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Ansys is a software suite for engineering simulation and 3-D design. It includes packages such as Ansys Fluent and Ansys CFX.

Licensing[edit]

We are a hosting provider for Ansys. This means that we have the software installed on our clusters, but we do not provide a generic license accessible to everyone. However, many institutions, faculties, and departments already have licenses that can be used on our clusters. Once the legal aspects are worked out for licensing, there will be remaining technical aspects. The license server on your end will need to be reachable by our compute nodes. This will require our technical team to get in touch with the technical people managing your license software. In some cases, this has already been done. You should then be able to load the Ansys module, and it should find its license automatically. If this is not the case, please contact our technical support so that they can arrange this for you.

Configuring your license file[edit]

Our module for Ansys is designed to look for license information in a few places. One of those places is your /home folder. You can specify your license server by creating a file named $HOME/.licenses/ansys.lic consisting of two lines as shown. Customize the file to replacing FLEXPORT, INTEPORT and LICSERVER with appropriate values for your server.

FILE: ansys.lic
setenv("ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE", "FLEXPORT@LICSERVER")
setenv("ANSYSLI_SERVERS", "INTEPORT@LICSERVER")

The following table provides established values for the CMC and SHARCNET license servers. To use a different server locate the corresponding values as explained in Local license servers.

TABLE: Preconfigured License Servers
License	System/Cluster	LICSERVER	FLEXPORT	INTEPORT	VENDPORT	NOTICES
CMC	beluga	`10.20.73.21`	`6624`	`2325`	n/a	None
CMC	cedar	`172.16.0.101`	`6624`	`2325`	n/a	None
CMC	graham	`199.241.167.222`	`6624`	`2325`	n/a	None
CMC	narval	`10.100.64.10`	`6624`	`2325`	n/a	None
SHARCNET	beluga/cedar/graham/gra-vdi/narval	`license3.sharcnet.ca`	`1055`	`2325`	n/a	None
SHARCNET	niagara	`localhost`	`1055`	`2325`	`1793`	None

Researchers who purchase a CMC license subscription must send their Alliance account username to <cmcsupport@cmc.ca> otherwise license checkouts will fail. The number of cores that can be used with a CMC license is described in the Other Tricks and Tips sections of the Ansys Electronics Desktop and Ansys Mechanical/Fluids quick start guides.

Local license servers[edit]

Before a local Ansys license server can be reached from an Alliance system, firewall changes will need to be done on both the server side and the Alliance side. For many institutional servers this work has already been done. In such cases you simply need to contact your local Ansys license server administrator and request 1) the fully qualified hostname (LICSERVER) of the server; 2) the Ansys flex port commonly 1055 (FLEXPORT); and 3) the Ansys licensing interconnect port commonly 2425 (INTEPORT). With this information you can then immediately configure your ansys.lic file as described above and theoretically begin using the software. If however the license server has never been setup for use on the particular Alliance system(s) that you want to use it on, then you will also need to request the 4) static vendor port number (VENDPORT) number from your administrator. Once you have all the information together send it to technical support and mention which system(s) you want to run Ansys jobs on ie) Beluga, Cedar, Graham/Gra-vdi, Narval or Niagara. The Alliance support analyst assigned to your ticket will then arrange for the Alliance firewall to be opened so outbound license connections from the Ansys software can reach your license server. The Analyst will also send you a range(s) of IP addresses so that your server administrator can likewise open the local firewall to allow inbound license connections to your server on the required ports (FLEXPORT, INTEPORT, VENDPORT) from the requested Alliance system(s).

Checking license usage[edit]

Ansys comes with an lmutil tool that can be used to check your license usage. Before using it verify your ansys.lic is configured. Then run the following two commands on a cluster that you are setup to use:

[name@server ~]$ module load ansys
[name@server ~]$ $EBROOTANSYS/shared_files/licensing/linx64/lmutil lmstat -c $ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE -S ansyslmd

Niagara specific[edit]

Niagara has a slightly different networking and storage arrangement on compute nodes compared to other clusters that effects how ANSYS runs. To account for the networking difference, the following ssh line should be added into every slurm script from the wiki when using a license server outside of the niagara network. Doing this will enable the required ports to reach your Ansys license server. Similar to configuring your license file FLEXPORT, INTEPORT, VENDPORT and LICSERVER must first be replaced with actual values for the license server being used:

Version compatibility[edit]

As explained in Ansys Platform Support, the current release (2021R2) was tested to read and open databases from the five previous releases. In addition, some products can read and open databases from releases before Ansys 18.1.

