done.

As another example, if your job should only leave the queue if it exited on its own with status 0, you would use this on_exit_remove expression: 

        on_exit_remove = (ExitBySignal == False) && (ExitCode == 0)
If the job was killed by a signal or exited with a non-zero exit status, Condor would leave the job in the queue to run again.

If left unspecified, the on_exit_remove expression will default to True.

periodic_* expressions take precedence over on_exit_* expressions, and *_hold expressions take precedence over a *_remove expressions.

This expression is available for the vanilla, java, and scheduler universes. It is additionally available, when submitted from a Unix machine, for the standard universe. Note that the condor_ schedd daemon, by default, only checks these periodic expressions once every 300 seconds. The period of these evaluations can be adjusted by setting the PERIODIC_EXPR_INTERVAL configuration macro.

periodic_hold = <ClassAd Boolean Expression>
This expression is checked periodically at an interval of the number of seconds set by the configuration variable PERIODIC_EXPR_INTERVAL. If it becomes true, the job will be placed on hold. If unspecified, the default value is False.

See the Examples section for an example of a periodic_* expression.

periodic_* expressions take precedence over on_exit_* expressions, and *_hold expressions take precedence over a *_remove expressions.

This expression is available for the vanilla, java and grid universes. It is additionally available, when submitted from a Unix machine, for the standard universe. Note that the schedd, by default, only checks periodic expressions once every 300 seconds. The period of these evaluations can be adjusted by setting the PERIODIC_EXPR_INTERVAL configuration macro.

periodic_release = <ClassAd Boolean Expression>
This expression is checked periodically at an interval of the number of seconds set by the configuration variable PERIODIC_EXPR_INTERVAL while the job is in the Hold state. If the expression becomes True, the job will be released.

This expression is available for the vanilla, java, and grid universes. It is additionally available, when submitted from a Unix machine, for the standard universe. Note that the condor_ schedd daemon, by default, only checks periodic expressions once every 300 seconds. The period of these evaluations can be adjusted by setting the PERIODIC_EXPR_INTERVAL configuration macro.

periodic_remove = <ClassAd Boolean Expression>
This expression is checked periodically at an interval of the number of seconds set by the configuration variable PERIODIC_EXPR_INTERVAL. If it becomes True, the job is removed from the queue. If unspecified, the default value is False.

See the Examples section for an example of a periodic_* expression.

periodic_* expressions take precedence over on_exit_* expressions, and *_hold expressions take precedence over a *_remove expressions. So, the periodic_remove expression takes precedent over the on_exit_remove expression, if the two describe conflicting actions.

This expression is available for the vanilla, java and grid universes. It is additionally available, when submitted from a Unix machine, for the standard universe. Note that the schedd, by default, only checks periodic expressions once every 300 seconds. The period of these evaluations can be adjusted by setting the PERIODIC_EXPR_INTERVAL configuration macro.

COMMANDS SPECIFIC TO THE STANDARD UNIVERSE

allow_startup_script = <True | False>
If True, a standard universe job will execute a script instead of submitting the job, and the consistency check to see if the executable has been linked using condor_ compile is omitted. The executable command within the submit description file specifies the name of the script. The script is used to do preprocessing before the job is submitted. The shell script ends with an exec of the job executable, such that the process id of the executable is the same as that of the shell script. Here is an example script that gets a copy of a machine-specific executable before the exec. 
 
   #! /bin/sh

   # get the host name of the machine
   $host=`uname -n`

   # grab a standard universe executable designed specifically
   # for this host
   scp elsewhere@cs.wisc.edu:${host} executable

   # The PID MUST stay the same, so exec the new standard universe process.
   exec executable ${1+"$@"}
If this command is not present (defined), then the value defaults to false.

append_files = file1, file2, ...

If your job attempts to access a file mentioned in this list, Condor will force all writes to that file to be appended to the end. Furthermore, condor_submit will not truncate it. This list uses the same syntax as compress_files, shown above.

This option may yield some surprising results. If several jobs attempt to write to the same file, their output may be intermixed. If a job is evicted from one or more machines during the course of its lifetime, such an output file might contain several copies of the results. This option should be only be used when you wish a certain file to be treated as a running log instead of a precise result.

