Message boards : ATLAS application : Delete old settings ??
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OldChap

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Message 35251 - Posted: 13 May 2018, 23:21:34 UTC
Last modified: 13 May 2018, 23:29:00 UTC

Was running 3 * 8 threads on this machine
changed preferences on my account to run unlimited
Let machine finish work
Removed app_config
added more ram
checked Virtual still OK in bios
detached
A few days later I thought I would give this another go
attached to project
Am still getting "running 8 cpu's"
Removed then reinstalled VB 5.1 plus tools
reset project
No change.
Save me some pain please.... How do I start with a clean sheet ??
(mint 18.3, boinc 7.10.2, 12c/24t, 64GB)
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maeax

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Message 35252 - Posted: 14 May 2018, 1:04:07 UTC - in response to Message 35251.  

What's about to go back to boinc.berkeley.edu Virtualbox Version 5.1.26 including extension Pack with Boinc 7.8.3?
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computezrmle
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Message 35256 - Posted: 14 May 2018, 5:49:48 UTC - in response to Message 35251.  

Was running 3 * 8 threads on this machine

Your account lists several hosts. Which one is "this"?
Guess: https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/show_host_detail.php?hostid=10544285

changed preferences on my account to run unlimited

Unlimited #tasks or #cores?

added more ram

To the host I guess (otherwise you would have kept your app_config.xml).


detached
A few days later I thought I would give this another go
attached to project

Did you assign the host to the same venue you changed above?


Removed then reinstalled VB 5.1 plus tools

Do you mean VirtualBox extensions?


From a typical log:
https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/result.php?resultid=191143249
I guess it's a VirtualBox problem.

You may:
1. remove VirtualBox
2. Reinstall it
3. Reinstall the VBox extensions
4. Check if your BOINC user is in the vboxusers group
5. Reboot
6. Request fresh LHC work

If the problems persist, post here again.



Additional suggestions:

You now have enough RAM to run less than 8 cores per VM which would be more efficient.
Best would be a 2-core setup.

As you run linux, you may try the native app.
See here:
https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/forum_thread.php?id=4703&postid=35234
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Message 35303 - Posted: 19 May 2018, 5:31:28 UTC - in response to Message 35256.  
Last modified: 19 May 2018, 5:39:59 UTC

Was running 3 * 8 threads on this machine

Your account lists several hosts. Which one is "this"?
Guess: https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/show_host_detail.php?hostid=10544285

changed preferences on my account to run unlimited

Unlimited #tasks or #cores?
It was both
added more ram

To the host I guess (otherwise you would have kept your app_config.xml).
Yes to host

detached
A few days later I thought I would give this another go
attached to project

Did you assign the host to the same venue you changed above?
I don't understand this

Removed then reinstalled VB 5.1 plus tools

Do you mean VirtualBox extensions?
Yes

From a typical log:
https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/result.php?resultid=191143249
I guess it's a VirtualBox problem.

You may:
1. remove VirtualBox
2. Reinstall it
3. Reinstall the VBox extensions
4. Check if your BOINC user is in the vboxusers group
5. Reboot
6. Request fresh LHC work
1.2.3= I now have a fresh install of Mint 18.3 on a different drive with Virtualbox 5.1.38 and matching extensions. I have installed Boinc.
4. how to do this? and if not there how to add?


If the problems persist, post here again.



Additional suggestions:

You now have enough RAM to run less than 8 cores per VM which would be more efficient.
Best would be a 2-core setup.
At 2.1GB per will it not run 24 individual threads??

As you run linux, you may try the native app.
See here:
https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/forum_thread.php?id=4703&postid=35234

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OldChap

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Message 35304 - Posted: 19 May 2018, 5:37:33 UTC - in response to Message 35303.  

Your comment to try native.....
I guess that trying a never before used distro is not too bad but I am interested to know what advantage this running native might offer?
Faster?
Less memory intensive?
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OldChap

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Message 35307 - Posted: 19 May 2018, 16:06:45 UTC - in response to Message 35304.  