Cluster batch job submission[edit]

The Ansys software suite comes with multiple implementations of MPI to support parallel computation. Unfortunately, none of them support our Slurm scheduler. For this reason, we need special instructions for each Ansys package on how to start a parallel job. In the sections below, we give examples of submission scripts for some of the packages. If one is not covered and you want us to investigate and help you start it, please contact our technical support.

Ansys Fluent[edit]

Typically, you would use the following procedure to run Fluent on one of our clusters:

Prepare your Fluent job using Fluent from the Ansys Workbench on your desktop machine up to the point where you would run the calculation.
Export the "case" file with File > Export > Case… or find the folder where Fluent saves your project's files. The case file will often have a name like FFF-1.cas.gz.
If you already have data from a previous calculation, which you want to continue, export a "data" file as well (File > Export > Data…) or find it in the same project folder (FFF-1.dat.gz).
Transfer the case file (and if needed the data file) to a directory on the /project or /scratch filesystem on the cluster. When exporting, you can save the file(s) under a more instructive name than FFF-1.* or rename them when they are uploaded.
Now you need to create a "journal" file. It's purpose is to load the case file (and optionally the data file), run the solver and finally write the results. See examples below and remember to adjust the filenames and desired number of iterations.
If jobs frequently fail to start due to license shortages and manual resubmission of failed jobs is not convenient, consider modifying your script to requeue your job (up to 4 times) as shown under the by node + requeue tab further below. Be aware that doing this will also requeue simulations that fail due to non-license related issues (such as divergence), resulting in lost compute time. Therefore it is strongly recommended to monitor and inspect each Slurm output file to confirm each requeue attempt is license related. When it is determined that a job is requeued due to a simulation issue, immediately manually kill the job progression with scancel jobid and correct the problem.
After running the job you can download the data file and import it back into Fluent with File > Import > Data….

Slurm scripts[edit]

General purpose[edit]

Most Fluent jobs should use the following by node script to minimize solution latency and maximize performance over as few nodes as possible. Very large jobs, however, might wait less in the queue if they use a by core script. However, the startup time of a job using many nodes can be significantly longer, thus offsetting some of the benefits. In addition, be aware that running large jobs over an unspecified number of potentially very many nodes will make them far more vulnerable to crashing if any of the compute nodes fail during the simulation. The scripts will ensure Fluent uses shared memory for communication when run on a single node or distributed memory (utilizing MPI and the appropriate HPC interconnect) when run over multiple nodes.

Multinode (by node)Multinode (by core)

File : script-flu-bynode.sh

#!/bin/bash

#SBATCH --account=def-group   # Specify account name
#SBATCH --time=00-03:00       # Specify time limit dd-hh:mm
#SBATCH --nodes=1             # Specify number of compute nodes (1 or more)
#SBATCH --ntasks-per-node=32  # Specify number of cores per node (graham 32 or 44, cedar 48, beluga 40, narval 64)
#SBATCH --mem=0               # Do not change (allocates all memory per compute node)
#SBATCH --cpus-per-task=1     # Do not change

rm -f cleanup* core*

#module load StdEnv/2016      # Applies to cedar, beluga, graham
#module load ansys/2020R2     # or older module versions

#module load StdEnv/2020      # Applies to narval only
#module load ansys/2019R3     # or newer module versions

module load StdEnv/2020       # Applies to cedar, beluga, graham
module load ansys/2021R2      # or newer module versions

if [[ "${CC_CLUSTER}" == narval && "${EBVERSIONANSYS}" == @(2019R3|2020R2) ]]; then
 module load intel/2021 intelmpi
 export INTELMPI_ROOT=$I_MPI_ROOT/mpi/latest
 unset I_MPI_HYDRA_BOOTSTRAP_EXEC_EXTRA_ARGS
 unset I_MPI_ROOT
fi

slurm_hl2hl.py --format ANSYS-FLUENT > /tmp/machinefile-$SLURM_JOB_ID
NCORES=$((SLURM_NTASKS * SLURM_CPUS_PER_TASK))

