lsf.licensescheduler

Syntax

ADMIN=user_name ...

Description

Defines the LSF License Scheduler administrator using a valid UNIX user account. You can specify multiple accounts.

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

Syntax

AUTH=Y | N

Description

Enables LSF License Scheduler user authentication for projects for taskman jobs.

For detailed information about the taskman command, see taskman.

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

Syntax

BLC_HEARTBEAT_FACTOR=integer

Description

Enables bld to detect blcollect failure. Defines the number of times that bld receives no response from a license collector daemon (blcollect) before bld resets the values for that collector to zero. Each license usage reported to bld by the collector is treated as a heartbeat.

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

Default

3

Syntax

CHECKOUT_FROM_FIRST_HOST_ONLY=Y | N

Description

If enabled (CHECKOUT_FROM_FIRST_HOST_ONLY=Y), LSF License Scheduler only considers user@host information for the first execution host of a parallel job when merging the license usage data. Setting in individual Feature sections overrides the global setting in the Parameters section.

If disabled, LSF License Scheduler attempts to check out user@host keys in the parallel job constructed using the user name and all execution host names, and merges the corresponding checkout information on the service domain if found. In addition, if MERGE_BY_SERVICE_DOMAIN=Y is defined, LSF License Scheduler merges multiple user@host data for parallel jobs across different service domains.

Default

Undefined (N).LSF License Scheduler attempts to check out user@host keys in the parallel job constructed using the user name and all execution host names, and merges the corresponding checkout information on the service domain if found.

Syntax

CLUSTER_MODE=Y | N

Description

Enables cluster mode (instead of project mode) in License Scheduler. Setting in individual Feature sections overrides the global setting in the Parameters section.

Cluster mode emphasizes high utilization of license tokens above other considerations such as ownership. License ownership and sharing can still be configured, but within each cluster instead of across multiple clusters. Preemption of jobs (and licenses) also occurs within each cluster instead of across clusters.

Default

Not defined (N). LSF License Scheduler runs in project mode.

Syntax

DEMAND_LIMIT=integer

Description

Sets a limit to which LSF License Scheduler considers the demand by each project in each cluster when allocating licenses.

Used for project mode only.

When enabled, the demand limit helps prevent LSF License Scheduler from allocating more licenses to a project than can actually be used, which reduces license waste by limiting the demand that LSF License Scheduler considers. This is useful in cases when other resource limits are reached, LSF License Scheduler allocates more tokens than IBM® Spectrum LSF can actually use because jobs are still pending due to lack of other resources.

When disabled (that is, DEMAND_LIMIT=0 is set), LSF License Scheduler takes into account all the demand reported by each cluster when scheduling.

DEMAND_LIMIT does not affect the DEMAND that blstat displays. Instead, blstat displays the entire demand sent for a project from all clusters. For example, one cluster reports a demand of 15 for a project. Another cluster reports a demand of 20 for the same project. When LSF License Scheduler allocates licenses, it takes into account a demand of five from each cluster for the project and the DEMAND that blstat displays is 35.

Periodically, each cluster sends a demand for each project. This is calculated in a cluster for a project by summing up the rusage of all jobs of the project pending due to lack of licenses. Whether to count a job's rusage in the demand depends on the job's pending reason. In general, the demand reported by a cluster only represents a potential demand from the project. It does not take into account other resources that are required to start a job. For example, a demand for 100 licenses is reported for a project. However, if LSF License Scheduler allocates 100 licenses to the project, the project does not necessarily use all 100 licenses due to slot available, limits, or other scheduling constraints.

In project mode, mbatchd in each cluster sends a demand for licenses from each project.DEMAND_LIMIT limits the amount of demand from each project in each cluster that is considered when scheduling.

Default

5

Syntax

DISTRIBUTION_POLICY_VIOLATION_ACTION=(PERIOD reporting_period CMD reporting_command)

Description

Defines how LSF License Scheduler handles distribution policy violations. Distribution policy violations are caused by non-LSF workloads; License Scheduler explicitly follows its distribution policies.

LSF License Scheduler reports a distribution policy violation when the total number of licenses given to the LSF workload, both free and in use, is less than the LSF workload distribution specified in WORKLOAD_DISTRIBUTION. If LSF License Scheduler finds a distribution policy violation, it creates or overwrites the LSF_LOGDIR/bld.violation.service_domain_name.log file and runs the user command specified by the CMD keyword.

Used for project mode only.

Example

The LicenseServer1 service domain has a total of 80 licenses, and its workload distribution and enforcement is configured as follows:

Begin Parameter
...
DISTRIBUTION_POLICY_VIOLATION_ACTION=(PERIOD 5 CMD /bin/mycmd)
...
End Parameter

Begin Feature
NAME=ApplicationX 
DISTRIBUTION=LicenseServer1(Lp1 1 Lp2 2)
WORKLOAD_DISTRIBUTION=LicenseServer1(LSF 8 NON_LSF 2) 
End Feature

According to this configuration, 80% of the available licenses, or 64 licenses, are available to the LSF workload. LSF License Scheduler checks the service domain for a violation every five scheduling cycles, and runs the /bin/mycmd command if it finds a violation.

If the current LSF workload license usage is 50 and the number of free licenses is 10, the total number of licenses assigned to the LSF workload is 60. This is a violation of the workload distribution policy because this is less than the specified LSF workload distribution of 64 licenses.

Syntax

ENABLE_INTERACTIVE=Y | N

Description

Used for project mode only.

Default

Not defined. LSF License Scheduler allocates licenses equally to each cluster and does not distribute licenses for interactive tasks.

Syntax

FAST_DISPATCH=Y | N

Description

Enables fast dispatch project mode for the license feature, which increases license utilization for project licenses.

Used for project mode only.

When enabled, LSF License Scheduler does not have to run lmutil, lmstat, rlmutil, or rlmstat to verify that a license is free before each job dispatch. As soon as a job finishes, the cluster can reuse its licenses for another job of the same project, which keeps gaps between jobs small. However, because LSF License Scheduler does not run lmutil, lmstat, rlmutil, or rlmstat to verify that the license is free, there is an increased chance of a license checkout failure for jobs if the license is already in use by a job in another project.

The fast dispatch project mode supports the following parameters in the Feature section:

• ALLOCATION
• DEMAND_LIMIT
• DISTRIBUTION
• GROUP_DISTRIBUTION
• LM_LICENSE_NAME
• LS_FEATURE_PERCENTAGE
• NAME
• NON_SHARED_DISTRIBUTION
• SERVICE_DOMAINS
• WORKLOAD_DISTRIBUTION

The fast dispatch project mode also supports the MBD_HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL parameter in the Parameters section.

Other parameters are not supported, including those that project mode supports, such as the following parameters:

• ACCINUSE_INCLUDES_OWNERSHIP
• DYNAMIC
• GROUP
• LOCAL_TO
• LS_ACTIVE_PERCENTAGE

Default

Undefined (N). License Scheduler runs in project mode without fast dispatch.

Syntax

HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL=seconds

Description

The time interval between bld heartbeats indicating the bld is still running.

Default

60 seconds

Syntax

HEARTBEAT_TIMEOUT=seconds

Description

The time a child bld waits to hear from the parent bld before assuming it has died.

Default

120 seconds

Syntax

HIST_HOURS=hours

Description

Determines the rate of decay the accumulated use value used in fairshare and preemption decisions. When HIST_HOURS=0, accumulated use is not decayed.

Accumulated use is displayed by the blstat command under the heading ACUM_USE.

Used for project mode only.

Default

5 hours. Accumulated use decays to 1/10 of the original value over 5 hours.

Syntax

HOSTS=host_name.domain_name ...

Description

Defines LSF License Scheduler hosts, including candidate hosts.

Specify a fully qualified host name such as hostX.mycompany.com. You can omit the domain name if all your LSF License Scheduler clients run in the same DNS domain.

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

Syntax

INUSE_FROM_RUSAGE=Y | N

Description

When not defined or set to N, the INUSE value uses rusage from bsub job submissions merged with license checkout data reported by blcollect (as reported by blstat).

When INUSE_FROM_RUSAGE=Y, the INUSE value uses the rusage from bsub job submissions instead of waiting for the blcollect update. This can result in faster reallocation of tokens when using dynamic allocation (when ALLOC_BUFFER is set).

Used for cluster mode only.

Default

N

Syntax

LIB_CONNTIMEOUT=seconds

Description

Specifies a timeout value in seconds for communication between License Scheduler and LSF APIs. LIB_CONNTIMEOUT=0 indicates no timeout.

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

Default

5 seconds

Syntax

LIB_RECVTIMEOUT=seconds

Description

Specifies a timeout value in seconds for communication between License Scheduler and LSF. LIB_RECVTIMEOUT=0 indicates no timeout.

