feat: support for launching an MAPDL instance in an SLURM HPC cluster

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -774,6 +774,8 @@ jobs:
     env:
       ON_LOCAL: true
       ON_UBUNTU: true
+      TESTING_MINIMAL: true
+
 
     steps:
       - name: "Install Git and checkout project"

doc/changelog.d/3497.documentation.md

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+feat: support for launching an MAPDL instance in an SLURM HPC cluster

doc/changelog.d/3513.documentation.md

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+docs: adding-sbatch-support

doc/source/user_guide/hpc/launch_mapdl_entrypoint.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,234 @@
+
+.. _ref_pymapdl_interactive_in_cluster_hpc:
+
+.. _ref_pymapdl_interactive_in_cluster_hpc_from_login:
+
+
+Interactive MAPDL instance launched from the login node
+=======================================================
+
+Starting the instance
+---------------------
+
+If you are already logged in a login node, you can launch an MAPDL instance as a SLURM job and
+connect to it.
+To accomplish this, run these commands in your login node.
+
+.. code:: pycon
+
+    >>> from ansys.mapdl.core import launch_mapdl
+    >>> mapdl = launch_mapdl(launch_on_hpc=True)
+
+PyMAPDL submits a job to the scheduler using the appropriate commands.
+In case of SLURM, it uses the ``sbatch`` command with the ``--wrap`` argument
+to pass the MAPDL command line to start.
+Other scheduler arguments can be specified using the ``scheduler_options``
+argument as a Python :class:`dict`:
+
+.. code:: pycon
+
+    >>> from ansys.mapdl.core import launch_mapdl
+    >>> scheduler_options = {"nodes": 10, "ntasks-per-node": 2}
+    >>> mapdl = launch_mapdl(launch_on_hpc=True, nproc=20, scheduler_options=scheduler_options)
+
+
+.. note::
+    PyMAPDL cannot infer the number of CPUs that you are requesting from the scheduler.
+    Hence, you must specify this value using the ``nproc`` argument.
+
+The double minus (``--``) common in the long version of some scheduler commands
+are added automatically if PyMAPDL detects it is missing and the specified
+command is long more than 1 character in length).
+For instance, the ``ntasks-per-node`` argument is submitted as ``--ntasks-per-node``.
+
+Or, a single Python string (:class:`str`) is submitted:
+
+.. code:: pycon
+
+    >>> from ansys.mapdl.core import launch_mapdl
+    >>> scheduler_options = "-N 10"
+    >>> mapdl = launch_mapdl(launch_on_hpc=True, scheduler_options=scheduler_options)
+
+.. warning::
+    Because PyMAPDL is already using the ``--wrap`` argument, this argument
+    cannot be used again.
+
+The values of each scheduler argument are wrapped in single quotes (`'`).
+This might cause parsing issues that can cause the job to fail after successful
+submission.
+
+PyMAPDL passes all the environment variables of the
+user to the new job and to the MAPDL instance.
+This is usually convenient because many environmental variables are
+needed to run the job or MAPDL command.
+For instance, the license server is normally stored in the :envvar:`ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE` environment variable.
+If you prefer not to pass these environment variables to the job, use the SLURM argument
+``--export`` to specify the desired environment variables.
+For more information, see `SLURM documentation <slurm_docs_>`_.
+
+
+Working with the instance
+-------------------------
+
+Once the :class:`Mapdl <ansys.mapdl.core.mapdl.MapdlBase>` object has been created,
+it does not differ from a normal :class:`Mapdl <ansys.mapdl.core.mapdl.MapdlBase>`
+instance.
+You can retrieve the IP of the MAPDL instance as well as its hostname:
+
+.. code:: pycon
+
+    >>> mapdl.ip
+    '123.45.67.89'
+    >>> mapdl.hostname
+    'node0'
+
+You can also retrieve the job ID:
+
+.. code:: pycon
+
+    >>> mapdl.jobid
+    10001
+
+If you want to check whether the instance has been launched using a scheduler,
+you can use the :attr:`mapdl_on_hpc <ansys.mapdl.core.mapdl_grpc.MapdlGrpc.mapdl_on_hpc>`
+attribute:
+
+.. code:: pycon
+
+    >>> mapdl.mapdl_on_hpc
+    True
+
+
+Sharing files
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+Most of the HPC clusters share the login node filesystem with the compute nodes,
+which means that you do not need to do extra work to upload or download files to the MAPDL
+instance. You only need to copy them to the location where MAPDL is running.
+You can obtain this location with the
+:attr:`directory <ansys.mapdl.core.mapdl_grpc.MapdlGrpc.directory>` attribute.
+
+If no location is specified in the :func:`launch_mapdl() <ansys.mapdl.core.launcher.launch_mapdl>`
+function, then a temporal location is selected.
+It is a good idea to set the ``run_location`` argument to a directory that is accessible
+from all the compute nodes.
+Normally anything under ``/home/user`` is available to all compute nodes.
