PVMD(1PVM) PVM Version 3.4 PVMD(1PVM)
NAME
pvmd, pvmd3 - PVM daemon
SYNOPSIS
pvmd [ -options ] [ hostfile ]
DESCRIPTION
Pvmd3 is a daemon process which coordinates unix hosts in a virtual ma-
chine. One pvmd3 must run on each host in the group. They provide the
communication and process control functions needed by the user's PVM
processes. The daemon can be started manually with a host file argu-
ment that will automatically start the remote pvmds. The local and re-
mote pvmds can also be started from the PVM console program pvm.
The name of the daemon executable is pvmd3. It is usually started by a
shell script, $PVM_ROOT/lib/pvmd.
[v3.4 and later] Before running pvmd3, pvmd sources any commands in
$HOME/.pvmprofile if this file exists.
OPTIONS
The following options may be specified on the command line when start-
ing the master pvmd or PVM console:
-dmask Set pvmd debug mask. Used to debug the pvmd or libpvm (not in-
tended to be used to debug application programs). Mask is the
sum of the following bits and can be specified in hexadecimal
(0x...), octal (0...) or decimal:
Bit Information
0x1 Packet routing
0x2 Message routing and entry points
0x4 Task state
0x8 Slave pvmd startup
0x10 Host table updates
0x20 Select loop (below packet layer)
0x40 IP network
0x80 Multiprocessor nodes
0x100 Resource manager interface
0x200 Application (messages with no destination, etc.)
0x400 Wait contexts
0x800 Shared memory operations
0x1000 Semaphores
0x2000 Locks
0x4000 Message route control
-nname Specify an alternate hostname for the master pvmd to use. Use-
ful when gethostname() returns a name not assigned to any net-
work interface.
The following options are used by the master pvmd when starting slaves
and are only of interest to someone writing a hoster. Don't just go
using them, now.
-s Start pvmd in slave mode. Hostfile cannot be used, five addi-
tional parameters must be supplied: master pvmd index, master
IP, master MTU, slave pvmd index, and slave IP.
-S Same as -s, but slave pvmd doesn't wait for its stdin to be
closed after printing its parameters. Used for manual startup.
-f Slave doesn't fork after configuration (useful if the slave is
to be controlled or monitored by some process).
HOST FILE FORMAT
Each host in the virtual machine must have an entry in the host file.
Lines beginning with a splat ( # ), optionally preceded by whitespace,
are ignored.
A simple host file might look like:
# my first host file
thud
fred
wilma
barney
betty
This specifies the names of five hosts to be configured in the virtual
machine.
The master pvmd for a group is started by hand on the localhost, and it
starts slaves on each of the remaining hosts using the rsh or rexec
command. The master host may appear on any line of the host file.
Host names cannot be numeric (IP) addresses, because they are passed to
rsh and rexec(), which usually don't accept addresses.
The simple format above works fine if you have the same login name on
all five machines and the name of the master host in your .rhosts files
on the other four.
There are several host file options available:
lo=NAME Specifies an alternate login name (NAME) to use.
so=pw This is necessary when the remote host cannot trust
the master. Causes the master pvmd to prompt for a
password for the remote host in the tty of the pvmd
(note you can't start the master using the console or
background it when using this option) you will see:
Password (honk.cs.utk.edu:manchek):
you should type your password for the remote host.
The startup will then continue as normal.
dx=FILE Specifies the path of the pvmd executable. FILE may
be a simple filename, an absolute pathname, or a path
relative to the user's home directory on the remote
host. This is mainly useful to aid in debugging new
versions of PVM, but may have other uses.
ep=PATH Specifies a path for the pvmd to search for executable
program components when spawning a new process. The
path may have multiple elements, separated by colons (
: ).
wd=PATH Specifies a working directory in which all spawned
tasks on this host will execute.
sp=VALUE Specifies the relative computational speed of this
host compared to other hosts in the configuration.
VALUE is an integer in the range [1 - 1000000]
bx=PATH Specifies the debugger program path. Note: the envi-
ronment variable PVM_DEBUGGER can also be set.
ip=NAME Specifies an alternate IP address to use for the host.
As with host names (when ip= is not used), the address
must be a host name, not a numeric address, because it
is passed to rsh and rexec(). This option allows one
to pick a specific network interface for a machine
without using the interface's name. It can also be
used to create a virtual machine using symbolic (in-
stead of actual) host names.
so=ms Rarely used. Causes the master pvmd to request user
to manually perform the startup of a pvmd on a slave
host when rsh and rexec network services are disabled
but IP connectivity exists. See section "MANUAL
STARTUP".
id=VMID A new feature in PVM 3.4.4 is the concept of a "Vir-
tual Machine ID". You can now set the VMID to an ar-
bitrary string and this will distinguish and allow
multiple virtual machines to run on the same set of
hosts under the same userid. (This feature was origi-
nally introduced by SGI in their commercial PVM prod-
uct, and has now been generalized for the public PVM
system.) This feature seems to be something that peo-
ple often want, and the "id=" hostfile option (or
$PVM_VMID environment variable) is the cleanest way to
provide this functionality, rather than overloading
the SHAREDTMP compiler flag and other internals.