This option only applies to standard-universe jobs.

buffer_files = < `` name = (size,block-size) ; name2 = (size,block-size) ... '' >
buffer_size = <bytes-in-buffer>
buffer_block_size = <bytes-in-block>
Condor keeps a buffer of recently-used data for each file a job accesses. This buffer is used both to cache commonly-used data and to consolidate small reads and writes into larger operations that get better throughput. The default settings should produce reasonable results for most programs.

These options only apply to standard-universe jobs.

If needed, you may set the buffer controls individually for each file using the buffer_files option. For example, to set the buffer size to 1 Mbyte and the block size to 256 KBytes for the file input.data, use this command: 

buffer_files = "input.data=(1000000,256000)"

Alternatively, you may use these two options to set the default sizes for all files used by your job: 

buffer_size = 1000000
buffer_block_size = 256000

If you do not set these, Condor will use the values given by these two configuration file macros: 

DEFAULT_IO_BUFFER_SIZE = 1000000
DEFAULT_IO_BUFFER_BLOCK_SIZE = 256000

Finally, if no other settings are present, Condor will use a buffer of 512 Kbytes and a block size of 32 Kbytes.

compress_files = file1, file2, ...

If your job attempts to access any of the files mentioned in this list, Condor will automatically compress them (if writing) or decompress them (if reading). The compress format is the same as used by GNU gzip.

The files given in this list may be simple file names or complete paths and may include * as a wildcard. For example, this list causes the file /tmp/data.gz, any file named event.gz, and any file ending in .gzip to be automatically compressed or decompressed as needed: 

compress_files = /tmp/data.gz, event.gz, *.gzip
Due to the nature of the compression format, compressed files must only be accessed sequentially. Random access reading is allowed but is very slow, while random access writing is simply not possible. This restriction may be avoided by using both compress_files and fetch_files at the same time. When this is done, a file is kept in the decompressed state at the execution machine, but is compressed for transfer to its original location.

This option only applies to standard universe jobs.

fetch_files = file1, file2, ...

If your job attempts to access a file mentioned in this list, Condor will automatically copy the whole file to the executing machine, where it can be accessed quickly. When your job closes the file, it will be copied back to its original location. This list uses the same syntax as compress_files, shown above.

This option only applies to standard universe jobs.

file_remaps = < `` name = newname ; name2 = newname2 ... ''>

Directs Condor to use a new file name in place of an old one. name describes a file name that your job may attempt to open, and newname describes the file name it should be replaced with. newname may include an optional leading access specifier, local: or remote:. If left unspecified, the default access specifier is remote:. Multiple remaps can be specified by separating each with a semicolon.

This option only applies to standard universe jobs.

If you wish to remap file names that contain equals signs or semicolons, these special characters may be escaped with a backslash.

Example One:
Suppose that your job reads a file named dataset.1. To instruct Condor to force your job to read other.dataset instead, add this to the submit file: 
file_remaps = "dataset.1=other.dataset"
Example Two:
Suppose that your run many jobs which all read in the same large file, called very.big. If this file can be found in the same place on a local disk in every machine in the pool, (say /bigdisk/bigfile,) you can instruct Condor of this fact by remapping very.big to /bigdisk/bigfile and specifying that the file is to be read locally, which will be much faster than reading over the network. 
file_remaps = "very.big = local:/bigdisk/bigfile"
Example Three:
Several remaps can be applied at once by separating each with a semicolon. 
file_remaps = "very.big = local:/bigdisk/bigfile ; dataset.1 = other.dataset"

local_files = file1, file2, ...

If your job attempts to access a file mentioned in this list, Condor will cause it to be read or written at the execution machine. This is most useful for temporary files not used for input or output. This list uses the same syntax as compress_files, shown above. 

local_files = /tmp/*

This option only applies to standard universe jobs.

want_remote_io = <True | False>
This option controls how a file is opened and manipulated in a standard universe job. If this option is true, which is the default, then the condor_ shadow makes all decisions about how each and every file should be opened by the executing job. This entails a network round trip (or more) from the job to the condor_ shadow and back again for every single open() in addition to other needed information about the file. If set to false, then when the job queries the condor_ shadow for the first time about how to open a file, the condor_ shadow will inform the job to automatically perform all of its file manipulation on the local file system on the execute machine and any file remapping will be ignored. This means that there must be a shared file system (such as NFS or AFS) between the execute machine and the submit machine and that ALL paths that the job could open on the execute machine must be valid. The ability of the standard universe job to checkpoint, possibly to a checkpoint server, is not affected by this attribute. However, when the job resumes it will be expecting the same file system conditions that were present when the job checkpointed.