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

Default

5 seconds

Syntax

LM_REMOVE_BY_HANDLE=Y | y | N | n

Description

Applicable to FlexNet only. Enables LSF License Scheduler to use the handle that is included in the license usage information instead of the display (tty) information while calling lmremove to remove license features from each recently-suspended job.

LSF License Scheduler still uses the display (tty) information while calling the lmremove command if the license usage information does not include a handle, even if the LM_REMOVE_BY_HANDLE parameter is defined as Y.

Default

N

Syntax

LM_REMOVE_INTERVAL=seconds

Description

Specifies the minimum time a job must have a license checked out before lmremove (for FlexNet) or rlmremove (for Reprise License Manager) can remove the license (using preemption). lmremove or rlmremove causes the license manager daemon and vendor daemons to close the TCP connection with the application.

LSF License Scheduler only considers preempting a job after this interval has elapsed.

When using lmremove or rlmremove as part of the preemption action (LM_REMOVE_SUSP_JOBS), define LM_REMOVE_INTERVAL=0 to ensure that LSF License Scheduler can preempt a job immediately after checkout. After suspending the job, LSF License Scheduler then uses lmremove or rlmremove to release licenses from the job.

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

Default

180 seconds

Syntax

LM_REMOVE_SUSP_JOBS=seconds

Description

Enables LSF License Scheduler to use lmremove (for FlexNet) or rlmremove (for Reprise License Manager) to remove license features from each recently-suspended job. After enabling this parameter, the preemption action is to suspend the job's processes and use lmremove or rlmremove to remove licences from the application.

LSF License Scheduler continues to try removing the license feature for the specified number of seconds after the job is first suspended. When setting this parameter for an application, specify a value greater than the period following a license checkout that lmremove or rlmremove will fail for the application. This ensures that when a job suspends, its licenses are released. This period depends on the application.

When using lmremove or rlmremove as part of the preemption action, define LM_REMOVE_INTERVAL=0 to ensure that LSF License Scheduler can preempt a job immediately after checkout. After suspending the job, LSF License Scheduler then uses lmremove or rlmremove to release licenses from the job.

This parameter applies to all features in project mode.

Used for project mode only.

Default

Undefined. The default preemption action is to send a TSTP signal to the job.

Syntax

LM_REMOVE_SUSP_JOBS_INTERVAL=seconds

Description

Specifies the minimum length of time between subsequent child processes that LSF License Scheduler forks to run lmremove (for FlexNet) or rlmremove (for Reprise License Manager) every time it receives an update from a license collector daemon (blcollect).

Use this parameter when using lmremove or rlmremove as part of the preemption action (LM_REMOVE_SUSP_JOBS).

Used for project mode only.

Default

0. Uses the value of LM_STAT_INTERVAL instead.

Syntax

LM_RESERVATION=Y | N

Description

Enables LSF License Scheduler to support the FlexNet Manager license reservation keyword (RESERVE).

When LM_RESERVATION=Y is defined, LSF License Scheduler treats the RESERVE value in the FlexNet Manager license option file as OTHERS tokens instead of FREE tokens. The RESERVE value is now included in the OTHERS value in the blstat command output and is no longer included in the FREE value.

This parameter is ignored if it is defined in a time based configuration, or if the WORKLOAD_DISTRIBUTION parameter is defined in at least one feature.

Default

N. The RESERVE value does not count as a used token.

Syntax

LM_STAT_INTERVAL=seconds

Description

Defines a time interval between calls that LSF License Scheduler makes to collect license usage information from the license manager.

Default

60 seconds

Syntax

LM_STAT_TIMEOUT=seconds

Description

Sets the timeout value passed to the lmutil lmstat, lmstat, rlmutil rlmstat, or rlmstat command. The Parameters section setting is overwritten by the ServiceDomain setting, which is overwritten by the command line setting (blcollect -t timeout).

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

Default

180 seconds

Syntax

LM_TYPE=FLEXLM | RLM

Description

Defines the license manager system that is used by the license servers. This determines how LSF License Scheduler communicates with the license servers.

Define LM_TYPE=FLEXLM if the license servers are using FlexNet Manager as the license manager system.

Define LM_TYPE=RLM if the license servers are using Reprise License Manager as the license manager system.

Default

FLEXLM

Syntax

LMREMOVE_SUSP_JOBS=seconds

Description

Use LM_REMOVE_SUSP_JOBS instead. This parameter is only maintained for backwards compatibility.

Syntax

LMREMOVE_SUSP_JOBS_INTERVAL=seconds

Description

Replace LMREMOVE_SUSP_JOBS_INTERVAL with LM_REMOVE_SUSP_JOBS_INTERVAL instead. LMREMOVE_SUSP_JOBS_INTERVAL is only maintained for backwards compatibility.

Syntax

LMSTAT_PATH=path

Description

Defines the full path to the location of the FlexNet command lmutil (or lmstat).

Used for project mode and cluster mode.

Syntax

LOG_EVENT=Y | N

Description

Enables logging of License Scheduler events in the bld.stream file.

Default

Not defined. Information is not logged.

Syntax

LOG_INTERVAL=seconds

Description

The interval between token allocation data logs in the data directory

Default

60 seconds

Syntax

LS_DEBUG_BLC=log_class

Description

Sets the debugging log class for the LSF License Scheduler blcollect daemon.

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

Specifies the log class filtering to be applied to blcollect. Only messages belonging to the specified log class are recorded.

LS_LOG_MASK=LOG_DEBUG LS_DEBUG_BLC="LC_TRACE"

LS_DEBUG_BLC="LC_TRACE"

You need to restart the blcollect daemons after setting LS_DEBUG_BLC for your changes to take effect.

Valid values

Default

Not defined.

Syntax

LS_DEBUG_BLD=log_class

Description

Sets the debugging log class for the LSF License Scheduler bld daemon.

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

Specifies the log class filtering to be applied to bld. Messages belonging to the specified log class are recorded. Not all debug message are controlled by log class.

LS_LOG_MASK=LOG_DEBUG LS_DEBUG_BLD="LC_TRACE" 

LS_DEBUG_BLD="LC_TRACE"

You need to restart the bld daemon after setting LS_DEBUG_BLD for your changes to take effect.

If you use the command bladmin blddebug to temporarily change this parameter without changing lsf.licensescheduler, you do not need to restart the daemons.

Valid values

Valid log classes are:

• LC_AUTH and LC2_AUTH: Log authentication messages
• LC_COMM and LC2_COMM: Log communication messages
• LC_FLEX - Log everything related to FLEX_STAT or FLEX_EXEC Flexera APIs
• LC_MEMORY - Log memory use messages
• LC_PREEMPT - Log license preemption policy messages
• LC_RESREQ and LC2_RESREQ: Log resource requirement messages
• LC_TRACE and LC2_TRACE: Log significant program walk steps
• LC_XDR and LC2_XDR: Log everything transferred by XDR

Valid values

Valid log classes are the same as for LS_DEBUG_CMD.

Default

Not defined.

Syntax

LS_ENABLE_MAX_PREEMPT=Y | N

Description

Enables maximum preemption time checking for LSF and taskman jobs.

When LS_ENABLE_MAX_PREEMPT is disabled, preemption times for taskman jobs are not checked regardless of the value of parameters LS_MAX_TASKMAN_PREEMPT in lsf.licensescheduler and MAX_JOB_PREEMPT in lsb.queues, lsb.applications, or lsb.params.

Used for project mode only.

Default

N

Syntax

LS_LOG_MASK=message_log_level

Description

Specifies the logging level of error messages for LSF License Scheduler daemons. If LS_LOG_MASK is not defined in lsf.licensescheduler, the value of LSF_LOG_MASK in lsf.conf is used. If neither LS_LOG_MASK nor LSF_LOG_MASK is defined, the default is LOG_WARNING.

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

LS_LOG_MASK=LOG_DEBUG

The most important LSF License Scheduler log messages are at the LOG_WARNING level. Messages at the LOG_DEBUG level are only useful for debugging.

Although message log level implements similar functionality to UNIX syslog, there is no dependency on UNIX syslog. It works even if messages are being logged to files instead of syslog.

LSF License Scheduler logs error messages in different levels so that you can choose to log all messages, or only log messages that are deemed critical. The level specified by LS_LOG_MASK determines which messages are recorded and which are discarded. All messages logged at the specified level or higher are recorded, while lower level messages are discarded.

For debugging purposes, the level LOG_DEBUG contains the fewest number of debugging messages and is used for basic debugging. The level LOG_DEBUG3 records all debugging messages, and can cause log files to grow very large; it is not often used. Most debugging is done at the level LOG_DEBUG2.

