Release Notes for EnFuzion 8.2


This is a minor EnFuzion release. Major additions in the EnFuzion 8.2
release include:
    - autonomous node operation;
    - support for a backup root that does not require IP failover;
    - further simplification of the job submission and the result
      retrieval process with enfsub;
    - a new HTTP based interface for job submission and result retrieval;
    - an open source program in the Python programming language
      to demonstrate the use of the new HTTP interface.
The release also incorporates a large number of other improvements
and error fixes while maintaining backward compatibility with
the previous EnFuzion 8.1 release. The latest release build number
for EnFuzion 8.2 is 8.2.56.


A Summary of New Features and Improvements in the EnFuzion 8.2 Release

- nodes can now operate in the autonomous mode without maintaining
  an open connection with the root, results are returned when
  the connection is reestablished
- a backup host can be specified for the nodes, if the primary
  root host becomes unavailable
- runs can be submitted on Windows with a double click from the GUI
  without using the command line
- runs can be submitted from a command line without explicitly specifying
  input files. These are handled automatically by the enfsub utility.
- run results can be copied from the EnFuzion root to the submit host
  incrementally as they are produced. There is no need to wait for all
  the jobs to complete and to obtain the results in one large batch.
- a more robust protocol is implemented by the enfsub to retrieve results,
  which improves system reliability in case of failures
- the protocol to submit jobs by the enfsub is enhanced, so that multiple
  very large runs can be submitted concurrently with minimal impact
  on the EnFuzion root performance
- the enfsub utility can now attach to an existing run and retrieve
  its results
- a new HTTP based API is provided for job submission and result
  retrieval. The API provides the following commands:
	POST newrun		create a new run
	POST startrun		start executing a run
	POST runstarted		check if the run has been started
	POST runcompleted	check if the run completed
	GET <filename>		retrieve a file from the root
	PUT <filename>		upload a file to the root
	POST fileexists		check for a file existence
	POST deletefile		delete a file
	POST getnewfiles	retrieve a list of new files
	POST getallfiles	retrieve a list of all run files
	POST getinputfiles	retrieve a list of input files
	POST getlogfile		retrieve the run log file
	POST setcopymark	set the mark for incremental file retrieval
- IP based security rules are implemented, if the access to the HTTP
  based API needs to be restricted
- a subset of enfsub is provided in the Python programming language
  to demonstrate the new HTTP interface. The Python source code is
  included in the EnFuzion distribution.
- new options are implemented in enfsub:
	-attach		attach to an existing run
	-fetch		incrementally copy new results from the root
	-fetch-input	retrieve only input files 
	-delete		delete retrieved files from the root
	-localdir	specifies the directory name for results
	-noautodetect	prevents automatic copying of input files
	-poll-delay	specifies the delay to poll the root
	-quiet		do not print out messages about individual files
- it is possible to submit a run directly from the Generator
- a toolbar has been added to the Preparator and the Generator
- enfsub uses periodic polling instead of an open socket to check for
  new events from the dispatcher
- enfsub and enfcmd use a default value for the EnFuzion service
  "localhost:10102", if no address for the service is specified
- files with ' ' in their name are now supported
- a job with the "onerror repeat" option ultimately fails, after it
  is rescheduled and fails on all active nodes. Before, the job
  would hang around indefinitely.
- when the 'onerror ignore' option is used, 'task onerror' is ignored
- enfsub uses run-<runID> as the default directory name for results
  in all cases. error-<runID> and results-<runID> are sometimes used
  in EnFuzion 8.1 and previous releases.
- when enfsub retrieves results to the current working directory,
  the redundant run-<runID> directory is not created anymore
- the handling of the run name in enfsub, when the run file name
  is not a local file, has been fixed.
- the scheduler incorrectly handled run priorities during a run
  completion in some cases. This has been fixed.
- the ENFDIRECTORY variable in Windows contained a mix of '/' and '\'.
  This has been fixed.
- enfacct could crash, if nodes were being dynamically removed from
  the cluster. This has been fixed.


The EnFuzion 8.2 release is backward compatible with
the EnFuzion 8.1 release. User files, configuration
files and programs that use the EnFuzion network API
from EnFuzion 8.1 will work without modifications
with EnFuzion 8.2.

It is recommended that all EnFuzion hosts, including
the root, submit hosts and compute nodes are upgraded
at the same time to EnFuzion 8.2. This allows them to take
advantage of the new capabilities and increases the overall
system robustness.


Please, report any problems with EnFuzion to:
	support@axceleon.com


Thank you for your interest in EnFuzion! We are looking
forward to serving you.

	The Axceleon EnFuzion Team