# Specify 2d, 2ddp, 3d or 3ddp and replace sample with your journal filename …
if [ "$SLURM_NNODES" == 1 ]; then
 fluent -g 2ddp -t $NCORES -affinity=0 -i sample.jou
else 
 fluent -g 2ddp -t $NCORES -affinity=0 -cnf=/tmp/machinefile-$SLURM_JOB_ID -mpi=intel -ssh -i sample.jou 
fi

File : script-flu-bycore.sh

#!/bin/bash

#SBATCH --account=def-group   # Specify account
#SBATCH --time=00-03:00       # Specify time limit dd-hh:mm
##SBATCH --nodes=2            # Optional (uncomment to specify 1 or more compute nodes)
#SBATCH --ntasks=16           # Specify total number of cores
#SBATCH --mem-per-cpu=4G      # Specify memory per core
#SBATCH --cpus-per-task=1     # Do not change

rm -f cleanup* core*

#module load StdEnv/2016      # Applies to cedar, beluga, graham
#module load ansys/2020R2     # or older module versions

#module load StdEnv/2020      # Applies to narval only
#module load ansys/2019R3     # or newer module versions

module load StdEnv/2020       # Applies to cedar, beluga, graham
module load ansys/2021R2      # or newer module versions

if [[ "${CC_CLUSTER}" == narval && "${EBVERSIONANSYS}" == @(2019R3|2020R2) ]]; then
 module load intel/2021 intelmpi
 export INTELMPI_ROOT=$I_MPI_ROOT/mpi/latest
 unset I_MPI_HYDRA_BOOTSTRAP_EXEC_EXTRA_ARGS
 unset I_MPI_ROOT
fi

slurm_hl2hl.py --format ANSYS-FLUENT > /tmp/machinefile-$SLURM_JOB_ID
NCORES=$((SLURM_NTASKS * SLURM_CPUS_PER_TASK))

# Specify 2d, 2ddp, 3d or 3ddp and replace sample with your journal filename …
if [ "$SLURM_NNODES" == 1 ]; then
 fluent -g 2ddp -t $NCORES -affinity=0 -i sample.jou
else 
 fluent -g 2ddp -t $NCORES -affinity=0 -cnf=/tmp/machinefile-$SLURM_JOB_ID -mpi=intel -ssh -i sample.jou 
fi

License requeue[edit]

These two scripts can be used to automatically requeue Fluent jobs that exit abnormally during startup and require several requeue attempts to check out the required licenses from a remote server. The cause could be due to the license server randomly experiencing heavy load, transient network instability or a shortage of licenses. It is not recommended to use these scripts with Fluent jobs that start normally and run a long time before crashing (for instance due to a node failure, divergence, or running out Slurm runtime before completing normally) since they will be restarted from the beginning instead of using the most recent saved solution data file thus resulting in a significant amount of lost compute time and resources.

Multinode (by node + requeue)Multinode (by core + requeue)

File : script-flu-bynode+requeue.sh

#!/bin/bash

#SBATCH --account=def-group   # Specify account
#SBATCH --time=00-03:00       # Specify time limit dd-hh:mm
#SBATCH --nodes=1             # Specify number of compute nodes (1 or more)
#SBATCH --ntasks-per-node=32  # Specify number of cores per node (graham 32 or 44, cedar 48, beluga 40, narval 64)
#SBATCH --mem=0               # Do not change (allocates all memory per compute node)
#SBATCH --cpus-per-task=1     # Do not change
#SBATCH --array=1-5%1         # Specify number of requeue attempts (2 or more, 5 is shown)

rm -f cleanup* core*

#module load StdEnv/2016      # Applies to cedar, beluga, graham
#module load ansys/2020R2     # or older module versions