Did some reading about adding user to vboxusers and have machine running again but still with 8 cpu's
It seems then that I have misunderstood the LHC@home preferences.

I have now set this to:
Max # jobs No limit
Max # CPUs 1
so when the current wu running finishes I am hoping that I see individual cores running individual wu's even though that might take a while

machine id is 10545906
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OldChap

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Message 35318 - Posted: 20 May 2018, 16:00:55 UTC - in response to Message 35307.  

Max jobs 2
Max cpu's 2

Gave me 2*2cpu's

Max Jobs 8
Max CPU's

Gave me 2*2cpu's

adding app_config:

<app_config>

<project_max_concurrent>8</project_max_concurrent>

<app>
<name>ATLAS</name>
<max_concurrent>8</max_concurrent>
<fraction_done_exact/>
</app>

<app_version>
<app_name>ATLAS</app_name>
<plan_class>vbox64_mt_mcore_atlas</plan_class>
<avg_ncpus>2</avg_ncpus>
</app_version>

</app_config>


Re-read config files gives me

2*2cpu's after next wu downloads

Project update and....
No Change

The procedure above normally results in immediate change on other projects....

So, as per post title How to clear current settings and engage new ones
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computezrmle
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Message 35322 - Posted: 20 May 2018, 17:46:03 UTC - in response to Message 35318.  
Last modified: 20 May 2018, 17:47:11 UTC

The following settings should work on your host https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/show_host_detail.php?hostid=10545906

Web preferences
#cores: 2
#tasks: 8 (or unlimited)


app_config.xml
<app_config>
  <app>
    <name>ATLAS</name>
    <max_concurrent>8</max_concurrent>
    <fraction_done_exact/>
  </app>
  <app_version>
    <app_name>ATLAS</app_name>
    <plan_class>vbox64_mt_mcore_atlas</plan_class>
    <avg_ncpus>2.0</avg_ncpus>
    <cmdline>--nthreads 2 --memory_size_mb 4800</cmdline>
  </app_version>
  <project_max_concurrent>8</project_max_concurrent>
</app_config>

Don't forget a "reload config files".
The cmdline settings become active for the next starting VM.


This configures more RAM per VM than requested by the project server.
The reason why can be found in the following comments.


https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/forum_thread.php?id=4702&postid=35261
https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/forum_thread.php?id=4702&postid=35290


https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/forum_thread.php?id=4695&postid=35268
David Cameron wrote:
... I wonder if we need to increase the memory limits for the current tasks.


https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/forum_thread.php?id=4694&postid=35293
David Cameron wrote:
Indeed the current tasks are rather heavier than the previous ones - on average each event takes twice or even three times as long. Some may call them "deadly", others might appreciate the extra credit :)

In general if the task is using close to 100% CPU it is still good ...
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Message 35324 - Posted: 20 May 2018, 23:47:35 UTC - in response to Message 35322.  
Last modified: 20 May 2018, 23:48:08 UTC

OK so I followed that guide and changed the app_config (copy/paste) then adjust to 10 concurrent tasks
No new tasks
abort old
read config and see listed in log
allow new tasks
still get just 2 running 2 threads
No new tasks
let these run.

observations:
first 20% suggests runtime of ~35mins
get to ~30% and total memory use hits 11.7GiB and then stays steady
get to 60% in under 30 mins but time remaining is climbing
get to 80% in 50:40
get to 85% in 59:43
Things to do but came back to find:
97.25% at 1:53:20

This is running much like the last wu so, maybe it is not resetting the app_config settings at all

The plan now is to abort and re-boot because it seems to me that that way I can be sure boinc is seeing the settings from the beginning.

Once done I shall let it run and go to bed
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Message 35325 - Posted: 21 May 2018, 1:15:07 UTC - in response to Message 35324.  

And after a reboot still only running two tasks of two
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Message 35327 - Posted: 21 May 2018, 6:47:55 UTC - in response to Message 35324.  

OldChap wrote:
This is running much like the last wu so, maybe it is not resetting the app_config settings at all
Do you have a new line after the last

</app_config>
?
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Message 35328 - Posted: 21 May 2018, 7:30:40 UTC

@ OldChap

There's good news and there's bad news.