+If you are unsure where you should launch MAPDL, contact your cluster administrator.
+
+Additionally, you can use methods like the :meth:`upload <ansys.mapdl.core.mapdl_grpc.MapdlGrpc.upload>`
+and :meth:`download <ansys.mapdl.core.mapdl_grpc.MapdlGrpc.download>` to
+upload and download files to and from the MAPDL instance respectively.
+You do not need ``ssh`` or another similar connection.
+However, for large files, you might want to consider alternatives.
+
+
+Exiting MAPDL
+-------------
+
+Exiting MAPDL, either intentionally or unintentionally, stops the job.
+This behavior occurs because MAPDL is the main process at the job. Thus, when finished,
+the scheduler considers the job done.
+
+To exit MAPDL, you can use the :meth:`exit() <ansys.mapdl.core.Mapdl.exit>` method.
+This method exits MAPDL and sends a signal to the scheduler to cancel the job.
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    mapdl.exit()
+
+When the Python process you are running PyMAPDL on finishes without errors, and you have not
+issued the :meth:`exit() <ansys.mapdl.core.Mapdl.exit>` method, the garbage collector
+kills the MAPDL instance and its job. This is intended to save resources.
+
+If you prefer that the job is not killed, set the following attribute in the
+:class:`Mapdl <ansys.mapdl.core.mapdl.MapdlBase>` class:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    mapdl.finish_job_on_exit = False
+
+
+In this case, you should set a timeout in your job to avoid having the job
+running longer than needed.
+
+
+Handling crashes on an HPC
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+If MAPDL crashes while running on an HPC, the job finishes right away.
+In this case, MAPDL disconnects from MAPDL.
+PyMAPDL retries to reconnect to the MAPDL instance up to 5 times, waiting
+for up to 5 seconds.
+If unsuccessful, you might get an error like this:
+
+.. code-block:: text
+
+    MAPDL server connection terminated unexpectedly while running:
+    /INQUIRE,,DIRECTORY,,
+    called by:
+    _send_command
+
+    Suggestions:
+    MAPDL *might* have died because it executed a not-allowed command or ran out of memory.
+    Check the MAPDL command output for more details.
+    Open an issue on GitHub if you need assistance: https://github.com/ansys/pymapdl/issues
+    Error:
+    failed to connect to all addresses; last error: UNKNOWN: ipv4:127.0.0.1:50052: Failed to connect to remote host: connect: Connection refused (111)
+    Full error:
+    <_InactiveRpcError of RPC that terminated with:
+    status = StatusCode.UNAVAILABLE
+    details = "failed to connect to all addresses; last error: UNKNOWN: ipv4:127.0.0.1:50052: Failed to connect to remote host: connect: Connection refused (111)"
+    debug_error_string = "UNKNOWN:Error received from peer  {created_time:"2024-10-24T08:25:04.054559811+00:00", grpc_status:14, grpc_message:"failed to connect to all addresses; last error: UNKNOWN: ipv4:127.0.0.1:50052: Failed to connect to remote host: connect: Connection refused (111)"}"
+    >
+
+The data of that job is available at :attr:`directory <ansys.mapdl.core.Mapdl.directory>`.
+You should set the run location using the ``run_location`` argument.
+
+While handling this exception, PyMAPDL also cancels the job to avoid resources leaking.
+Therefore, the only option is to start a new instance by launching a new job using
+the :func:`launch_mapdl() <ansys.mapdl.core.launcher.launch_mapdl>` function.
+
+User case on a SLURM cluster
+----------------------------
+
+Assume a user wants to start a remote MAPDL instance in an HPC cluster
+to interact with it.
+The user would like to request 10 nodes, and 1 task per node (to avoid clashes
+between MAPDL instances). 
+The user would like to also request 64 GB of RAM.
+Because of administration logistics, the user must use the machines in
+the ``supercluster01`` partition.
+To make PyMAPDL launch an instance like that on SLURM, run the following code:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    from ansys.mapdl.core import launch_mapdl
+    from ansys.mapdl.core.examples import vmfiles
+
+    scheduler_options = {
+        "nodes": 10,
+        "ntasks-per-node": 1,
+        "partition": "supercluster01",
+        "memory": 64,
+    }
+    mapdl = launch_mapdl(launch_on_hpc=True, nproc=10, scheduler_options=scheduler_options)
+
+    num_cpu = mapdl.get_value("ACTIVE", 0, "NUMCPU")  # It should be equal to 10
+
+    mapdl.clear()  # Not strictly needed.
+    mapdl.prep7()
+
+    # Run an MAPDL script
+    mapdl.input(vmfiles["vm1"])
+
+    # Let's solve again to get the solve printout
+    mapdl.solution()
+    output = mapdl.solve()
+    print(output)
+
+    mapdl.exit()  # Kill the MAPDL instance
+
+
+PyMAPDL automatically sets MAPDL to read the job configuration (including machines,
+number of CPUs, and memory), which allows MAPDL to use all the resources allocated
+to that job.