Default

LOG_WARNING

Syntax

LS_MAX_STREAM_FILE_NUMBER=integer

Description

Sets the number of saved bld.stream.time_stamp log files. When LS_MAX_STREAM_FILE_NUMBER=2, for example, the two most recent files are kept along with the current bld.stream file.

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

Default

0 (old bld.stream file is not saved)

Syntax

LS_MAX_STREAM_SIZE=integer

Description

Defines the maximum size of the bld.stream file in MB. Once this size is reached an EVENT_END_OF_STREAM is logged, a new bld.stream file is created, and the old bld.stream file is renamed bld.stream.time_stamp.

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

Default

1024

Syntax

LS_MAX_TASKMAN_PREEMPT=integer

Description

Defines the maximum number of times taskman jobs can be preempted.

Maximum preemption time checking for all jobs is enabled by LS_ENABLE_MAX_PREEMPT.

Used for project mode only.

Default

unlimited

Syntax

LS_MAX_TASKMAN_SESSIONS=integer

Description

Defines the maximum number of taskman jobs that run simultaneously. This prevents system-wide performance issues that occur if there are a large number of taskman jobs running in License Scheduler.

The number of taskman sessions must be a positive integer.

The actual maximum number of taskman jobs is affected by the operating system file descriptor limit. Make sure the operating system file descriptor limit and the maximum concurrent connections are large enough to support all taskman tasks, License Scheduler (bl*) commands, and connections between LSF License Scheduler and LSF.

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

Syntax

LS_PREEMPT_PEER=Y | N

Description

Enables bottom-up license token preemption in hierarchical project group configuration. LSF License Scheduler attempts to preempt tokens from the closest projects in the hierarchy first. This balances token ownership from the bottom up.

Used for project mode only.

Default

Not defined. Token preemption in hierarchical project groups is top down.

Description

UNIX only. Enables the root user to run LSF License Scheduler commands as a valid user from the LSF command line.

If you need to temporarily run LSF License Scheduler commands with root privileges, specify LS_ROOT_USER=Y in the Parameters section of the lsf.licensescheduler file. When you are done, you must disable this parameter to ensure that your cluster remains secure.

This parameter allows the root user to run the taskman command under globauth and the bladmin command as a valid user.

Default

N. Root has no permission to execute the taskman command under globauth and the bladmin commands (except bladmin ckconfig).

Syntax

LS_STREAM_FILE=path

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

Description

Defines the full path and filename of the bld event log file, bld.stream by default.

Default

LSF_TOP/work/db/bld.stream

Syntax

MBD_HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL=seconds

Description

Sets the length of time the cluster license allocation remains unchanged after a cluster has disconnected from bld. After MBD_HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL has passed, the allocation is set to zero and licenses are redistributed to other clusters.

Used for cluster mode and project mode only.

Default

900 seconds

Syntax

MBD_REFRESH_INTERVAL=seconds

Description

This parameter allows the administrator to independently control the minimum interval between load updates from bld and from LIM. MBD_REFRESH_INTERVAL controls the frequency of scheduling interactive (taskman) jobs and is read by the mbatchd daemon on startup. When MBD_REFRESH_INTERVAL is set or changed, you must restart the bld and mbatchd daemons in each cluster.

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

Default

15 seconds

Syntax

MERGE_BY_SERVICE_DOMAIN=Y | N

Description

If enabled, correlates job license checkout with the lmutil lmstat, lmstat, rlmutil rlmstat, or rlmstat output across all service domains first before reserving licenses.

In project mode (but not fast dispatch project mode), this parameter supports the case where the checkout license number for the application is less than or equal to the job rusage. If the checked out licenses are greater than the job rusage, the ENABLE_DYNAMIC_RUSAGE parameter is still required.

Default

N (Does not correlate job license checkout with the lmutil, lmstat, rlmutil, or rlmstat output across all service domains before reserving licenses)

Syntax

PEAK_INUSE_PERIOD=seconds

Description

Defines the interval over which a peak INUSE value is determined for dynamic license allocation in cluster mode for all license features over all service domains.

When defining the interval for LSF Advanced Edition submission clusters, the interval is determined for the entire LSF Advanced Edition mega-cluster (the submission cluster and its execution clusters).

Used for cluster mode only.

When defined in both the Parameters section and the Feature section, the Feature section definition is used for that license feature.

Default

300 seconds

Syntax

PORT=integer

Description

Defines the TCP listening port used by LSF License Scheduler hosts, including candidate License Scheduler hosts. Specify any non-privileged port number.

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

Syntax

PREEMPT_ACTION=action

Description

Specifies the action used for taskman job preemption.

By default, if PREEMPT_ACTION is not configured, bld sends a TSTP signal to preempt taskman jobs.

You can specify a script using this parameter. For example, PREEMPT_ACTION = /home/user1/preempt.s runs preempt.s when preempting a taskman job.

Used for project mode only.

Default

Not defined. A TSTP signal is used to preempt taskman jobs.

Syntax

PROJECT_GROUP_PATH=Y | N

Description

Enables hierarchical project group paths for project mode, which enables the following:

• Features can use hierarchical project groups with project and project group names that are not unique, as long as the projects or project groups do not have the same parent. That is, you can define projects and project groups in more than one hierarchical project group.
• When specifying -Lp license_project, you can use paths to describe the project hierarchy without specifying the root group.

  For example, if you have root as your root group, which has a child project group named groupA with a project named proj1, you can use -Lp /groupA/proj1 to specify this project.

• Hierarchical project groups have a default project named others with a default share value of 0. Any projects that do not match the defined projects in a project group are assigned into the others project.

  If there is already a project named others, the preexisting others project specification overrides the default project.

If LSF_LIC_SCHED_STRICT_PROJECT_NAME (in lsf.conf) and PROJECT_GROUP_PATH are both defined, PROJECT_GROUP_PATH takes precedence and overrides the LSF_LIC_SCHED_STRICT_PROJECT_NAME behavior.

Used for project mode only.

Default

Not defined (N).

Syntax

REMOTE_LMSTAT_PROTOCOL=ssh [ssh_command_options] | rsh [rsh_command_options] | lsrun [lsrun_command_options]

Description

Specifies the method that LSF License Scheduler uses to connect to the remote agent host if there are remote license servers that need a remote agent host to collect license information.

If there are remote license servers that need a remote agent host to collect license information, LSF License Scheduler uses the specified command (and optional command options) to connect to the agent host. LSF License Scheduler automatically appends the name of the remote agent host to the command, so there is no need to specify the host with the command.

If using lsrun as the connection method, the remote agent host must be a server host in the LSF cluster and RES must be started on this host. If using ssh or rsh as the connection method, the agent host does not have to be a server host in the LSF cluster.

REMOTE_LMSTAT_PROTOCOL works with REMOTE_LMSTAT_SERVERS, which defines the remote license servers and remote agent hosts. If you do not define REMOTE_LMSTAT_SERVERS, REMOTE_LMSTAT_PROTOCOL is not used.

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

Default

ssh

Syntax

RESTRICT_FEATURE_NAME=Y | y | N | n

Description

Default

Undefined (N).

Syntax

RLMSTAT_PATH=path

Description

Defines the full path to the location of the Reprise License Manager commands.

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

Default

If not defined, this is set to LMSTAT_PATH.

Syntax

STANDBY_CONNTIMEOUT=seconds

Description

Sets the connection timeout the standby bld waits when trying to contact each host before assuming the host is unavailable.

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

Default

5 seconds

Syntax

When using FlexNet as the license manager (LM_TYPE=FLEXLM): LIC_SERVERS=([(host_name | port_number@host_name |(port_number@host_name port_number@host_name port_number@host_name))] ...)

When using Reprise License Manager as the license manager (LM_TYPE=RLM): LIC_SERVERS=([( port_number@host_name |(port_number@host_name port_number@host_name port_number@host_name))] ...)

Description

Defines the license server hosts that make up the LSF License Scheduler service domain. Specify one or more license server hosts, and for each license server host, specify the number of the port that the license manager uses, then the at symbol (@), then the name of the host. Put one set of parentheses around the list, and one more set of parentheses around each host, unless you have redundant servers (three hosts sharing one license file). If you have redundant servers, the parentheses enclose all three hosts.

If LSF License Scheduler is using FlexNet as the license manager (that is, LM_TYPE=FLEXLM), and FlexNet uses the default port on a host, you can specify the host name without the port number.

If LSF License Scheduler is using Reprise License Manager as the license manager (that is, LM_TYPE=RLM), you must specify a port number for every license server host.