#module load StdEnv/2020      # Applies to narval only
#module load ansys/2019R3     # or newer module versions

module load StdEnv/2020       # Applies to cedar, beluga, graham
module load ansys/2021R2      # or newer module versions

if [[ "${CC_CLUSTER}" == narval && "${EBVERSIONANSYS}" == @(2019R3|2020R2) ]]; then
 module load intel/2021 intelmpi
 export INTELMPI_ROOT=$I_MPI_ROOT/mpi/latest
 unset I_MPI_HYDRA_BOOTSTRAP_EXEC_EXTRA_ARGS
 unset I_MPI_ROOT
fi

slurm_hl2hl.py --format ANSYS-FLUENT > /tmp/machinefile-$SLURM_JOB_ID
NCORES=$((SLURM_NTASKS * SLURM_CPUS_PER_TASK))

# Specify 2d, 2ddp, 3d or 3ddp and replace sample with your journal filename …
if [ "$SLURM_NNODES" == 1 ]; then
 fluent -g 2ddp -t $NCORES -affinity=0 -i sample.jou
else 
 fluent -g 2ddp -t $NCORES -affinity=0 -cnf=/tmp/machinefile-$SLURM_JOB_ID -mpi=intel -ssh -i sample.jou 
fi
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    echo "Job completed successfully! Exiting now."
    scancel $SLURM_ARRAY_JOB_ID
else
    echo "Job attempt $SLURM_ARRAY_TASK_ID of $SLURM_ARRAY_TASK_COUNT failed due to license or simulation issue!"
    if [ $SLURM_ARRAY_TASK_ID -lt $SLURM_ARRAY_TASK_COUNT ]; then
       echo "Resubmitting job now …"
    else
       echo "All job attempts failed exiting now."
    fi
fi

File : script-flu-bycore+requeue.sh

#!/bin/bash

#SBATCH --account=def-group   # Specify account
#SBATCH --time=00-03:00       # Specify time limit dd-hh:mm
##SBATCH --nodes=2            # Optional (uncomment to specify 1 or more compute nodes)
#SBATCH --ntasks=16           # Specify total number of cores
#SBATCH --mem-per-cpu=4G      # Specify memory per core
#SBATCH --cpus-per-task=1     # Do not change
#SBATCH --array=1-5%1         # Specify number of requeue attempts (2 or more, 5 is shown)

rm -f cleanup* core*

#module load StdEnv/2016      # Applies to cedar, beluga, graham
#module load ansys/2020R2     # or older module versions

#module load StdEnv/2020      # Applies to narval only
#module load ansys/2019R3     # or newer module versions

module load StdEnv/2020       # Applies to cedar, beluga, graham
module load ansys/2021R2      # or newer module versions

if [[ "${CC_CLUSTER}" == narval && "${EBVERSIONANSYS}" == @(2019R3|2020R2) ]]; then
 module load intel/2021 intelmpi
 export INTELMPI_ROOT=$I_MPI_ROOT/mpi/latest
 unset I_MPI_HYDRA_BOOTSTRAP_EXEC_EXTRA_ARGS
 unset I_MPI_ROOT
fi

slurm_hl2hl.py --format ANSYS-FLUENT > /tmp/machinefile-$SLURM_JOB_ID
NCORES=$((SLURM_NTASKS * SLURM_CPUS_PER_TASK))

# Specify 2d, 2ddp, 3d or 3ddp and replace sample with your journal filename …
if [ "$SLURM_NNODES" == 1 ]; then
 fluent -g 2ddp -t $NCORES -affinity=0 -i sample.jou
else 
 fluent -g 2ddp -t $NCORES -affinity=0 -cnf=/tmp/machinefile-$SLURM_JOB_ID -mpi=intel -ssh -i sample.jou 
fi
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    echo "Job completed successfully! Exiting now."
    scancel $SLURM_ARRAY_JOB_ID
else
    echo "Job attempt $SLURM_ARRAY_TASK_ID of $SLURM_ARRAY_TASK_COUNT failed due to license or simulation issue!"
    if [ $SLURM_ARRAY_TASK_ID -lt $SLURM_ARRAY_TASK_COUNT ]; then
       echo "Resubmitting job now …"
    else
       echo "All job attempts failed exiting now."
    fi
fi

Solution restart[edit]

