lsb.params

The lsb.params file defines general parameters used by the LSF system. This file contains only one section, named Parameters. The mbatchd daemon uses lsb.params for initialization. The file is optional. If not present, the LSF-defined defaults are assumed.

Some of the parameters that can be defined in lsb.params control timing within the system. The default settings provide good throughput for long-running batch jobs while adding a minimum of processing overhead in the batch daemons.

This file is installed by default in LSB_CONFDIR/cluster_name/configdir.

Changing lsb.params configuration

After making any changes to lsb.params, run badmin reconfig to reconfigure the mbatchd daemon.

Automatic time-based configuration

Variable configuration is used to automatically change LSF configuration based on time windows. You define automatic configuration changes in lsb.params by using if-else constructs and time expressions. After you change the files, reconfigure the cluster with the badmin reconfig command.

The expressions are evaluated by LSF every ten minutes based on mbatchd start time. When an expression evaluates true, LSF dynamically changes the configuration based on the associated configuration statements. Reconfiguration is done in real time without restarting mbatchd, providing continuous system availability.

Example

# if 18:30-19:30 is your short job express period, but 
# you want all jobs going to the short queue by default
# and be subject to the thresholds of that queue
# for all other hours, normal is the default queue
#if time(18:30-19:30 EDT)
DEFAULT_QUEUE=short
#else
DEFAULT_QUEUE=normal
#endif

Specifying the time zone is optional. If you do not specify a time zone, LSF uses the local system time zone. LSF supports all standard time zone abbreviations.

Parameters set at installation

This section and all the keywords in this section are optional. If keywords are not present, the default values are assumed.

The following parameter values are set at installation for the purpose of testing a new cluster:

Begin Parameters
DEFAULT_QUEUE  = normal   #default job queue name
MBD_SLEEP_TIME = 10       #Time used for calculating parameter values (60 secs is default)
SBD_SLEEP_TIME = 7       #sbatchd scheduling interval (30 secs is default)
JOB_ACCEPT_INTERVAL = 1   #interval for any host to accept a job 
                          #(default is 1 (one-fold of MBD_SLEEP_TIME))
End Parameters

With this configuration, jobs submitted to the LSF system will be started on server hosts quickly. If this configuration is not suitable for your production use, you should either remove the parameters to take the default values, or adjust them as needed.

For example, to avoid having jobs start when host load is high, increase JOB_ACCEPT_INTERVAL so that the job scheduling interval is longer to give hosts more time to adjust load indices after accepting jobs.

In production use, you should define DEFAULT_QUEUE to the normal queue, MBD_SLEEP_TIME to 60 seconds (the default), and SBD_SLEEP_TIME to 30 seconds (the default).