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

Examples

• One FlexNet license server host:

  LIC_SERVERS=((1700@hostA))

• Multiple license server hosts with unique license.dat files:

  LIC_SERVERS=((1700@hostA)(1700@hostB)(1700@hostC))

• Redundant license server hosts sharing the same license.dat file:

  LIC_SERVERS=((1700@hostD 1700@hostE 1700@hostF))

Syntax

LIC_COLLECTOR=license_collector_name

Description

Defines a name for the license collector daemon (blcollect) to use in each service domain. blcollect collects license usage information from FlexNet and passes it to the License Scheduler daemon (bld). It improves performance by allowing you to distribute license information queries on multiple hosts.

You can only specify one collector per service domain, but you can specify one collector to serve multiple service domains. Each time you run blcollect, you must specify the name of the collector for the service domain. You can use any name you want.

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

Default

Undefined. The License Scheduler daemon uses one license collector daemon for the entire cluster.

Syntax

LM_STAT_INTERVAL=seconds

Description

Defines a time interval between calls that License Scheduler makes to collect license usage information from the license manager.

The value specified for a service domain overrides the global value defined in the Parameters section. Each service domain definition can specify a different value for this parameter.

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

Default

License Scheduler applies the global value defined in the Parameters section.

Syntax

LM_STAT_TIMEOUT=seconds

Description

Sets the timeout value passed to the lmutil lmstat, lmstat, rlmutil rlmstat, or rlmstat command. The Parameters section setting is overwritten by the ServiceDomain setting, which is overwritten by the command line setting (blcollect -t timeout).

When using Reprise License Manager as the license manager (LM_TYPE=RLM), this parameter is ignored.

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

Default

180 seconds

Syntax

LM_TYPE=FLEXLM | RLM

Description

Defines the license manager system that is used by the license servers. This determines how LSF License Scheduler communicates with the license servers that are defined by the LIC_SERVERS parameter.

Define LM_TYPE=FLEXLM if the license servers are using FlexNet Manager as the license manager system.

Define LM_TYPE=RLM if the license servers are using Reprise License Manager as the license manager system. When LM_TYPE=RLM is defined, LIC_SERVERS must define port_number@host_name (that is, LIC_SERVERS must define a port number). Defining just the host name (or @host_name) without the port number is not allowed.

Default

FLEXLM

Syntax

REMOTE_LMSTAT_SERVERS=host_name[(host_name ...)] [host_name[(host_name ...)] ...]

Description

Defines the remote license servers and, optionally, the remote agent hosts that serve these remote license servers.

A remote license server is a license server that does not run on the same domain as the license collector. A remote agent host serves remote license servers within the same domain, allowing the license collector to get license information on the remote license servers with a single remote connection.

Defining remote agent hosts are useful when there are both local and remote license servers because it is slower for the license collector to connect to multiple remote license servers to get license information than it is to connect to local license servers. The license collector connects to the remote agent host (using the command specified by the REMOTE_LMSTAT_PROTOCOL parameter) and calls lmutil, lmstat, rlmutil, or rlmstat to collect license information from the license servers that the agent hosts serve. This allows the license collector to connect to one remote agent host to get license information from all the remote license servers on the same domain as the remote agent host. These license servers should be in the same subnet as the agent host to improve access.

Remote license servers must also be license servers defined in LIC_SERVERS. Any remote license servers defined in REMOTE_LMSTAT_SERVERS that are not also defined in LIC_SERVERS are ignored. Remote agent hosts that serve other license servers do not need to be defined in LIC_SERVERS. Remote agent hosts that are not defined in LIC_SERVERS function only as remote agents and not as license servers.

If you specify a remote agent host without additional servers (that is, the remote agent host does not serve any license servers), the remote agent host is considered to be a remote license server with itself as the remote agent host. That is, the license collector connects to the remote agent host and only gets license information on the remote agent host. Because these hosts are remote license servers, these remote agent hosts must also be defined as license servers in LIC_SERVERS, or they will be ignored.

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

Examples

Syntax

ACCINUSE_INCLUDES_OWNERSHIP=Y | N

Description

When not defined, accumulated use is incremented each scheduling cycle by (tokens in use) + (tokens reserved) if this exceeds the number of tokens owned.

When defined, accumulated use is incremented each scheduling cycle by (tokens in use) + (tokens reserved) regardless of the number of tokens owned.

This is useful for projects that have a very high ownership set when considered against the total number of tokens available for LSF workload. Projects can be starved for tokens when the ownership is set too high and this parameter is not set.

Accumulated use is displayed by the blstat command under the heading ACUM_USE.

Used only for project mode. Cluster mode and fast dispatch project mode do not track accumulated use.

Default

N, not enabled.

Syntax

ALLOC_BUFFER = buffer | cluster_name buffer ... default buffer

Description

Enables dynamic distribution of licenses across clusters in cluster mode.

Cluster names must be the names of clusters defined in the Clusters section of lsf.licensescheduler.

Used for cluster mode only.

ALLOC_BUFFER=buffer sets one buffer size for all clusters, while ALLOC_BUFFER=cluster_name buffer ... sets a different buffer size for each cluster.

The buffer size is used during dynamic redistribution of licenses. Increases in allocation are determined by the PEAK value, and increased by DEMAND for license tokens to a maximum increase of BUFFER, the buffer size configured by ALLOC_BUFFER. The license allocation can increase in steps as large as the buffer size, but no larger.

Allocation buffers help determine the maximum rate at which tokens can be transferred to a cluster as demand increases in the cluster. The maximum rate of transfer to a cluster is given by the allocation buffer divided by MBD_REFRESH_INTERVAL. Be careful not to set the allocation buffer too large so that licenses are not wasted because they are being allocated to a cluster that cannot use them.

Decreases in license allocation can be larger than the buffer size, but the allocation must remain at PEAK+BUFFER licenses. The license allocation includes up to the buffer size of extra licenses, in case demand increases.

Increasing the buffer size allows the license allocation to grow faster, but also increases the number of licenses that may go unused at any given time. The buffer value must be tuned for each license feature and cluster to balance these two objectives.

When defining the buffer size for LSF Advanced Edition submission clusters, the license allocation for the entire LSF Advanced Edition mega-cluster (the submission cluster and its execution clusters) can increase in steps as large as the buffer size, but no larger.

Detailed license distribution information is shown in the blstat output.

Use the keyword default to apply a buffer size to all remaining clusters. For example:

Begin Feature
NAME = f1
CLUSTER_DISTRIBUTION = WanServers(banff 1 berlin 1 boston 1)
ALLOC_BUFFER = banff 10 default 5
End Feature

In this example, dynamic distribution is enabled. The cluster cbanff has a buffer size of ten, and all remaining clusters have a buffer size of five.

To allow a cluster to be able to use licenses only when another cluster does not need them, you can set the cluster distribution for the cluster to 0, and specify an allocation buffer for the number of tokens that the cluster can request.

For example:

Begin Feature
CLUSTER_DISTRIBUTION=Wan(CL1 0 CL2 1)
ALLOC_BUFFER=5
End Feature

When no jobs are running, the token allocation for CL1 is five. CL1 can get more than five tokens if CL2 does not require them.

Default

Not defined. Static distribution of licenses is used in cluster mode.

Syntax

ALLOCATION=project_name (cluster_name [number_shares] ... ) ...

The number of shares assigned to a cluster is only meaningful when you compare it to the number assigned to other clusters. The total number of shares is the sum of the shares assigned to each cluster.

Description

Defines the allocation of license features across clusters and interactive tasks.

Used for project mode only.

ALLOCATION ignores the global setting of the ENABLE_INTERACTIVE parameter because ALLOCATION is configured for the license feature.

You can configure the allocation of license shares to:

• Change the share number between clusters for a feature
• Limit the scope of license usage and change the share number between LSF jobs and interactive tasks for a feature

When defining the allocation of license features for LSF Advanced Edition submission clusters, the allocation is for the entire LSF Advanced Edition mega-cluster (the submission cluster and its execution clusters).

Default

If ENABLE_INTERACTIVE is not set, each cluster receives equal share, and interactive tasks receive no shares.

Syntax

CHECKOUT_FROM_FIRST_HOST_ONLY=Y | N

Description

If enabled, LSF License Scheduler only considers user@host information for the first execution host of a parallel job when merging the license usage data. Setting in individual Feature sections overrides the global setting in the Parameters section.

If a feature has multiple Feature sections (using LOCAL_TO), each section must have the same setting for CHECKOUT_FROM_FIRST_HOST_ONLY.

If disabled, LSF License Scheduler attempts to check out user@host keys in the parallel job constructed using the user name and all execution host names, and merges the corresponding checkout information on the service domain if found. If MERGE_BY_SERVICE_DOMAIN=Y is defined, LSF License Scheduler also merges multiple user@host data for parallel jobs across different service domains.

