Configuring the launcher

GfxLauncher and the gfxmenu script is configured in the /etc/gfxlauncher.conf configuration file. This file controls all the default settings and slurm templates used.

An example configuration file is shown below:

[general]
script_dir = /sw/pkg/ondemand-dt/run
help_url = "https://lunarc-documentation.readthedocs.io/en/latest/getting_started/gfxlauncher/"
browser_command = firefox

[slurm]
default_part = gpua40
default_account = lu-test

feature_mem96gb = "96 GB Memory node"
feature_mem64gb = "64 GB Memory node"
feature_mem128gb = "128 GB Memory node"
feature_mem192gb = "192 GB Memory node"
feature_mem384gb = "384 GB Memory node"
feature_mem768gb = "768 GB Memory node"
feature_mem256gb = "256 GB Memory node"
feature_mem512GB = "512 GB Memory node"
feature_gpua40 = "NVIDIA A40 GPU"
feature_milan = "AMD Milan CPU"
feature_gpu3k20 = "3 x NVIDIA K20 GPU (128GB RAM)"
feature_kepler = "2 x NVIDIA K80 GPU"
feature_ampere = "2 x NVIDIA A100 GPU"
feature_ignore = "milan,rack-,rack_,bc,haswell,cascade,enc,jobtmp,skylake,ampere,kepler,sandy"

part_lu48 = "AMD 48 cores"
part_lu32 = "Intel 32 cores"
part_gpua40 = "AMD/NVIDIA A40 48c 24h"
part_gpua100 = "AMD/NVIDIA A100 48 cores"
part_gpua40i = "Intel/NVIDIA A40 32c 48h"
part_ignore = "lunarc,hep"

group_ondemand = gpua40, gpua40i
group_develop = gpua40i
group_metashape184 = lvis2
group_cpu = lu48
group_gpu = gpua100,gpua40
group_win = win
group_all = lu48,lu32,gpua100,gpua40

group_ondemand_tasks = 4
group_ondemand_memory = -1
group_ondemand_exclusive = no

use_sacctmgr = yes

[menus]
menu_prefix = "Applications - "
desktop_entry_prefix = "gfx-"

[vgl]
vgl_bin = /usr/bin/vglconnect
vgl_path = /usr/bin
backend_node = gfx0
vglconnect_template = %s/vglconnect %s %s/%s

[jupyter]
notebook_module = Anaconda3
jupyterlab_module = Anaconda3

[xfreerdp]
xfreerdp_path = /sw/pkg/freerdp/2.0.0-rc4/bin
xfreerdp_cmdline = %s /v:%s /u:$USER /d:ad.lunarc /sec:tls /cert-ignore /audio-mode:1 /gfx +gfx-progressive -bitmap-cache -offscreen-cache -glyph-cache +clipboard /size:1280x1024 /dynamic-resolution /t:"LUNARC HPC Desktop Windows 10 (NVIDA V100)"

General section - [general]

The general section contain common settings for all tools provided by the GFX Launcher framework. The most important configuration variable is the script_dir which tells the gfxmenu tool where to find the application scripts used for starting the applications on the backend infrastructure.

The help_url variable is used to provide a link to the documentation for the users. The browser_command variable is used to specify the command to start the browser when the user clicks the help button in the launcher.

Slurm section - [slurm]

This section contain settings related to Slurm.

Variable

Description

default_part

If no partition is given on the gfxlaunch command line this is the default partition used.

default_account

If no account information is given this is the default account used.

Feature descriptions

To make the resource selection more intuitive it is possible to give the Slurm features more easy to understand descriptions. This is done by providing special feature variables prefixed with feature_ and the name of the feature in Slurm. A feature variable name for the Slurm feature gpua100 would then be feature_gpua100. The description is a string assigned to the configuration variable, enclosed with “”. An example feature variable assignment is shown below:

feature_gpua100 = "NVIDIA A100 GPU"

Ignoring features

In a HPC environment there are many features that shouldn’t be selectable by the user. These features can be hidden using the feature_ignore configuration variable. The following example shows this variable used:

feature_ignore = "rack-,rack_,bc,haswell,cascade,enc,jobtmp,skylake,ampere,kepler,sandy"

Partition descriptions

In the same ways as for features, partitions can alos be given more intuitive descriptions. This is done by providing special partition variables prefixed with part_ and the name of the partition in Slurm. A partition variable name for the Slurm partition gpua100 would then be part_gpua100. The description is a string assigned to the configuration variable, enclosed with “”. An example partition variable assignment is shown below:

part_gpua100 = "AMD/NVIDIA A100 48 cores"

Ignoring partitions

Just as with features, not all partitions should be automatically be exposed to the users. To hide these the part_ignore configuration variable can be used to list features that shoudln’t be considered in the user interface. The following example shows this variable used:

part_ignore = "lunarc,hep"

Grouping partitions

For certain applications you want the users to select partitions from a limited set of partitions. This can be done by the group feature in GfxLauncher. Groups are defined by creating variables with the group_-prefix followed by the groupname. For each group a number of partitions can be specified. Examples of group definitions are shown below:

group_ondemand = lvis,lvis2
group_cpu = lu,lu2
group_gpu = gpuk20,gpua100
group_win = win

The partition groups can be used the gfxlaunch switch –group to only display the partitions in the specified group.

VirtualGL section - [vgl]

This section is used by gfxlaunch to configure where the binaries for VirtualGL can be found. The following variables can be configured:

Variable

Description

vgl_path

Path for VirtualGL executables (for example: /usr/bin)

vgl_connect_template

Command to execute vglconnect. Should be %s/vglconnect %s %s/%s by default.

XFreeRDP section - [xfreerdp]

This section is used by gfxlaunch to configure where the binaries for XFreeRDP can be found. The following variables can be configured:

Variable

Description

xfreerdp_path

Path for XFreeRDP executables