doc/source/user_guide/hpc/pymapdl.rst

@@ -19,35 +19,34 @@ on whether or not you run them both on the HPC compute nodes.
 Additionally, you might be able interact with them (``interactive`` mode)
 or not (``batch`` mode).
 
-For information on supported configurations, see :ref:`ref_pymapdl_batch_in_cluster_hpc`.
+PyMAPDL takes advantage of HPC clusters to launch MAPDL instances
+with increased resources.
+PyMAPDL automatically sets these MAPDL instances to read the
+scheduler job configuration (which includes machines, number
+of CPUs, and memory), which allows MAPDL to use all the resources
+allocated to that job.
+For more information, see :ref:`ref_tight_integration_hpc`.
 
+The following configurations are supported:
 
-Since v0.68.5, PyMAPDL can take advantage of the tight integration
-between the scheduler and MAPDL to read the job configuration and
-launch an MAPDL instance that can use all the resources allocated
-to that job.
-For instance, if a SLURM job has allocated 8 nodes with 4 cores each,
-then PyMAPDL launches an MAPDL instance which uses 32 cores
-spawning across those 8 nodes.
-This behavior can turn off if passing the :envvar:`PYMAPDL_ON_SLURM`
-environment variable or passing the ``detect_HPC=False`` argument
-to the :func:`launch_mapdl() <ansys.mapdl.core.launcher.launch_mapdl>` function.
+* :ref:`ref_pymapdl_batch_in_cluster_hpc`.
+* :ref:`ref_pymapdl_interactive_in_cluster_hpc_from_login`
 
 
 .. _ref_pymapdl_batch_in_cluster_hpc:
 
-Submit a PyMAPDL batch job to the cluster from the entrypoint node
-==================================================================
+Batch job submission from the login node
+========================================
 
 Many HPC clusters allow their users to log into a machine using
 ``ssh``, ``vnc``, ``rdp``, or similar technologies and then submit a job
 to the cluster from there.
-This entrypoint machine, sometimes known as the *head node* or *entrypoint node*,
+This login machine, sometimes known as the *head node* or *entrypoint node*,
 might be a virtual machine (VDI/VM).
 
 In such cases, once the Python virtual environment with PyMAPDL is already
 set and is accessible to all the compute nodes, launching a
-PyMAPDL job from the entrypoint node is very easy to do using the ``sbatch`` command.
+PyMAPDL job from the login node is very easy to do using the ``sbatch`` command.
 When the ``sbatch`` command is used, PyMAPDL runs and launches an MAPDL instance in
 the compute nodes.
 No changes are needed on a PyMAPDL script to run it on an SLURM cluster.
@@ -98,6 +97,8 @@ job by setting the :envvar:`PYMAPDL_NPROC` environment variable to the desired v
 
     (venv) user@entrypoint-machine:~$ PYMAPDL_NPROC=4 sbatch main.py
 
+For more applicable environment variables, see :ref:`ref_environment_variables`.
+
 You can also add ``sbatch`` options to the command:
 
 .. code-block:: console
@@ -181,3 +182,30 @@ This bash script performs tasks such as creating environment variables,
 moving files to different directories, and printing to ensure your
 configuration is correct.
 