Default

Undefined (N). LSF License Scheduler attempts to check out user@host keys in the parallel job constructed using the user name and all execution host names, and merges the corresponding checkout information on the service domain if found.

Syntax

CLUSTER_DISTRIBUTION=service_domain(cluster shares/min/max ... )...

Description

CLUSTER_DISTRIBUTION must be defined when using cluster mode.

Defines the cross-cluster distribution policies for the license. The name of each service domain is followed by its distribution policy, in parentheses. The distribution policy determines how the licenses available in each service domain are distributed among the clients.

The distribution policy is a space-separated list with each cluster name followed by its share assignment. The share assignment determines what fraction of available licenses is assigned to each cluster, in the event of competition between clusters.

Examples

CLUSTER_DISTRIBUTION=wanserver(Cl1 1 Cl2 1 Cl3 1 Cl4 1)

CLUSTER_DISTRIBUTION = SD(C1 1 C2 1) SD1(C3 1 C4 1) SD2(C1 1) SD3(C2 1)

In these examples, wanserver, SD, and SD1 are WAN service domains, while SD2 and SD3 are LAN service domains serving a single cluster.

Syntax

CLUSTER_MODE=Y | N

Description

Enables cluster mode (instead of project mode) for the license feature.

Cluster mode emphasizes high utilization of license tokens above other considerations such as ownership. License ownership and sharing can still be configured, but within each cluster instead of across multiple clusters. Preemption of jobs (and licenses) also occurs within each cluster instead of across clusters.

Cluster mode was introduced in License Scheduler 8.0. Before cluster mode was introduced, project mode was the only choice available.

Default

Undefined (N). License Scheduler runs in project mode.

Syntax

DEMAND_LIMIT=integer

Description

Sets a limit to which LSF License Scheduler considers the demand by each project in each cluster when allocating licenses.

Used for project mode only.

When enabled, the demand limit helps prevent LSF License Scheduler from allocating more licenses to a project than can actually be used, which reduces license waste by limiting the demand that LSF License Scheduler considers. This is useful in cases when other resource limits are reached, LSF License Scheduler allocates more tokens than IBM Spectrum LSF can actually use because jobs are still pending due to lack of other resources.

When disabled (that is, DEMAND_LIMIT=0 is set), LSF License Scheduler takes into account all the demand reported by each cluster when scheduling.

DEMAND_LIMIT does not affect the DEMAND that blstat displays. Instead, blstat displays the entire demand sent for a project from all clusters. For example, one cluster reports a demand of 15 for a project. Another cluster reports a demand of 20 for the same project. When LSF License Scheduler allocates licenses, it takes into account a demand of five from each cluster for the project and the DEMAND that blstat displays is 35.

Periodically, each cluster sends a demand for each project. This is calculated in a cluster for a project by summing up the rusage of all jobs of the project pending due to lack of licenses. Whether to count a job's rusage in the demand depends on the job's pending reason. In general, the demand reported by a cluster only represents a potential demand from the project. It does not take into account other resources that are required to start a job. For example, a demand for 100 licenses is reported for a project. However, if LSF License Scheduler allocates 100 licenses to the project, the project does not necessarily use all 100 licenses due to slot availability, limits, or other scheduling constraints.

The mbatchd daemon in each cluster sends a demand for licenses from each project. You can limit the amount of demand from each project in each cluster that is considered when scheduling by setting the demand limit. This helps prevent LSF License Scheduler from allocating more licenses to a project than can actually be used.

Default

5

Syntax

DISABLE_PREEMPTION=Y | y | N | n

Description

When set Y or y, DISABLE_PREEMPTION prevents license preemption and resets the project ownership to 0. This ensures that license preemption never occurs regardless of whether projects are configured with ownership or NON_SHARED.

Used for project mode only. Cluster mode does not support this parameter.

Default

N

Syntax

DISTRIBUTION=[service_domain_name([project_name number_shares[/number_licenses_owned]] ... [default] )] ...

service_domain_name

Specify a License Scheduler service domain (described in the ServiceDomain section) that distributes the licenses.

project_name

Specify a License Scheduler project (described in the Projects section) that is allowed to use the licenses.

number_shares

Specify a positive integer representing the number of shares assigned to the project.

The number of shares assigned to a project is only meaningful when you compare it to the number assigned to other projects, or to the total number assigned by the service domain. The total number of shares is the sum of the shares assigned to each project.

number_licenses_owned

Specify a slash (/) and a positive integer representing the number of licenses that the project owns. When configured, preemption is enabled and owned licenses are reclaimed using preemption when there is unmet demand.

default

A reserved keyword that represents the default project if the job submission does not specify a project (bsub -Lp), or the specified project is not configured in the Projects section of lsf.licensescheduler. Jobs that belong to projects do not get a share of the tokens when the project is not explicitly defined in DISTRIBUTION.

Description

Used for project mode and fast dispatch project mode only.

One of DISTRIBUTION or GROUP_DISTRIBUTION must be defined when using project mode. GROUP_DISTRIBUTION and DISTRIBUTION are mutually exclusive. If defined in the same feature, the License Scheduler daemon returns an error and ignores this feature.

Defines the distribution policies for the license. The name of each service domain is followed by its distribution policy, in parentheses. The distribution policy determines how the licenses available in each service domain are distributed among the clients.

You can only specify one service domain.

The distribution policy is a space-separated list with each project name followed by its share assignment. The share assignment determines what fraction of available licenses is assigned to each project, in the event of competition between projects. Optionally, the share assignment is followed by a slash and the number of licenses owned by that project. License ownership enables a preemption policy. In the event of competition between projects, projects that own licenses preempt jobs. Licenses are returned to the owner immediately.

Examples

DISTRIBUTION=wanserver (Lp1 1 Lp2 1 Lp3 1 Lp4 1)

DISTRIBUTION=lanserver1 (Lp1 1 Lp2 2/6)

In this example, the service domain named lanserver1 allows Lp1 to use one third of the available licenses and Lp2 can use two thirds of the licenses. However, Lp2 is always entitled to six licenses, and can preempt another project to get the licenses immediately if they are needed. If the projects are competing for a total of 12 licenses, Lp2 is entitled to eight licenses (six on demand, and two more as soon as they are free). If the projects are competing for only six licenses in total, Lp2 is entitled to all of them, and Lp1 can only use licenses when Lp2 does not need them.

Syntax

DYNAMIC=Y | N

Description

If you specify DYNAMIC=Y, you must specify a duration in an rusage resource requirement for the feature. This enables License Scheduler to treat the license as a dynamic resource and prevents License Scheduler from scheduling tokens for the feature when they are not available, or reserving license tokens when they should actually be free.

Used for project mode only. Cluster mode does not support rusage duration.

Syntax

ENABLE_DYNAMIC_RUSAGE=Y | N

Description

When set, ENABLE_DYNAMIC_RUSAGE enables all license checkouts for features where the job checks out licenses in excess of rusage to be considered managed checkouts, instead of unmanaged (or OTHERS).

Used for project mode only. Cluster mode and fast dispatch project mode do not support this parameter.

Syntax

ENABLE_MINJOB_PREEMPTION=Y | N

Description

Minimizes the overall number of preempted jobs by enabling job list optimization. For example, for a job that requires 10 licenses, License Scheduler preempts one job that uses 10 or more licenses rather than 10 jobs that each use one license.

Used for project mode only

Default

Undefined: License Scheduler does not optimize the job list when selecting jobs to preempt.

Syntax

FAST_DISPATCH=Y | N

Description

Enables fast dispatch project mode for the license feature, which increases license utilization for project licenses.

Used for project mode only.

When enabled, LSF License Scheduler does not have to run lmutil, lmstat, rlmutil, or rlmstat to verify that a license is free before each job dispatch. As soon as a job finishes, the cluster can reuse its licenses for another job of the same project, which keeps gaps between jobs small. However, because LSF License Scheduler does not run lmutil, lmstat, rlmutil, or rlmstat to verify that the license is free, there is an increased chance of a license checkout failure for jobs if the license is already in use by a job in another project.

The fast dispatch project mode supports the following parameters in the Feature section:

• ALLOCATION
• DEMAND_LIMIT
• DISTRIBUTION
• GROUP_DISTRIBUTION
• LM_LICENSE_NAME
• LS_FEATURE_PERCENTAGE
• NAME
• NON_SHARED_DISTRIBUTION
• SERVICE_DOMAINS
• WORKLOAD_DISTRIBUTION

The fast dispatch project mode also supports the MBD_HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL parameter in the Parameters section.

