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Release Notes for Past Releases

EnFuzion root programs are not working. How can I proceed?
A common installation error is an incorrect execution path. You need to make sure that all EnFuzion programs are on the execution path on the root computer.

Verify that all the EnFuzion executable files are in a directory which is on your execution path.

By default on Linux/Unix, EnFuzion binaries are located in directory ~/enfuzion/bin for non-root users and /usr/local/enfuzion/bin for the root user.

On Windows NT/2000/XP, the default directory for EnFuzion executables, used by setup.exe, is: C:\EnFuzion\bin.
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An EnFuzion node is not working. How can I proceed?
On Linux/Unix, EnFuzion will search for the node executables in the directory ~/enfuzion for ordinary users and in /usr/local/enfuzion for the root user.

On Windows NT/2000/XP, EnFuzion will search for the node executables in the directory bin in the main EnFuzion directory. If the executables are not found in this directory, then they must be accessible through the execution path.

On Linux/Unix, you can test that node executables are accessible by running the command enfinstall verify. If this command does not work, then login into each node using telnet and test the path by typing:

<dir>/enfnodeserver -v

Replace the <dir> with a valid directory for your configuration. This command will report the current version of the node.

If the node is not started, then make sure that its executable is in the expected directory and that its execution permissions are set.
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The License is not working. How can I proceed?
On Linux/Unix, EnFuzion will search for the license file enflicense in the following directories: current directory, directories in the execution path, ~/enfuzion/config, and /usr/local/enfuzion/config.

On Windows NT/2000/XP, EnFuzion will search for the license file enflicense in the following directories: current directory, main EnFuzion directory and in the config subdirectory of the main directory.

Make sure that a valid license is placed in one of the directories above. A common error is to have an obsolete license in a directory that is in front of the current license in the order above.
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Load Monitoring is not working. How can I proceed?
Make sure that the enfuzion.options file is installed. On Linux/Unix, EnFuzion will search for the system enfuzion.options file in the directory /var/opt/enfuzion, and for the user file in directory ~/enfuzion. On Windows NT/2000/XP, EnFuzion will search for the enfuzion.options file in the main EnFuzion directory.

The node has an option that allows you to verify load monitoring options. Login to the node using telnet and display the options by typing:

<dir>/enfnodeserver -o

Replace the <dir> with a valid directory for your configuration. This command prints out load monitoring options as seen by the node.
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My application is not executing properly on nodes. What should I do?
EnFuzion provides extensive reporting of system and user errors.

Most common execution errors are reported in the log file, called enfuzion.log. The log file contains error reports and diagnostic messages.

Execution errors by user applications are reported to their standard output and standard error files. These files are automatically copied from a node to the root computer if a command fails. The files can be of great assistance in determining the nature of the errors. (See the EnFuzion manual for more details.)

Make sure that the application is capable of running on all the node computers as specified in the configuration file. The application must be accessible through the execution path on the node or copied to the node as part of the job execution.

If the application is to be accessible through the execution path, you can login to a node which causes problems and try running the application from the command line. If this is not working, modify your execution path or install the application on the node.

A common error is to forget some input files, required by the application. Make sure that all input files are either copied to nodes as part of the job execution, which is specified in the plan, or accessible on the node locally or via NFS.

Try to avoid referring to files via relative pathnames through parent directories. On node computers, user jobs execute in their own directories and the location of these directories might change in the future. We recommend that file names are specified as files or subdirectories in the local directory or as absolute path names. The EnFuzion copy command will copy files relative to the local directory.
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Does EnFuzion require Windows NT/2000/XP Server for its operation?
No. EnFuzion works with Windows Workstation as well as with Windows Server editions.

(See the EnFuzion manual for more details.)
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Does EnFuzion work in mixed Linux/Unix and Windows NT/2000/XP networks?
Yes. EnFuzion works in heterogeneous networks. It can combine a large number of Linux/Unix and Windows NT/2000/XP computers to work as a single cluster.

(See the EnFuzion manual for more details.)
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How can I configure EnFuzion to use Linux/Unix and Windows NT/2000 at the same time?
If an EnFuzion root on Linux/Unix is using an EnFuzion node on Windows NT/2000/XP, this needs to be specified in the network configuration file enfuzion.nodes with an additional "WindowsNT" keyword for each Windows NT/2000/XP host. A line in enfuzion.nodes would thus look as follows:

host user password WindowsNT

Similarly, an EnFuzion root on Windows NT/2000/XP requires keyword "Unix" for each Linux/Unix node:

host user password Unix

These additional keywords are necessary because remote execution on Linux/Unix and Windows NT/2000/XP is implemented differently. If the root and the node are on hosts of the same type, then these keywords are not required.
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I am unable to access a Windows NT/2000/XP network drive.
Or, I am unable to access a Windows NT/2000/XP network drive from my application that is executing on an EnFuzion node. How can I overcome this problem?