COMMANDS FOR THE GRID

globus_rematch = <ClassAd Boolean Expression>
This expression is evaluated by the condor_ gridmanager whenever:
  1. the globus_resubmit expression evaluates to True
  2. the condor_ gridmanager decides it needs to retry a submission (as when a previous submission failed to commit)
If globus_rematch evaluates to True, then before the job is submitted again to globus, the condor_ gridmanager will request that the condor_ schedd daemon renegotiate with the matchmaker (the condor_ negotiator). The result is this job will be matched again.

globus_resubmit = <ClassAd Boolean Expression>
The expression is evaluated by the condor_ gridmanager each time the condor_ gridmanager gets a job ad to manage. Therefore, the expression is evaluated:
  1. when a grid universe job is first submitted to Condor-G
  2. when a grid universe job is released from the hold state
  3. when Condor-G is restarted (specifically, whenever the condor_ gridmanager is restarted)
If the expression evaluates to True, then any previous submission to the grid universe will be forgotten and this job will be submitted again as a fresh submission to the grid universe. This may be useful if there is a desire to give up on a previous submission and try again. Note that this may result in the same job running more than once. Do not treat this operation lightly.

globus_rsl = <RSL-string>
Used to provide any additional Globus RSL string attributes which are not covered by other submit description file commands or job attributes. Used for grid universe jobs, where the grid resource has a grid-type-string of gt2 or gt3.

globus_xml = <XML-string>
Used to provide any additional attributes in the GRAM XML job description that Condor writes which are not covered by regular submit description file parameters. Used for grid type gt4 jobs.

grid_resource = <grid-type-string> <grid-specific-parameter-list>
For each grid-type-string value, there are further type-specific values that must specified. This submit description file command allows each to be given in a space-separated list. Allowable grid-type-string values are gt2, gt3, gt4, condor, nordugrid, and unicore. See section 5.3 for details on the variety of grid types.

For a grid-type-string of condor, the first parameter is the name of the remote condor_ schedd daemon. The second parameter is the name of the pool to which the remote condor_ schedd daemon belongs. See section 5.3.1 for details.

For a grid-type-string of gt2, the single parameter is the name of the pre-WS GRAM resource to be used. See section 5.3.2 for details.

For a grid-type-string of gt3, the single parameter is the name of the OSGA GRAM service to be used. See section 5.3.2 for details.

For a grid-type-string of gt4, the first parameter is the name of the WS GRAM service to be used. The second parameter is the name of WS resource to be used (usually the name of the back-end scheduler). See section 5.3.2 for details.

For a grid-type-string of lsf, no additional parameters are used. See section 5.3.6 for details.

For a grid-type-string of nordugrid, the single parameter is the name of the NorduGrid resource to be used. See section 5.3.3 for details.

For a grid-type-string of pbs, no additional parameters are used. See section 5.3.5 for details.

For a grid-type-string of unicore, the first parameter is the name of the Unicore Usite to be used. The second parameter is the name of the Unicore Vsite to be used. See section 5.3.4 for details.

keystore_alias = <name>
A string to locate the certificate in a Java keystore file, as used for a unicore job.

keystore_file = <pathname>
The complete path and file name of the Java keystore file containing the certificate to be used for a unicore job.

keystore_passphrase_file = <pathname>
The complete path and file name to the file containing the passphrase protecting a Java keystore file containing the certificate. Relevant for a unicore job.

MyProxyCredentialName = <symbolic name>
The symbolic name that identifies a credential to the MyProxy server. This symbolic name is set as the credential is initially stored on the server (using myproxy-init).

MyProxyHost = <host>:<port>
The Internet address of the host that is the MyProxy server. The host may be specified by either a host name (as in head.example.com) or an IP address (of the form 123.456.7.8). The port number is an integer.

MyProxyNewProxyLifetime = <number-of-minutes>
The new lifetime (in minutes) of the proxy after it is refreshed.

MyProxyPassword = <password>
The password needed to refresh a credential on the MyProxy server. This password is set when the user initially stores credentials on the server (using myproxy-init). As an alternative to using MyProxyPassword in the submit description file, the password may be specified as a command line argument to condor_ submit with the -password argument.