Other parameters are not supported, including those that project mode supports, such as the following parameters:

• ACCINUSE_INCLUDES_OWNERSHIP
• DYNAMIC
• GROUP
• LOCAL_TO
• LS_ACTIVE_PERCENTAGE

Default

Y

Syntax

FEATURE_DELTA=service_domain_name(abs | mult number) ...

FEATURE_DELTA=service_domain_name(abs dyn([init([integer])] [max([integer])] [step([integer])] [dynstep([hist_time factor])] [target([number])] [interval([integer])]

Description

Allows an administrator to specify a number of dispatched jobs greater than actual tokens managed by the license server. Use this feature when utilization is low due to an external application's slow checkout of licenses. The result is higher average utilization at the cost of running some jobs less efficiently (those jobs that get dispatched but have to wait for the token).

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

Each service domain can only be listed once in the FEATURE_DELTA parameter, otherwise all FEATURE_DELTA settings are ignored.

• abs: Specifies an absolute number of dispatched jobs greater than tokens managed by the license server. Specify a positive integer.
• mult: Specifies a multiplication factor of dispatched jobs greater than tokens managed by the license server. Specify a decimal number between 1 and 2. If you specify a number greater than 2, most of your jobs wait for a token and run less efficiently.
• dyn: Use with the abs or mult keywords (instead of a number) to enable LSF License Scheduler to dynamically adjust the number of dispatched jobs greater than tokens managed by the license server.

  Enable dynamic adjustment for features that have a fluctuating license utilization and therefore require a more flexible value. The following optional parameters control this dynamic adjustment:

  • init: Specifies the initial number of dispatched jobs greater than tokens managed by the license server when the bld daemon starts up or there are no jobs running in the servers that are specified in the FEATURE_DELTA parameter. Specify an integer for abs or a decimal number for mult. The default value is 0 for abs and 1.0 for mult.
  • max: Specifies the adjustment number to calculate the maximum number of dispatched jobs greater than tokens managed by the license server. To obtain the adjusted maximum number, the value of max is added to the init value for abs and multiplied by the init value for mult. Specify an integer for abs or a decimal number for mult.

    The default value for abs is the same as the init value, and the default value for mult is 2.0. This means that the default adjusted maximum number is double the init value for both abs and mult.

  • step: Specifies the amount to adjust (if needed) in each interval. Specify an integer for abs or a decimal number for mult. The default value is either 1 or 5% of the init value, whichever is greater.
  • dynstep(hist_time factor): Use instead of step to specify a dynamic amount to adjust in each interval, where hist_time is the time window for LSF License Scheduler to calculate the average token utilization, in minutes and factor is the factor to adjust the dynamic amount to be more or less aggressive towards the target value.
  • target: Specifies the target license utilization rate. Specify a decimal number. The default value is 0.9.
  • interval: Specifies the license usage checking interval per collector update. That is, 1 indicates that LSF License Scheduler checks and adjusts every collector update, and 2 indicates that LSF License Scheduler checks and adjusts every 2 collector updates. The default value is 3 (LSF License Scheduler checks and adjusts every 3 collector updates).

Example

In lsf.licensescheduler, define the following Service domains and Feature section:

Begin ServiceDomain
NAME = LanServer
LIC_SERVERS = ((38000@bl10e-15) (38000@bl10e-16))
End ServiceDomain

Begin ServiceDomain
NAME = LanServer1
LIC_SERVERS = ((38000@bl10e-17))
End ServiceDomain

Begin Feature
NAME = f1
DISTRIBUTION = LanServer(p1 1  p2 1  p3 1) LanServer1(p1 1  p2 1)
FEATURE_DELTA = LanServer(mult 1.5) LanServer1(abs 4)  
End Feature

Result

If LanServer had six licenses and LanServer1 had five licenses, the number of tokens are now:

LanServerLanServer: (6*1.5)= 9

LanServer1: (5 + 4)=9

The output of blstat displays counts the total number, as added or multiplied by the value specified in FEATURE_DELTA.

Syntax

FLEX_NAME=feature_name1 [feature_name2 ...]

Description

Replace FLEX_NAME with LM_LICENSE_NAME. FLEX_NAME is only maintained for backwards compatibility.

Syntax

GROUP=[group_name(project_name... )] ...

Description

Defines groups of projects and specifies the name of each group. The groups defined here are used for group preemption. The number of licenses owned by the group is the total number of licenses owned by member projects.

Used only for project mode. Cluster mode and fast dispatch project mode do not track accumulated use.

This parameter is ignored if GROUP_DISTRIBUTION is also defined.

Example

For example, without the GROUP configuration shown, proj1 owns 4 license tokens and can reclaim them using preemption. After adding the GROUP configuration, proj1 and proj2 together own 8 license tokens. If proj2 is idle, proj1 is able to reclaim all 8 license tokens using preemption.

Begin Feature
NAME = AppY
DISTRIBUTION = LanServer1(proj1 1/4 proj2 1/4 proj3 2)
GROUP = GroupA(proj1 proj2)
End Feature

Syntax

GROUP_DISTRIBUTION=top_level_hierarchy_name

Description

Defines the name of the hierarchical group containing the distribution policy attached to this feature, where the hierarchical distribution policy is defined in a ProjectGroup section.

One of DISTRIBUTION or GROUP_DISTRIBUTION must be defined when using project mode. GROUP_DISTRIBUTION and DISTRIBUTION are mutually exclusive. If defined in the same feature, the License Scheduler daemon returns an error and ignores this feature.

If GROUP is also defined, it is ignored in favor of GROUP_DISTRIBUTION.

Example

The following example shows the GROUP_DISTRIBUTION parameter hierarchical scheduling for the top-level hierarchical group named groups. The SERVICE_DOMAINS parameter defines a list of service domains that provide tokens for the group.

Begin Feature 
NAME = myjob2 
GROUP_DISTRIBUTION = groups 
SERVICE_DOMAINS = LanServer wanServer 
End Feature

Syntax

INUSE_FROM_RUSAGE=Y | N

Description

When not defined or set to N, the INUSE value uses rusage from bsub job submissions merged with license checkout data reported by blcollect (as reported by blstat).

When INUSE_FROM_RUSAGE=Y, the INUSE value uses the rusage from bsub job submissions instead of waiting for the blcollect update. This can result in faster reallocation of tokens when using dynamic allocation (when ALLOC_BUFFER is set).

When used for individual license features, the Feature section setting overrides the global Parameters section setting.

Used for cluster mode only.

Default

N

Syntax

LM_LICENSE_NAME=feature_name1 [feature_name2 ...]

Description

Defines the feature name; that is, the name used by the license manager to identify the type of license. You only need to specify this parameter if the License Scheduler token name is not identical to the license manager feature name.

LM_LICENSE_NAME allows the NAME parameter to be an alias of the license manager feature name. For feature names that start with a number or contain a dash (-), you must set both NAME and LM_LICENSE_NAME, where LM_LICENSE_NAME is the actual license manager feature name, and NAME is an arbitrary license token name you choose.

Specify a space-delimited list of feature names in LM_LICENSE_NAME to combine multiple license manager features into one feature name specified under the NAME parameter. This allows you to use the same feature name for multiple license manager features (that are interchangeable for applications). LSF recognizes the alias of the combined feature (specified in NAME) as a feature name instead of the individual license manager feature names specified in LM_LICENSE_NAME. When submitting a job to LSF, users specify the combined feature name in the bsub rusage string, which allows the job to use any token from any of the features specified in LM_LICENSE_NAME.

Example

To specify AppZ201 as an alias for the license manager feature named 201-AppZ:

Begin Feature 
LM_LICENSE_NAME=201-AppZ
NAME=AppZ201 
DISTRIBUTION=LanServer1(Lp1 1 Lp2 1) 
End Feature

To combine two license manager features (201-AppZ and 202-AppZ) into a feature named AppZ201:

Begin Feature 
LM_LICENSE_NAME=201-AppZ 202-AppZ
NAME=AppZ201
DISTRIBUTION=LanServer1(Lp1 1 Lp2 1) 
End Feature

AppZ201 is a combined feature that uses both 201-AppZ and 202-AppZ tokens. Submitting a job with AppZ201 in the rusage string (for example, bsub -Lp Lp1 -R "rusage[AppZ201=2]" myjob) means that the job checks out tokens for either 201-AppZ or 202-AppZ.

Syntax

LM_REMOVE_INTERVAL=seconds

Description

Specifies the minimum time a job must have a license checked out before lmremove or rlmremove can remove the license. lmremove or rlmremove causes the license manager daemon and vendor daemons to close the TCP connection with the application. They can then retry the license checkout.