+
+.. include:: launch_mapdl_entrypoint.rst
+
+
+
+.. _ref_tight_integration_hpc:
+
+Tight integration between MAPDL and the HPC scheduler
+=====================================================
+
+Since v0.68.5, PyMAPDL can take advantage of the tight integration
+between the scheduler and MAPDL to read the job configuration and
+launch an MAPDL instance that can use all the resources allocated
+to that job.
+For instance, if a SLURM job has allocated 8 nodes with 4 cores each,
+then PyMAPDL launches an MAPDL instance that uses 32 cores
+spawning across those 8 nodes.
+
+This behavior can turn off by passing the
+:envvar:`PYMAPDL_RUNNING_ON_HPC` environment variable
+with a ``'false'`` value or passing the ``detect_hpc=False`` argument
+to the :func:`launch_mapdl() <ansys.mapdl.core.launcher.launch_mapdl>` function.
+
+Alternatively, you can override these settings by either specifying
+custom settings in the :func:`launch_mapdl() <ansys.mapdl.core.launcher.launch_mapdl>`
+function's arguments or using specific environment variables. 
+For more information, see :ref:`ref_environment_variables`.

doc/source/user_guide/mapdl.rst

@@ -1092,6 +1092,7 @@ are unsupported.
 | * ``LSWRITE`` | |:white_check_mark:| Available (Internally running in :attr:`Mapdl.non_interactive <ansys.mapdl.core.Mapdl.non_interactive>`)   | |:white_check_mark:| Available   | |:exclamation:| Only in :attr:`Mapdl.non_interactive <ansys.mapdl.core.Mapdl.non_interactive>`                       |                                                                                                     |
 +---------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+----------------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 
+.. _ref_environment_variables:
 
 Environment variables
 =====================
@@ -1189,7 +1190,7 @@ environment variable. The following table describes all arguments.
 |                                       |    user@machine:~$ export PYMAPDL_MAPDL_VERSION=22.2                             |
 |                                       |                                                                                  |
 +---------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
-| :envvar:`PYMAPDL_ON_SLURM`            | With this environment variable set to ``FALSE``, you can avoid                   |
+| :envvar:`PYMAPDL_RUNNING_ON_HPC`      | With this environment variable set to ``FALSE``, you can avoid                   |
 |                                       | PyMAPDL from detecting that it is running on a SLURM HPC cluster.                |
 +---------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 | :envvar:`PYMAPDL_MAX_MESSAGE_LENGTH`  | Maximum gRPC message length. If your                                             |

doc/styles/config/vocabularies/ANSYS/accept.txt

@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ CentOS7
 Chao
 ci
 container_layout
+CPUs
 datas
 delet
 Dependabot

pyproject.toml

@@ -148,8 +148,6 @@ src_paths = ["doc", "src", "tests"]
 [tool.coverage.run]
 source = ["ansys/pymapdl"]
 omit = [
-    # omit commands
-    "ansys/mapdl/core/_commands/*",
     # ignore legacy interfaces
     "ansys/mapdl/core/mapdl_console.py",
     "ansys/mapdl/core/jupyter.py",

src/ansys/mapdl/core/errors.py

@@ -307,9 +307,9 @@ def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
                 old_handler = signal.signal(signal.SIGINT, handler)
 
         # Capture gRPC exceptions
-        n_attempts = 3
-        initial_backoff = 0.05
-        multiplier_backoff = 3
+        n_attempts = 5
+        initial_backoff = 0.1
+        multiplier_backoff = 2
 
         i_attemps = 0
 

src/ansys/mapdl/core/helpers.py

@@ -32,9 +32,7 @@
 
 def is_installed(package_name: str) -> bool:
     """Check if a package is installed"""
-
-    if os.name == "nt":
-        package_name = package_name.replace("-", ".")
+    package_name = package_name.replace("-", ".")
 
     try:
         importlib.import_module(package_name)