MyProxyRefreshThreshold = <number-of-seconds>
The time (in seconds) before the expiration of a proxy that the proxy should be refreshed. For example, if MyProxyRefreshThreshold is set to the value 600, the proxy will be refreshed 10 minutes before it expires.

MyProxyServerDN = <credential subject>
A string that specifies the expected Distinguished Name (credential subject, abbreviated DN) of the MyProxy server. It must be specified when the MyProxy server DN does not follow the conventional naming scheme of a host credential. This occurs, for example, when the MyProxy server DN begins with a user credential.

nordugrid_rsl = <RSL-string>
Used to provide any additional RSL string attributes which are not covered by regular submit description file parameters. Used when the universe is grid, and the type of grid system is nordugrid.

transfer_error = <True | False>
For jobs submitted to the grid universe only. If True, then the error output (from stderr) from the job is transferred from the remote machine back to the submit machine. The name of the file after transfer is given by the error command. If False, no transfer takes place (from the remote machine to submit machine), and the name of the file is given by the error command. The default value is True.

transfer_input = <True | False>
For jobs submitted to the grid universe only. If True, then the job input (stdin) is transferred from the machine where the job was submitted to the remote machine. The name of the file that is transferred is given by the input command. If False, then the job's input is taken from a pre-staged file on the remote machine, and the name of the file is given by the input command. The default value is True.

For transferring files other than stdin, see transfer_input_files.

transfer_output = <True | False>
For jobs submitted to the grid universe only. If True, then the output (from stdout) from the job is transferred from the remote machine back to the submit machine. The name of the file after transfer is given by the output command. If False, no transfer takes place (from the remote machine to submit machine), and the name of the file is given by the output command. The default value is True.

For transferring files other than stdout, see transfer_output_files.

x509userproxy = <full-pathname>
Used to override the default path name for X.509 user certificates. The default location for X.509 proxies is the /tmp directory, which is generally a local file system. Setting this value would allow Condor to access the proxy in a shared file system (for example, AFS). Condor will use the proxy specified in the submit description file first. If nothing is specified in the submit description file, it will use the environment variable X509_USER_CERT. If that variable is not present, it will search in the default location.

x509userproxy is relevant when the universe is grid, and the type of grid system is one of gt2, gt3, gt4, or nordugrid.

COMMANDS FOR PARALLEL, JAVA, SCHEDULER, and PVM UNIVERSES

hold_kill_sig = <signal-number>
For the scheduler universe only, signal-number is the signal delivered to the job when the job is put on hold with condor_ hold. signal-number may be either the platform-specific name or value of the signal. If this command is not present, the value of kill_sig is used.

jar_files = <file_list>
Specifies a list of additional JAR files to include when using the Java universe. JAR files will be transferred along with the executable and automatically added to the classpath.

java_vm_args = <argument_list>
Specifies a list of additional arguments to the Java VM itself, When Condor runs the Java program, these are the arguments that go before the class name. This can be used to set VM-specific arguments like stack size, garbage-collector arguments and initial property values.

machine_count = <min..max> | <max>
For the PVM universe, both min and max or just max may be defined. If machine_count is specified, Condor will not start the job until it can simultaneously supply the job with min machines. Condor will continue to try to provide up to max machines, but will not delay starting of the job to do so. If the job is started with fewer than max machines, the job will be notified via a usual PvmHostAdd notification as additional hosts come on line.

For the parallel (and therefore, the mpi) universe, a single value (max) is required. It is neither a maximum or minimum, but the number of machines to be dedicated toward running the job.

remove_kill_sig = <signal-number>
For the scheduler universe only, signal-number is the signal delivered to the job when the job is removed with condor_ rm. signal-number may be either the platform-specific name or value of the signal. This example shows it both ways for a Linux signal: 
remove_kill_sig = SIGUSR1
remove_kill_sig = 10
If this command is not present, the value of kill_sig is used.