When using lmremove or rlmremove as part of the preemption action (LM_REMOVE_SUSP_JOBS), define LM_REMOVE_INTERVAL=0 to ensure that LSF License Scheduler can preempt a job immediately after checkout. After suspending the job, LSF License Scheduler then uses lmremove or rlmremove to release licenses from the job.

Used for both project mode and cluster mode.

The value specified for a feature overrides the global value defined in the Parameters section. Each feature definition can specify a different value for this parameter.

Default

Undefined: LSF License Scheduler applies the global value.

Syntax

LM_REMOVE_SUSP_JOBS=seconds

Description

Enables LSF License Scheduler to use lmremove or rlmremove to remove license features from each recently-suspended job. After enabling this parameter, the preemption action is to suspend the job's processes and use lmremove or rlmremove to remove licenses from the application. lmremove or rlmremove causes the license manager daemon and vendor daemons to close the TCP connection with the application.

LSF License Scheduler continues to try removing the license feature for the specified number of seconds after the job is first suspended. When setting this parameter for an application, specify a value greater than the period following a license checkout that lmremove or rlmremove will fail for the application. This ensures that when a job suspends, its licenses are released. This period depends on the application.

When using lmremove or rlmremove as part of the preemption action, define LM_REMOVE_INTERVAL=0 to ensure that LSF License Scheduler can preempt a job immediately after checkout. After suspending the job, LSF License Scheduler then uses lmremove or rlmremove to release licenses from the job.

Used for fast dispatch project mode only.

The value specified for a feature overrides the global value defined in the Parameters section. Each feature definition can specify a different value for this parameter.

Default

Undefined. The default preemption action is to send a TSTP signal to the job.

Syntax

LM_RESERVATION=Y | N

Description

Enables LSF License Scheduler to support the FlexNet Manager license reservation keyword (RESERVE).

When LM_RESERVATION=Y is defined, LSF License Scheduler treats the RESERVE value in the FlexNet Manager license option file as OTHERS tokens instead of FREE tokens. The RESERVE value is now included in the OTHERS value in the blstat command output and is no longer included in the FREE value.

This parameter is ignored if it is defined in a time based configuration, or if the WORKLOAD_DISTRIBUTION parameter is defined in this feature.

The value specified for a feature overrides the global value defined in the Parameters section. Each feature definition can specify a different value for this parameter.

Default

Undefined: LSF License Scheduler applies the global value.

Syntax

LMREMOVE_SUSP_JOBS=seconds

Description

Replace LMREMOVE_SUSP_JOBS with LM_REMOVE_SUSP_JOBS. LMREMOVE_SUSP_JOBS is only maintained for backwards compatibility.

Syntax

LOCAL_TO=cluster_name | location_name(cluster_name [cluster_name ...])

Description

Used only for project mode. Cluster mode and fast dispatch project mode do not track accumulated use.

Configures token locality for the license feature. You must configure different feature sections for same feature based on their locality. By default, if LOCAL_TO is not defined, the feature is available to all clients and is not restricted by geographical location. When LOCAL_TO is configured, for a feature, License Scheduler treats license features served to different locations as different token names, and distributes the tokens to projects according the distribution and allocation policies for the feature.

LOCAL_TO cannot be defined for LSF Advanced Edition submission clusters.

LOCAL_TO allows you to limit features from different service domains to specific clusters, so License Scheduler only grants tokens of a feature to jobs from clusters that are entitled to them.

For example, if your license servers restrict the serving of license tokens to specific geographical locations, use LOCAL_TO to specify the locality of a license token if any feature cannot be shared across all the locations. This avoids having to define different distribution and allocation policies for different service domains, and allows hierarchical group configurations.

License Scheduler manages features with different localities as different resources. Use blinfo and blstat to see the different resource information for the features depending on their cluster locality.

License features with different localities must be defined in different feature sections. The same Service Domain can appear only once in the configuration for a given license feature.

A configuration like LOCAL_TO=Site1(clusterA clusterB) configures the feature for more than one cluster when using project mode.

A configuration like LOCAL_TO=clusterA configures locality for only one cluster. This is the same as LOCAL_TO=clusterA(clusterA).

Cluster names must be the names of clusters defined in the Clusters section of lsf.licensescheduler.

Examples

Begin Feature
NAME = hspice
DISTRIBUTION = SD1 (Lp1 1 Lp2 1)
LOCAL_TO = siteUS(clusterA clusterB)
End Feature

Begin Feature
NAME = hspice
DISTRIBUTION = SD2 (Lp1 1 Lp2 1)
LOCAL_TO = clusterA
End Feature

Begin Feature
NAME = hspice
DISTRIBUTION = SD3 (Lp1 1 Lp2 1) SD4 (Lp1 1 Lp2 1)
End Feature

Or use the hierarchical group configuration (GROUP_DISTRIBUTION):

Begin Feature
NAME = hspice
GROUP_DISTRIBUTION = group1
SERVICE_DOMAINS = SD1
LOCAL_TO = clusterA
End Feature

Begin Feature
NAME = hspice
GROUP_DISTRIBUTION = group1
SERVICE_DOMAINS = SD2
LOCAL_TO = clusterB
End Feature

Begin Feature
NAME = hspice
GROUP_DISTRIBUTION = group1
SERVICE_DOMAINS = SD3 SD4
End Feature

Default

Not defined. The feature is available to all clusters and taskman jobs, and is not restricted by cluster.

Syntax

LS_ACTIVE_PERCENTAGE=Y | N

Description

Configures license ownership in percentages instead of absolute numbers and adjusts ownership for inactive projects. Sets LS_FEATURE_PERCENTAGE=Y automatically.

Setting LS_ACTIVE_PERCENTAGE=Y dynamically adjusts ownership based on project activity, setting ownership to zero for inactive projects and restoring the configured ownership setting when projects become active. If the total ownership for the license feature is greater than 100%, each ownership value is scaled appropriately for a total ownership of 100%.

Used only for project mode. Cluster mode and fast dispatch project mode do not track accumulated use.

Default

N (Ownership values are not changed based on project activity.)

Syntax

LS_FEATURE_PERCENTAGE=Y | N

Description

Configures license ownership in percentages instead of absolute numbers. When not combined with hierarchical projects, affects the owned values in DISTRIBUTION and the NON_SHARED_DISTRIBUTION values only.

When using hierarchical projects, percentage is applied to OWNERSHIP, LIMITS, and NON_SHARED values.

Used for project mode and fast dispatch project mode only.

For example:

Begin Feature
LS_FEATURE_PERCENTAGE = Y
DISTRIBUTION = LanServer (p1 1 p2 1 p3 1/20)
...
End Feature

The service domain LanServer shares licenses equally among three License Scheduler projects. P3 is always entitled to 20% of the total licenses, and can preempt another project to get the licenses immediately if they are needed.

Example 1

Begin Feature
LS_FEATURE_PERCENTAGE = Y
DISTRIBUTION = LanServer (p1 1 p2 1 p3 1/20)
...
End Feature

The service domain LanServer shares licenses equally among three License Scheduler projects. P3 is always entitled to 20% of the total licenses, and can preempt another project to get the licenses immediately if they are needed.

Example 2

With LS_FEATURE_PERCENTAGE=Y in feature section and using hierarchical project groups:

Begin ProjectGroup
GROUP      SHARES    OWNERSHIP    LIMITS  NON_SHARED
(R (A p4))  (1  1)     ()         ()         ()
(A (B p3))  (1  1)     (- 10)     (- 20)     ()
(B (p1 p2)) (1  1)     (30 -)     ()       (- 5)
End ProjectGroup

Project p1 owns 30% of the total license and project p3 owns 10% of total licenses. P3's LIMITS is 20% of total licenses, and p2's NON_SHARED is 5%.

Default

N (Ownership is not configured with percentages, but with absolute numbers.)

Syntax

NAME=feature_name

Syntax

NON_SHARED_DISTRIBUTION=service_domain_name ([project_name number_non_shared_licenses] ... ) ...

Description

Defines non-shared licenses. Non-shared licenses are privately owned, and are not shared with other license projects. They are available only to one project.

Used for project mode and fast dispatch project mode only.

Use blinfo -a to display NON_SHARED_DISTRIBUTION information.

For projects defined with NON_SHARED_DISTRIBUTION, you must assign the project OWNERSHIP an equal or greater number of tokens than the number of non-shared licenses. If the number of owned licenses is less than the number of non-shared licenses, OWNERSHIP is set to the number of non-shared licenses.

Examples

• If the number of tokens normally given to a project (to satisfy the DISTRIBUTION share ratio) is larger than its NON_SHARED_DISTRIBUTION value, the DISTRIBUTION share ratio takes effect first.

