Moab Installation Guide for Beginners

This section describes how to do the following:

• Install Moab Workload Manager for Production Use
• Install Moab Workload Manager for Evaluation

Installing Moab Workload Manager for Production Use

To get started, you will need to open a command line terminal.  This terminal will be used to extract the Moab distribution files, install the binaries, and perform basic configuration.  In many cases, it will be easiest to perform the full install operation as the user root.  This user has full administrative capabilities and this authority is required to create Moab's home directory.  To become root, use the su command as in the following example:

> su 
Password: *****
[root@localhost ~]#

NOTE: Linux commands and command flags are case sensitive and should be entered exactly as shown.

Unpacking the Moab Distribution File

The Moab distribution file is provided as a compressed archive file with a name like moab-4.2.4.tar.gz.  The first step in installing Moab is to extract it from this file.  This is accomplished using the command tar.   The tar command will extract the necessary Moab files into the current directory.  Before starting, determine the location of the Moab distribution file and the directory into which you would like to extract this file.  If there is no preference, use the directory /opt/moab/src.  Assuming the Moab distribution file was placed in the '/tmp' directory, the following steps could be used:

• create the Moab home directory
• move the Moab distribution file into the home directory
• enter the Moab home directory
• extract the Moab distribution file
• enter the Moab build directory

These steps are highlighted in the example below:

[root@localhost ~]# mkdir -p /opt/moab
[root@localhost ~]# mv /tmp/moab-4.2.4.tar.gz /opt/moab
[root@localhost ~]# cd /opt/moab
[root@localhost moab]# tar -xzf moab-4.2.4.tar.gz
[root@koa moab]# cd moab-4.2.4

Building and Installing Moab

The next step is to build and install Moab.  In Linux, this process is often accomplished using the configure and make commands.  The configure command is used to obtain environmental information required to properly install a new software package.  The make command is used to incorporate this environmental information into the software package and install this package into its final location.

Note: To configure the Moab configuration file to facilitate communication between Moab and the resource manager, when running configure use the --with-<resource manager you are using> configuration option. For a complete list of all resource managers and other configuration options, use the --help configuration option.

To install Moab, issue the configure command followed by the command make install and in the example below:

[root@localhost moab-4.2.4]# ./configure --homedir=/opt/moab

Configuring Moab (v 4.2.4)...
checking system configuration...

checking Makefile...  building new Makefile

OPSYS:         LINUX
COMPILER:      gcc
SECRET KEY:    11102
HOME DIR:      /opt/moab
INSTALL DIR:   /usr/local
PRIMARY ADMIN: root
SERVERHOST:    test.icluster.org

Do you want to use TORQUE/PBS? [Y|N] (Default: Y)           
PBS Target Directory: (default: /usr/local)

make -C src/moab clean
...

configure successful.  Type 'make' to build (requires gnu make)

[root@localhost moab-4.2.4]# make install
make[1]: Entering directory `/opt/moab/moab-4.2.4/src/moab'
...
make[1]: Leaving directory `/opt/moab/moab-4.2.3/src/server'
root@localhost moab-4.2.4]#

Congratulations! With this command, Moab is now installed.

2.3 Configuring Moab

The previous step installed all Moab client commands and the Moab Workload Manager server into the bin and sbin subdirectories of the specified install directory. By default, this directory is /usr/local. Before running any Moab commands, it is advisable to add the directories to your path as in the example below:

[root@localhost moab-4.2.4]# export PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:$PATH

The configure script which was executed earlier also created an initial configuration file which allows Moab to interface to the local resource manager. This file is named moab.cfg and is located in the Moab Home Directory. In the above example, this was specified when running configure script using the --homedir=X argument and was set to /opt/moab. To examine or edit this file, use a text editor such as vi as in the example below:

[root@localhost moab-4.2.4]# vi /opt/moab/moab.cfg
SCHEDCFG[Moab]          SERVER=test.icluster.org:42559
ADMINCFG[1]             USERS=root
...
RMCFG[base]             TYPE=PBS

NOTE: In vi, additional parameters can be added by inserting new text. To enter vi insert mode, press the 'i' key and begin typing. To exit insert mode, press the 'Esc' key. To save changes, enter ':w'. To exit, enter ':q'.

In most cases, no modifications to the moab.cfg file are required.

Running Moab

Before starting Moab, verify that the resource manager is properly executing. In the case of TORQUE, this can be verified using the pbsnodes command. Once confirmed, Moab can be started by entering the command moab. Successful operation of Moab can be verified using a client command such as showq.

[root@localhost moab-4.2.4]# pbsnodes -a
...
[root@localhost moab-4.2.4]# moab
[root@localhost moab-4.2.4]# showq
active jobs------------------------
JOBID              USERNAME      STATE  PROC   REMAINING            STARTTIME

...
[root@localhost moab-4.2.4]#

The output of the showq command should display the number of processors currently available in the cluster as well as a list of all existing batch jobs.

Next Steps

With Moab up and running possible next steps may include enabling Moab Cluster Manager or Moab Access Portal, or configuring advanced features within Moab.