ADVANCED COMMANDS

copy_to_spool = <True | False>
If copy_to_spool is set to True, then condor_ submit will copy the executable to the local spool directory before running it on a remote host. Oftentimes this can be quite time consuming and unnecessary. By setting it to False, condor_ submit will skip this step. The default is False for grid universe jobs or when the -spool or -remote options are used; the default is True for all other jobs.

coresize = <size>
Should the user's program abort and produce a core file, coresize specifies the maximum size in bytes of the core file which the user wishes to keep. If coresize is not specified in the command file, the system's user resource limit ``coredumpsize'' is used. This limit is not used in HP-UX and DUX operating systems.

deferral_time = <Unix Epoch Timestamp>
This option allows a job to begin execution at a specific time instead of executing as soon as it arrives at the execution machine. The deferral time is an expression that must evaluate to a Unix Epoch timestamp (the number of seconds elapsed since 00:00:00 on January 1, 1970, Coordinated Universal Time). A job using this option will be delayed for execution by the condor_ starter until the deferral time arrives. If the job misses its execution time, that is, if the deferral time is in the past, the job will be aborted and removed from the queue. The time that the job will start at is based on the execution machine's system clock.

The following example will set a job to run at exactly on January 1st, 2006 at 12:00 pm: 

 
   DeferralTime = 1136138400

This example will cause a job to always wait 60 seconds after it arrives at the execution machine before executing: 

 
   DeferralTime = (CurrentTime + 60)

To allow for jobs to run even if the deferral time is missed, please refer to deferral_window.

Please note that scheduler universe jobs are unable to use this feature because they are not executed by the condor_ starter. A scheduler job will fail to be submitted if condor_ deferral_time is defined in its submission file.

deferral_window = <number-of-seconds>
The deferral window is used in conjunction with the deferral_time command to allow jobs that miss their execution time to run anyway. The window is the number of seconds in the past Condor is willingly to run a job if the deferral time is missed.

In the example below, the deferral_time always evaluate to 60 seconds in the past from the current time, but the job is still allowed to execute because the deferral_window is 120 seconds: 

 
   DeferralWindow = 120
   DeferralTime   = (CurrentTime - 60)

image_size = <size>
This command tells Condor the maximum virtual image size to which you believe your program will grow during its execution. Condor will then execute your job only on machines which have enough resources, (such as virtual memory), to support executing your job. If you do not specify the image size of your job in the description file, Condor will automatically make a (reasonably accurate) estimate about its size and adjust this estimate as your program runs. If the image size of your job is underestimated, it may crash due to inability to acquire more address space, e.g. malloc() fails. If the image size is overestimated, Condor may have difficulty finding machines which have the required resources. size must be in kbytes, e.g. for an image size of 8 megabytes, use a size of 8000.

initialdir = <directory-path>
Used to give jobs a directory with respect to file input and output. Also provides a directory (on the machine from which the job is submitted) for the user log, when a full path is not specified.

For vanilla or MPI universe jobs where there is a shared file system, it is the current working directory on the machine where the job is executed.

For vanilla, grid, or MPI universe jobs where file transfer mechanisms are utilized (there is not a shared file system), it is the directory on the machine from which the job is submitted where the input files come from, and where the job's output files go to.

For standard universe jobs, it is the directory on the machine from which the job is submitted where the condor_ shadow daemon runs; the current working directory for file input and output accomplished through remote system calls.

For scheduler universe jobs, it is the directory on the machine from which the job is submitted where the job runs; the current working directory for file input and output with respect to relative path names.

Note that the path to the executable is not relative to initialdir; if it is a relative path, it is relative to the directory in which the condor_ submit command is run.

job_lease_duration = <number-of-seconds>
For vanilla and java universe jobs only, the duration (in seconds) of a job lease. The default value is undefined. See section 2.14.4 for details of job leases.

kill_sig = <signal-number>
When Condor needs to kick a job off of a machine, it will send the job the signal specified by signal-number. signal-number needs to be an integer which represents a valid signal on the execution machine. For jobs submitted to the standard universe, the default value is the number for SIGTSTP which tells the Condor libraries to initiate a checkpoint of the process. For jobs submitted to the vanilla universe, the default is SIGTERM which is the standard way to terminate a program in Unix.

match_list_length = <integer value>
Defaults to the value zero (0). When match_list_length is defined with an integer value greater than zero (0), attributes are inserted into the job ClassAd. The maximum number of attributes defined is given by the integer value. The job ClassAds introduced are given as 
LastMatchName0 = "most-recent-Name"
LastMatchName1 = "next-most-recent-Name"

The value for each introduced ClassAd is given by the value of the Name attribute from the machine ClassAd of a previous execution (match). As a job is matched, the definitions for these attributes will roll, with LastMatchName1 becoming LastMatchName2, LastMatchName0 becoming LastMatchName1, and LastMatchName0 being set by the most recent value of the Name attribute.