  Begin Feature
  NAME=f1 # total 15 on LanServer
  LM_LICENSE_NAME=VCS-RUNTIME
  DISTRIBUTION=LanServer(Lp1 4/10 Lp2 1)
  NON_SHARED_DISTRIBUTION=LanServer(Lp1 10)
  End Feature

  In this example, 10 non-shared licenses are defined for the Lp1 project on LanServer. The DISTRIBUTION share ratio for Lp1:Lp2 is 4:1. If there are 15 licenses, Lp1 will normally get 12 licenses, which is larger than its NON_SHARED_DISTRIBUTION value of 10. Therefore, the DISTRIBUTION share ratio takes effect, so Lp1 gets 12 licenses and Lp2 gets 3 licenses for the 4:1 share ratio.

• If the number of tokens normally given to a project (to satisfy the DISTRIBUTION share ratio) is smaller than its NON_SHARED_DISTRIBUTION value, the project will first get the number of tokens equal to NON_SHARED_DISTRIBUTION, then the DISTRIBUTION share ratio for the other projects takes effect for the remaining licenses.
  • For one project with non-shared licenses and one project with no non-shared licenses: , the project with no non-shared licenses is given all the remaining licenses since it would normally be given more according to the DISTRIBUTION share ratio:

    Begin Feature
    NAME=f1 # total 15 on LanServer
    LM_LICENSE_NAME=VCS-RUNTIME
    DISTRIBUTION=LanServer(Lp1 1/10 Lp2 4)
    NON_SHARED_DISTRIBUTION=LanServer(Lp1 10)
    End Feature

    In this example, 10 non-shared licenses are defined for the Lp1 project on LanServer. The DISTRIBUTION share ratio for Lp1:Lp2 is 1:4. If there are 15 licenses, Lp1 will normally get three licenses, which is smaller than its NON_SHARED_DISTRIBUTION value of 10. Therefore, Lp1 gets the first 10 licenses, and Lp2 gets the remaining five licenses (since it would normally get more according to the share ratio).

  • For one project with non-shared licenses and two or more projects with no non-shared licenses, the two projects with no non-shared licenses are assigned the remaining licenses according to the DISTRIBUTION share ratio with each other, ignoring the share ratio for the project with non-shared licenses.

    Begin Feature
    NAME=f1 # total 15 on LanServer
    LM_LICENSE_NAME=VCS-RUNTIME
    DISTRIBUTION=LanServer(Lp1 1/10 Lp2 4 Lp3 2)
    NON_SHARED_DISTRIBUTION=LanServer(Lp1 10)
    End Feature

    In this example, 10 non-shared licenses are defined for the Lp1 project on LanServer. The DISTRIBUTION share ratio for Lp1:Lp2:Lp3 is 1:4:2. If there are 15 licenses, Lp1 will normally get two licenses, which is smaller than its NON_SHARED_DISTRIBUTION value of 10. Therefore, Lp1 gets the first 10 licenses. The remaining licenses are given to Lp2 and Lp3 to a ratio of 4:2, so Lp2 gets three licenses and Lp3 gets two licenses.

  • For two projects with non-shared licenses and one with no non-shared licenses, the one project with no non-shared licenses is given the remaining licenses after the two projects are given their non-shared licenses:

    Begin Feature
    NAME=f1 # total 15 on LanServer
    LM_LICENSE_NAME=VCS-RUNTIME
    DISTRIBUTION=LanServer(Lp1 1/10 Lp2 4 Lp3 2/5)
    NON_SHARED_DISTRIBUTION=LanServer(Lp1 10 Lp3 5)
    End Feature

    In this example, 10 non-shared licenses are defined for the Lp1 project and five non-shared license are defined for the Lp3 project on LanServer. The DISTRIBUTION share ratio for Lp1:Lp2:Lp3 is 1:4:2. If there are 15 licenses, Lp1 will normally get two licenses and Lp3 will normally get four licenses, which are both smaller than their corresponding NON_SHARED_DISTRIBUTION values. Therefore, Lp1 gets 10 licenses and Lp3 gets five licenses. Lp2 gets no licenses even though it normally has the largest share because Lp1 and Lp3 have non-shared licenses.

Syntax

PEAK_INUSE_PERIOD=seconds | cluster seconds ...

Description

Defines the interval over which a peak INUSE value is determined for dynamic license allocation in cluster mode for this license features and service domain.

Use keyword default to set for all clusters not specified, and the keyword interactive (in place of cluster name) to set for taskman jobs. For example:

PEAK_INUSE_PERIOD = cluster1 1000 cluster2 700 default 300

When defining the interval for LSF Advanced Edition submission clusters, the interval is determined for the entire LSF Advanced Edition mega-cluster (the submission cluster and its execution clusters).

Used for cluster mode only.

When defined in both the Parameters section and the Feature section, the Feature section definition is used for that license feature.

Default

300 seconds

Syntax

PREEMPT_ORDER=BY_OWNERSHIP

Description

Sets the preemption order based on configured OWNERSHIP.

Used for project mode only.

Default

Not defined.

Syntax

PREEMPT_RESERVE=Y | N

Description

If PREEMPT_RESERVE=Y, enables License Scheduler to preempt either licenses that are reserved or already in use by other projects. The number of jobs must be greater than the number of licenses owned.

If PREEMPT_RESERVE=N, License Scheduler does not preempt reserved licenses.

Used for project mode only.

Default

Y. Reserved licenses are pre-emptable.

Syntax

RETENTION_FACTOR=integer%

Description

Ensures that when tokens are reclaimed from an overfed cluster, the overfed cluster still gets to dispatch additional jobs, but at a reduced rate. Specify the retention factor as a percentage of tokens to be retained by the overfed cluster.

For example:

Begin Feature
NAME = f1
CLUSTER_MODE = Y
CLUSTER_DISTRIBUTION = LanServer(LAN1 1 LAN2 1)
ALLOC_BUFFER = 20
RETENTION_FACTOR = 25%
End Feature

With RETENTION_FACTOR set, as jobs finish in the overfed cluster and free up tokens, at least 25% of the tokens can be reused by the cluster to dispatch additional jobs. Tokens not held by the cluster are redistributed to other clusters. In general, a higher value means that the process of reclaiming tokens from an overfed cluster takes longer, and an overfed cluster gets to dispatch more jobs while tokens are being reclaimed from it.

When the entire LSF Advanced Edition mega-cluster (the submission cluster and its execution clusters) is overfed, the number of retained tokens is from the entire LSF Advanced Edition mega-cluster.

Used for cluster mode only.

Default

Not defined

Syntax

SERVICE_DOMAINS=service_domain_name ...

Description

Required if GROUP_DISTRIBUTION is defined. Specifies the service domains that provide tokens for this feature.

Only a single service domain can be specified when using cluster mode or fast dispatch project mode.

Syntax

WORKLOAD_DISTRIBUTION=[service_domain_name(LSF lsf_distribution NON_LSF non_lsf_distribution)] ...

Description

Defines the distribution given to each LSF and non-LSF workload within the specified service domain.

When running in cluster mode, WORKLOAD_DISTRIBUTION can only be specified for WAN service domains; if defined for a LAN feature, it is ignored.

Use blinfo -a to display WORKLOAD_DISTRIBUTION configuration.

Example

Begin Feature
NAME=ApplicationX
DISTRIBUTION=LicenseServer1(Lp1 1 Lp2 2)
WORKLOAD_DISTRIBUTION=LicenseServer1(LSF 8 NON_LSF 2) 
End Feature
On the LicenseServer1 domain, the available licenses are dedicated in a ratio of 8:2 for LSF and non-LSF workloads. This means that 80% of the available licenses are dedicated to the LSF workload, and 20% of the available licenses are dedicated to the non-LSF workload.

If LicenseServer1 has a total of 80 licenses, this configuration indicates that 64 licenses are dedicated to the LSF workload, and 16 licenses are dedicated to the non-LSF workload.

Syntax

NAME=feature_group_name

Valid values

Any positive integer up to the LIMITS value defined for the specified hierarchical group.

If defined as greater than LIMITS, NON_SHARED is set to LIMITS.

Valid values

A positive integer between the NON_SHARED and LIMITS values defined for the specified hierarchical group.

• If defined as less than NON_SHARED, OWNERSHIP is set to NON_SHARED.
• If defined as greater than LIMITS, OWNERSHIP is set to LIMITS.

Priority of default project

If not explicitly configured, the default project has the priority of 0. You can override this value by explicitly configuring the default project in Projects section with the chosen priority value.

Priority of default project

If not explicitly configured, the default project has the priority of 0. You can override this value by explicitly configuring the default project in Projects section with the chosen priority value.