Good news

Your stderr.txt, e.g from https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/result.php?resultid=191632548, shows that your VMs accept the settings from your app_config.xml.
2018-05-21 02:13:21 (5758): Setting Memory Size for VM. (4800MB)
2018-05-21 02:13:21 (5758): Setting CPU Count for VM. (2)



Bad news

Regarding your VirtualBox installation
2018-05-21 02:12:59 (5758): Detected: VirtualBox VboxManage Interface (Version: 5.1.38)
2018-05-21 03:06:46 (2772): Detected: VirtualBox VboxManage Interface (Version: 5.1.34)

Your log references 2 different VirtualBox versions. This should be checked/corrected.
You may stay on 5.1.x for the moment and don't upgrade to 5.2.x.

VBoxManage: error: VD: error VERR_FILE_NOT_FOUND opening image file '/usr/share/virtualbox/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso' (VERR_FILE_NOT_FOUND).

This line shows that the VM can't access the VBox Additions.
They are not a must, but helpful for monitoring. So it is recommended to install them.
Be aware that they should be the same version than the Hypervisor (= main VirtualBox program).


I remembered a discussion in the MB that is not relevant for my own setup (as I don't run that many ATLAS concurrently) but it may affect your's:
https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/forum_thread.php?id=4686&postid=35258

To make it short:
This (in my eyes misconfiguration) of the server is most likely the reason why you can't get more tasks than configured via #cores in the web preferences.
If you set this to a higher value, you may get more.
As the server uses the same parameter to calculate the RAM setting, the limit on your host (https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/show_host_detail.php?hostid=10545906) will most likely be 6 concurrently running VMs.
This is caused by the fact that the RAM setting is controlled by "memory_size_mb" and "working_set_size/working_set_size_smoothed".
The second parameter can't be influenced by the user but is used by your BOINC client to determine if an additional task can be started.
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Message 35335 - Posted: 21 May 2018, 23:39:56 UTC - in response to Message 35328.  

Excellent

Yes I have been lazy and initially downloaded the extensions using package manager only to find that the version does not match
On restart and on starting Virtualbox briefly this is seen and the option to upgrade is presented
Selecting "yes" downloads and installs the correct version but there must be an error in this process which does not remove the older version.
I may have to either download/install the correct package initially using CLI (not sure of its name) or purge the older version

A look at my running overnight still shows those wu's going VERY long for the last few percent but I will consider that again once everything else is working

Thanks also for the Stderr output location info. Yes it should be on file locally but this is easier (still being lazy)
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Message 35347 - Posted: 22 May 2018, 22:06:33 UTC - in response to Message 35335.  
Last modified: 22 May 2018, 22:08:19 UTC

Another night, another install. This time using Virtualbox-5.2

4 completed wu's OK

but Last 3% took 4+ hours

Result file showing "Setting Memory Size for VM. (4800MB)"
but in BoincTasks I see 4400MB

Changing the app_config to 6 tasks and changing the LHC preferences to 6 tasks then running update followed by a re-boot....

Still shows me running 2 tasks after I allow new work

Nothing I have done so far is allowing me to adjust that number

It is as if the app_config needs a different name to run these
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Message 35351 - Posted: 23 May 2018, 5:49:13 UTC - in response to Message 35347.  

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Message 35361 - Posted: 23 May 2018, 22:49:29 UTC - in response to Message 35351.  

Thanks everybody for the help

This is my HUUUUGE Thank You to PHILIPPE who decided to try to educate me in the ways of LHC via PM

This was always going to be me being an idiot and this was in the end true.

I have been totally misunderstanding how the LHC Preferences work

So, with some expert help I changed the #cpus to unlimited (for now) and it downloaded 6 Wu's

I have now started a second instance of Boinc and shared resources equally

As a result I now have 10 threads of 2 cpus running on that machine, 5 on boinc and 5 on boinc2.....

......WHICH WAS WHAT I HAVE BEEN AIMING FOR ALL ALONG

THANK YOU EVERYBODY that helped me start to understand Atlas
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