An intended use of these job attributes is in the requirements expression. The requirements can allow a job to prefer a match with either the same or a different resource than a previous match.

max_job_retirement_time = <integer expression>
An integer-valued expression (in seconds) that does nothing unless the machine that runs the job has been configured to provide retirement time (see section 3.5.9). Retirement time is a grace period given to a job to finish naturally when a resource claim is about to be preempted. No kill signals are sent during a retirement time. The default behavior in many cases is to take as much retirement time as the machine offers, so this command will rarely appear in a submit description file.

When a resource claim is to be preempted, this expression in the submit file specifies the maximum run time of the job (in seconds, since the job started). This expression has no effect, if it is greater than the maximum retirement time provided by the machine policy. If the resource claim is not preempted, this expression and the machine retirement policy are irrelevant. If the resource claim is preempted and the job finishes sooner than the maximum time, the claim closes gracefully and all is well. If the resource claim is preempted and the job does not finish in time, the usual preemption procedure is followed (typically a soft kill signal, followed by some time to gracefully shut down, followed by a hard kill signal).

Standard universe jobs and any jobs running with nice_user priority have a default max_job_retirement_time of 0, so no retirement time is utilized by default. In all other cases, no default value is provided, so the maximum amount of retirement time is utilized by default.

Setting this expression does not affect the job's resource requirements or preferences. For a job to only run on a machine with a minimum , or to preferentially run on such machines, explicitly specify this in the requirements and/or rank expressions.

nice_user = <True | False>
Normally, when a machine becomes available to Condor, Condor decides which job to run based upon user and job priorities. Setting nice_user equal to True tells Condor not to use your regular user priority, but that this job should have last priority among all users and all jobs. So jobs submitted in this fashion run only on machines which no other non-nice_user job wants -- a true ``bottom-feeder'' job! This is very handy if a user has some jobs they wish to run, but do not wish to use resources that could instead be used to run other people's Condor jobs. Jobs submitted in this fashion have ``nice-user.'' pre-appended in front of the owner name when viewed from condor_ q or condor_ userprio. The default value is False.

noop_job = <ClassAd Boolean Expression>
When this boolean expression is True, the job is immediately removed from the queue, and Condor makes no attempt at running the job. The log file for the job will show a job submitted event and a job terminated event, along with an exit code of 0, unless the user specifies a different signal or exit code.

noop_job_exit_code = <return value>
When noop_job is in the submit description file and evaluates to True, this command allows the job to specify the return value as shown in the job's log file job terminated event. If not specified, the job will show as having terminated with status 0. This overrides any value specified with noop_job_exit_signal.

noop_job_exit_signal = <signal number>
When noop_job is in the submit description file and evaluates to True, this command allows the job to specify the signal number that the job's log event will show the job having terminated with.

remote_initialdir = <directory-path>
The path specifies the directory in which the job is to be executed on the remote machine. This is currently supported in all universes except for the standard universe.

rendezvousdir = <directory-path>
Used to specify the shared file system directory to be used for file system authentication when submitting to a remote scheduler. Should be a path to a preexisting directory.

+<attribute> = <value>
A line which begins with a '+' (plus) character instructs condor_ submit to insert the following attribute into the job ClasssAd with the given value.

In addition to commands, the submit description file can contain macros and comments:

Macros
Parameterless macros in the form of $(macro_name) may be inserted anywhere in Condor submit description files. Macros can be defined by lines in the form of 
 
        <macro_name> = <string>
Three pre-defined macros are supplied by the submit description file parser. The third of the pre-defined macros is only relevant to MPI universe jobs. The $(Cluster) macro supplies the value of the ClusterId job ClassAd attribute, and the $(Process) macro supplies the value of the ProcId job ClassAd attribute. These macros are intended to aid in the specification of input/output files, arguments, etc., for clusters with lots of jobs, and/or could be used to supply a Condor process with its own cluster and process numbers on the command line. The $(Process) macro should not be used for PVM jobs. The $(Node) macro is defined only for MPI universe jobs. It is a unique value assigned for the duration of the job that essentially identifies the machine on which a program is executing.

