CHECKPOINT(5)              Grid Engine File Formats              CHECKPOINT(5)



NNAAMMEE
       checkpoint  -  Grid Engine checkpointing environment configuration file
       format

DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
       Checkpointing is a facility to save the complete status of an executing
       program  or  job  and to restore and restart from this so called check-
       point at a later point of time if  the  original  program  or  job  was
       halted, e.g.  through a system crash.

       Grid  Engine  provides  various  levels  of  checkpointing support (see
       _s_g_e___c_k_p_t(1)).  The checkpointing environment described here is a  means
       to  configure the different types of checkpointing in use for your Grid
       Engine cluster or parts thereof. For that purpose you  can  define  the
       operations which have to be executed in initiating a checkpoint genera-
       tion, a migration of a checkpoint to another host or  a  restart  of  a
       checkpointed application as well as the list of queues which are eligi-
       ble for a checkpointing method.

       Supporting different operating systems may easily force Grid Engine  to
       introduce  operating  system  dependencies for the configuration of the
       checkpointing configuration file and updates of the supported operating
       system versions may lead to frequently changing implementation details.
       Please refer to the <sge_root>/ckpt directory for more information.

       Please use the _-_a_c_k_p_t, _-_d_c_k_p_t, _-_m_c_k_p_t or _-_s_c_k_p_t options to the _q_c_o_n_f(1)
       command  to manipulate checkpointing environments from the command-line
       or use the corresponding _q_m_o_n(1) dialogue for X-Windows based  interac-
       tive configuration.

FFOORRMMAATT
       The format of a _c_h_e_c_k_p_o_i_n_t file is defined as follows:

   cckkpptt__nnaammee
       The  name  of  the checkpointing environment. To be used in the _q_s_u_b(1)
       --cckkpptt switch or for the _q_c_o_n_f(1) options mentioned above.

   iinntteerrffaaccee
       The type of checkpointing to be used. Currently,  the  following  types
       are valid:

       _h_i_b_e_r_n_a_t_o_r
              The Hibernator kernel level checkpointing is interfaced.

       _c_p_r    The SGI kernel level checkpointing is used.

       _c_r_a_y_-_c_k_p_t
              The Cray kernel level checkpointing is assumed.

       _t_r_a_n_s_p_a_r_e_n_t
              Grid  Engine  assumes  that the jobs submitted with reference to
              this checkpointing interface use a checkpointing library such as
              provided by the public domain package _C_o_n_d_o_r.

       _u_s_e_r_d_e_f_i_n_e_d
              Grid  Engine  assumes  that the jobs submitted with reference to
              this checkpointing interface perform their private checkpointing
              method.

       _a_p_p_l_i_c_a_t_i_o_n_-_l_e_v_e_l
              Uses all of the interface commands configured in the checkpoint-
              ing object like in the case of one of the  kernel  level  check-
              pointing  interfaces  (_c_p_r,  _c_r_a_y_-_c_k_p_t,  etc.)  except  for  the
              rreessttaarrtt__ccoommmmaanndd (see below), which is not used (even  if  it  is
              configured)  but  the job script is invoked in case of a restart
              instead.

   cckkpptt__ccoommmmaanndd
       A command-line type command string to be executed  by  Grid  Engine  in
       order to initiate a checkpoint.

   mmiiggrr__ccoommmmaanndd
       A command-line type command string to be executed by Grid Engine during
       a migration of a checkpointing job from one host to another.

   rreessttaarrtt__ccoommmmaanndd
       A command-line type command string to be executed by Grid  Engine  when
       restarting a previously checkpointed application.

   cclleeaann__ccoommmmaanndd
       A  command-line  type  command  string to be executed by Grid Engine in
       order to cleanup after a checkpointed application has finished.

   cckkpptt__ddiirr
       A file system location to which checkpoints of potentially considerable
       size should be stored.

   cckkpptt__ssiiggnnaall
       A  Unix  signal to be sent to a job by Grid Engine to initiate a check-
       point generation. The value for this field can  either  be  a  symbolic
       name  from the list produced by the _-_l option of the _k_i_l_l(1) command or
       an integer number which must be a valid signal on the systems used  for
       checkpointing.

   wwhheenn
       The  points  of  time  when  checkpoints  are expected to be generated.
       Valid values for this parameter are composed by the letters _s, _m, _x and
       _r  and  any  combinations  thereof  without any separating character in
       between. The same letters are allowed for the _-_c option of the  _q_s_u_b(1)
       command  which will overwrite the definitions in the used checkpointing
       environment.  The meaning of the letters is defined as follows:

       _s      A job is checkpointed, aborted and if possible migrated  if  the
              corresponding _s_g_e___e_x_e_c_d(8) is shut down on the job's machine.

       _m      Checkpoints  are  generated periodically at the _m_i_n___c_p_u___i_n_t_e_r_v_a_l
              interval defined by the queue (see _q_u_e_u_e___c_o_n_f(5)) in which a job
              executes.

       _x      A  job is checkpointed, aborted and if possible migrated as soon
              as the job gets suspended (manually as well as automatically).

       _r      A job will be rescheduled (not checkpointed) when  the  host  on
              which  the  job  currently  runs went into unknown state and the
              time interval _r_e_s_c_h_e_d_u_l_e___u_n_k_n_o_w_n (see  _s_g_e___c_o_n_f(5))  defined  in
              the global/local cluster configuration will be exceeded.


RREESSTTRRIICCTTIIOONNSS
       NNoottee, that the functionality of any checkpointing, migration or restart
       procedures provided by default with the  Grid  Engine  distribution  as
       well  as the way how they are invoked in the _c_k_p_t___c_o_m_m_a_n_d, _m_i_g_r___c_o_m_m_a_n_d
       or _r_e_s_t_a_r_t___c_o_m_m_a_n_d parameters of any default checkpointing environments
       should  not  be changed or otherwise the functionality remains the full
       responsibility of the administrator configuring the checkpointing envi-
       ronment.   Grid  Engine  will just invoke these procedures and evaluate
       their exit status. If the procedures do not perform their  tasks  prop-
       erly  or  are not invoked in a proper fashion, the checkpointing mecha-
       nism may behave unexpectedly, Grid Engine has no means to detect  this.

SSEEEE AALLSSOO
       _s_g_e___i_n_t_r_o(1), _s_g_e___c_k_p_t(1), _q_c_o_n_f(1), _q_m_o_d(1), _q_s_u_b(1), _s_g_e___e_x_e_c_d(8).

CCOOPPYYRRIIGGHHTT
       See _s_g_e___i_n_t_r_o(1) for a full statement of rights and permissions.



GE 6.0                   $Date: 2007/01/05 20:31:01 $            CHECKPOINT(5)
