Queuing Jobs on Unix

Queuing a job at PSC is fairly simple. Users write files called queue scripts which contain the commands they want executed through the queue. These commands can be any UNIX command or program that runs in batch mode- that is, that can run without you needing to enter information once the job has started. SAS, SPSS, Stata, and most other stats packages can be run in batch mode.

The command to create a new script file is makeq. makeq will ask you to enter the commands you want to run in your script, then for a name, and finally whether you need to access AFS. To invoke the queuing system, type makeq at a Unix prompt and enter your program commands.

meca% makeq
#############################################################################
# Put the commands you want to run after this paragraph.  Generally you can #
# type them just as they appear on a UNIX command line, except that you     #
# cannot use tildes in file names, and you should use the full paths for    #
# commands- ie, /usr/sas/sas rather than just sas.                          #
#############################################################################

sas 90pums.merge






^G Get Help  ^O WriteOut  ^R Read File ^Y Prev Pg   ^K Cut Text  ^C Cur Pos   
^X Exit      ^J Justify   ^W Where is  ^V Next Pg   ^U UnCut Text^T To Spell

When you exit the editor you will be given these options:

Edit, List, Done, or Cancel?

After you have responded with done makeq will ask: 

What name should I give this queue script?
sas.que
Provide a filename for your queue script. You will then be asked about AFS access. 
Does your job need to access AFS?

If you are accessing any data/programs that reside in IFS space, type yes.

Done! Your script file is sas.que.

To put your job in the queue, type runq sas.que at the Unix prompt. If the job accesses AFS space you will be prompted for your password. Runq will prompt you for a machine preference. Once a machine has been chosen, you will receive a job number. This number can be used with the checkq command to view the status of your job, in the queue, while you are waiting for it to complete. When the job has completed, you will get an e-mail stating so.

If there is reason to stop your job before execution starts or while it is running, the killq command followed by your job number will terminate your queued process.

meca% killq 145957

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