By default, Windows NT/2000/XP will not map network drives if nobody is logged on the machine. Since EnFuzion node programs appear to Windows NT/2000/XP as batch processes, some network drives might not be seen by EnFuzion jobs.

The simplest solution is to map the network drives with an additional command in EnFuzion plans using the execute command. The Windows NT/2000/XP command net use explicitly maps network drives for local access. For example, the following EnFuzion command, using the net use command will map a network drive to local "z:" drive:

node:execute net use z: \\computername\sharename
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Can I avoid plaintext passwords in the network configuration file enfuzion.nodes?
Yes. It is possible to encrypt passwords using the enfprotectpass utility. The utility enfprotectpass takes the file enfuzion.nodes from its working directory and produces a file with encypted passwords and other user information. The output file can be renamed to enfuzion.nodes and used instead of the original file. By default the output file is named "enfuzion.nodes.e". A user can change the name of the output file with the -o option.

See the 'Encrypted Passwords in enfuzion.nodes' section in Chapter 10, 'Security'.
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How can I configure EnFuzion to avoid conflict with a user working on a node?
I will be using EnFuzion to distribute calculations during night or weekends to fully use the idle CPU time. How can I set up EnFuzion so that a user who is using a computer interactively will not be affected by my calculations?

EnFuzion has extensive support for load monitoring on local hosts. It is able to detect interactive users and execute jobs only on hosts which are idle.

(See the EnFuzion manual for more details.)
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How can I configure EnFuzion to execute two simultaneous jobs on a dual processor host?
The maximum number of concurrent jobs to be executed on the specified node can be specified by the joblimit option in the node.config file.

(See the EnFuzion manual for more details.)
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How do I manually install EnFuzion on Linux/Unix?
Please see the EnFuzion manual for details.
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What are default installation directories under Linux/Unix?
Please see the EnFuzion manual for details.
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The installation program on Linux/Unix complains about an incorrect user or password on a remote machine. What should I do?
Verify that you can manually connect via telnet and ftp to the remote machine. The installation program requires that telnet and ftp servers are both executing on the remote machine. Sometimes, a machine will allow connections from one but not the other. Make sure that you test both.

If ftp is not allowed, then you can install EnFuzion manually. EnFuzion itself will function even without an ftp connection.

If telnet is not allowed, more secure protocols (such as ssh) can be used with EnFuzion to access the nodes.
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How does EnFuzion on Linux/Unix communicate with remote machines?
The Linux/Unix installation program, enfinstall, by default uses standard Unix commands telnet and ftp to install EnFuzion on remote machines. No special software is required on the EnFuzion root machine, because telnet and ftp clients are implemented as part of EnFuzion. EnFuzion node machines must have ftp and telnet servers running. They must be accessible via ftp and telnet commands from the EnFuzion root machine.

Apart from telnet, EnFuzion can use other protocols such as ssh or rsh to access node machines.

The dispatcher automatically starts EnFuzion nodes via telnet when required. After the connection between the EnFuzion root and an EnFuzion node is established, EnFuzion uses the TCP/IP protocol to transfer messages. If it is necessary to copy files, these will be copied by EnFuzion over TCP/IP. Alternatively, NFS can be used by specifying appropriate path names in EnFuzion run files.

(See the EnFuzion manual for more details.)
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How does EnFuzion compare to batch queue managers?
Batch queue managers are specialized to share the computational load by executing individual tasks on the most appropriate computer. Batch queue managers do not provide facilities for the generation of jobs nor facilities for the management of a large number of jobs belonging to a single application.

EnFuzion is complementary to batch queue managers. It can be used stand-alone or in conjunction with batch queue managers. EnFuzion divides a large task into a number of smaller jobs and then uses all available computing resources to execute the jobs as fast as possible. It will thus keep all the available computers fully utilized. EnFuzion is application oriented, since the jobs will be managed in the context of a single application.

EnFuzion supports parametric execution. With parametric execution, input parameters are varied, but the program to be executed remains the same. Each set of input values generates one job. Variations in input parameters usually produce a large number of jobs. This large number of jobs and resulting outputs, sometimes exceeding thousands, is hard to manage and takes a long time to compute.

EnFuzion provides significant benefits for parametric execution.

It radically simplifies the generation and distribution of jobs and the collection of job results.

Because it distributes jobs over a network of computers in a user transparent fashion, the jobs are computed much faster than on a single computer.

EnFuzion thus greatly simplifies and speeds up parametric executions. Batch queue managers address only the distribution aspects of parametric executions, but do not provide any help with the job generation or management aspects.

Although EnFuzion provides its own job distribution mechanism, it can be integrated with other batch queue managers, if that is required. In that case, EnFuzion submits jobs through a batch queue manager. This allows smooth integration of EnFuzion with existing load distribution policies. Axceleon will be happy to provide additional information on the integration of EnFuzion with batch queue managers. Send e-mail to info@axceleon.com.
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Where can I learn about the early technology behind EnFuzion?
For more information on some of the technology behind EnFuzion and its related research project Nimrod, see: http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~davida/nimrod.html.
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