*** Make Sure *** that you appropriately set the
$PVM_VMID environment variable in any shells from
which PVM application tasks or the "pvm" console will
be run, or else they won't know which virtual machine
to attach to!
By default, all hosts which are added to the virtual
machine will inherit the same VMID. If hosts are
added to the virtual machine which are running older
versions of PVM (prior to 3.4.4), then the VMID will
be ignored for those hosts, and hence these machines
can only be added to one virtual machine for the given
user. The VMID need not be consistent on every host
in a virtual machine (although this is not necessarily
advisable).
A dollar sign ( $ ) in an option introduces a variable name, for exam-
ple $PVM_ARCH. Names are expanded from environment variables by each
pvmd.
Each of the flags above has a default value. These are:
lo The loginname on the master host.
so Nothing
dx $PVM_ROOT/lib/pvmd (or environment variable PVM_DPATH)
ep $HOME/pvm3/bin/$PVM_ARCH:$PVM_ROOT/bin/$PVM_ARCH
wd $HOME
sp 1000
bx $PVM_ROOT/lib/debugger
You can change these by adding a line with a star ( * ) in the first
field followed by the options, for example:
* lo=afriend so=pw
This sets new default values for 'lo' and 'so' for the remainder of the
host file, or until the next '*' line. Options set on the last '*'
line also apply to hosts added dynamically using pvm_addhosts().
Host options can be set without starting the hosts automatically. In-
formation on host file lines beginning with '&' is stored, but the
hosts are not started until added using pvm_addhosts().
Example host file:
# host file for testing on various platforms
fonebone
refuge
# installed in /usr/local here
sigi.cs dx=/usr/local/pvm3/lib/pvmd
# borrowed accts, "guest", don't trust fonebone
* lo=guest so=pw
sn666.jrandom.com
cubie.misc.edu
# really painful one, must start it by hand and share a homedir
& igor.firewall.com lo=guest2 so=ms ep=bob/pvm3/bin/$PVM_ARCH
MANUAL STARTUP
When adding a host with this option set you will see on the tty of the
pvmd:
*** Manual startup ***
Login to "honk" and type:
$PVM_ROOT/lib/pvmd -S -d0 -nhonk 1 80a9ca95:0cb6 4096 2 80a95c43:0000
Type response:
after typing the given command on host honk, you should see a line
like:
ddpro<2312> arch<ALPHA> ip<80a95c43:0a8e> mtu<4096>
type this line on the tty of the master pvmd. You should then see:
Thanks
and the two pvmds should be able to communicate.
Note you can't start the master using the console or background it when
using this option.
OVERLOADING HOSTS
You can force PVM to overload a host (start more than one pvmd on it)
by putting a '$' before the host name in the host file. This is not
recommended unless you know what you're doing and have a good reason
for it. You must build the PVM source with option OVERLOADHOST defined
for it to work.
You may also need to use the ip= hostfile option to define several
names with the same IP address. If two or more hosts in a PVM have the
same name, they cannot be identified uniquely.
STOPPING PVMD3
The preferred method of stopping all the pvmds is to give the halt com-
mand in the PVM console. This kills all PVM tasks, all the remote dae-
mons, the local daemon, and finally the console itself. If the master
pvmd is killed manually it should be sent a SIGTERM signal to allow it
to kill the remote pvmds and clean up various files.
The pvmd can be killed in a manner that leaves the file /tmp/pvmd.uid
behind on one or more hosts. Uid is the numeric user ID (from
/etc/passwd) of the user. This will prevent PVM from restarting on
that host. Deletion of this file will fix this problem:
rm `( grep $user /etc/passwd || ypmatch $user passwd )
| awk -F: '{print "/tmp/pvmd."$3; exit}'`
FILES
$PVM_ROOT/lib/pvmd PVM daemon startup script
$PVM_ROOT/lib/$PVM_ARCH/pvmd3 PVM daemon executable
$HOME/.pvmprofile Shell commands read by pvmd before
running pvmd3
$HOME/pvm3/bin/$PVM_ARCH Private PVM executable directory
$PVM_ROOT/pvm3/bin/$PVM_ARCH System PVM executable directory
/tmp/pvmd.uid Pvmd local socket address
/tmp/pvml.uid Pvmd runtime error log
$HOME/.rhosts File allowing access to a host from
other hosts
SEE ALSO
pvm(1PVM), pvm_intro(1PVM), rhosts(5)
06 May, 1994 PVMD(1PVM)
Generated by dwww version 1.15 on Sat Jun 29 02:04:04 CEST 2024.