If the dollar sign ($) is desired as a literal character, then use 

$(DOLLAR)

In addition to the normal macro, there is also a special kind of macro called a substitution macro that allows the substitution of expressions defined on the resource machine itself (gotten after a match to the machine has been made) into specific expressions within the submit description file. The substitution macro is of the form: 

 
$$(attribute)

A common use of this macro is for the heterogeneous submission of an executable: 

executable = povray.$$(opsys).$$(arch)
Values for the opsys and arch attributes are substituted at match time for any given resource. This allows Condor to automatically choose the correct executable for the matched machine.

An extension to the syntax of the substitution macro provides an alternative string to use if the machine attribute within the substitution macro is undefined. The syntax appears as: 

 
$$(attribute:string_if_attribute_undefined)

An example using this extended syntax provides a path name to a required input file. Since the file can be placed in different locations on different machines, the file's path name is given as an argument to the program. 

 
argument = $$(input_file_path:/usr/foo)
On the machine, if the attribute input_file_path is not defined, then the path /usr/foo is used instead.

The environment macro, $ENV, allows the evaluation of an environment variable to be used in setting a submit description file command. The syntax used is 

 
$ENV(variable)
An example submit description file command that uses this functionality evaluates the submittor's home directory in order to set the path and file name of a log file: 
 
log = $ENV(HOME)/jobs/logfile
The environment variable is evaluated when the submit description file is processed.

The $RANDOM_CHOICE macro allows a random choice to be made from a given list of parameters at submission time. For an expression, if some randomness needs to be generated, the macro may appear as 

 
    $RANDOM_CHOICE(0,1,2,3,4,5,6)
When evaluated, one of the parameters values will be chosen.

Comments
Blank lines and lines beginning with a pound sign ('#') character are ignored by the submit description file parser.

Options

-verbose
Verbose output - display the created job ClassAd

-name schedd_name
Submit to the specified condor_ schedd. Use this option to submit to a condor_ schedd other than the default local one.

-remote schedd_name
Submit to the specified condor_ schedd, spooling all required input files over the network connection. This option is equivalent to using both -name and -spool.

-pool pool_name
Look in the specified pool for the condor_ schedd to submit to. This option is used with -name or -remote.

-disable
Disable file permission checks.

-password passphrase
Specify a password to the MyProxy server.

-debug
Cause debugging information to be sent to stderr, based on the value of the configuration variable SUBMIT_DEBUG.

-append command
Augment the commands in the submit description file with the given command. This command will be considered to immediately precede the Queue command within the submit description file, and come after all other previous commands. The submit description file is not modified. Multiple commands are specified by using the -append option multiple times. Each new command is given in a separate -append option. Commands with spaces in them will need to be enclosed in double quote marks.

-spool
Spool all required input files, user log, and proxy over the connection to the condor_ schedd. After submission, modify local copies of the files without affecting your jobs. Any output files for completed jobs need to be retrieved with condor_ transfer_data.

submit description file
The pathname to the submit description file. If this optional argument is missing or equal to ``-'', then the commands are taken from standard input.

Exit Status

condor_ submit will exit with a status value of 0 (zero) upon success, and a non-zero value upon failure.

Examples

General Remarks

See Also

Condor User Manual

Author

Condor Team, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Copyright

Copyright © 1990-2006 Condor Team, Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI. All Rights Reserved. No use of the Condor Software Program is authorized without the express consent of the Condor Team. For more information contact: Condor Team, Attention: Professor Miron Livny, 7367 Computer Sciences, 1210 W. Dayton St., Madison, WI 53706-1685, (608) 262-0856 or miron@cs.wisc.edu.

U.S. Government Rights Restrictions: Use, duplication, or disclosure by the U.S. Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) of The Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at DFARS 252.227-7013 or subparagraphs (c)(1) and (2) of Commercial Computer Software-Restricted Rights at 48 CFR 52.227-19, as applicable, Condor Team, Attention: Professor Miron Livny, 7367 Computer Sciences, 1210 W. Dayton St., Madison, WI 53706-1685, (608) 262-0856 or miron@cs.wisc.edu.

See the Condor Version 6.8.3 Manual for additional notices.

next up previous contents index
Next: condor_ submit_dag Up: 9. Command Reference Manual Previous: condor_ store_cred   Contents   Index
condor-admin@cs.wisc.edu