The following two scripts are provided to automate restarting very large jobs that require more than the typical 7 day maximum runtime window available on most clusters. Jobs are restarted from the most recent saved time step files. A fundamental requirement is the first time step can be completed within the requested job array time limit (specified at the top of your Slurm script) when starting a simulation from an initialized solution field. It is assumed that a standard fixed time step size is being used. To begin, a working set of sample.cas, sample.dat and sample.jou files must be present. Next edit your sample.jou file to contain /solve/dual-time-iterate 1 and /file/auto-save/data-frequency 1. Then create a restart journal file by doing cp sample.jou sample-restart.jou and edit the sample-restart.jou file to contain /file/read-cas-data sample-restart instead of /file/read-cas-data sample and comment out the initialization line with a semi-colon for instance ;/solve/initialize/initialize-flow. If your 2nd and subsequent time steps are known to run twice as fast (than the initial time step), edit sample-restart.jou to specify /solve/dual-time-iterate 2. By doing this, the solution will only be restarted after two 2 time steps are completed following the initial time step. An output file for each time step will still be saved in the output subdirectory. The value 2 is arbitrary but should be chosen such that the time for 2 steps fits within the job array time limit. Doing this will minimize the number of solution restarts which are computationally expensive. If your first time step performed by sample.jou starts from a converged (previous) solution, choose 1 instead of 2 since likely all time steps will require a similar amount of wall time to complete. Assuming 2 is chosen, the total time of simulation to be completed will be 1*Dt+2*Nrestart*Dt where Nrestart is the number of solution restarts specified in the script. The total number of time steps (and hence the number of output files generated) will therefore be 1+2*Nrestart. The value for the time resource request should be chosen so the initial time step and subsequent time steps will complete comfortably within the Slurm time window specifiable up to a maximum of "#SBATCH --time=07-00:00" days.

Multinode (by node + restart)Multinode (by core + restart)

File : script-flu-bynode+restart.sh

#!/bin/bash

#SBATCH --account=def-group   # Specify account
#SBATCH --time=07-00:00       # Specify time limit dd-hh:mm
#SBATCH --nodes=1             # Specify number of compute nodes (1 or more)
#SBATCH --ntasks-per-node=32  # Specify number of cores per node (graham 32 or 44, cedar 48, beluga 40, narval 64)
#SBATCH --mem=0               # Do not change (allocates all memory per compute node)
#SBATCH --cpus-per-task=1     # Do not change
#SBATCH --array=1-5%1         # Specify number of solution restarts (2 or more, 5 is shown)

rm -f cleanup* core*

#module load StdEnv/2016      # Applies to cedar, beluga, graham
#module load ansys/2020R2     # or older module versions

#module load StdEnv/2020      # Applies to narval only
#module load ansys/2019R3     # or newer module versions

module load StdEnv/2020       # Applies to cedar, beluga, graham
module load ansys/2021R2      # or newer module versions

if [[ "${CC_CLUSTER}" == narval && "${EBVERSIONANSYS}" == @(2019R3|2020R2) ]]; then
 module load intel/2021 intelmpi
 export INTELMPI_ROOT=$I_MPI_ROOT/mpi/latest
 unset I_MPI_HYDRA_BOOTSTRAP_EXEC_EXTRA_ARGS
 unset I_MPI_ROOT
fi

slurm_hl2hl.py --format ANSYS-FLUENT > /tmp/machinefile-$SLURM_JOB_ID
NCORES=$((SLURM_NTASKS * SLURM_CPUS_PER_TASK))

# Specify 2d, 2ddp, 3d or 3ddp and replace sample with your journal filename …
if [ "$SLURM_NNODES" == 1 ]; then
  if [ "$SLURM_ARRAY_TASK_ID" == 1 ]; then
    fluent -g 2ddp -t $NCORES -affinity=0 -i sample.jou
  else
    fluent -g 2ddp -t $NCORES -affinity=0 -i sample-restart.jou
  fi
else 
  if [ "$SLURM_ARRAY_TASK_ID" == 1 ]; then
    fluent -g 2ddp -t $NCORES -affinity=0 -cnf=/tmp/machinefile-$SLURM_JOB_ID -mpi=intel -ssh -i sample.jou 
  else
    fluent -g 2ddp -t $NCORES -affinity=0 -cnf=/tmp/machinefile-$SLURM_JOB_ID -mpi=intel -ssh -i sample-restart.jou 
  fi
fi
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    echo
    echo "SLURM_ARRAY_TASK_ID  = $SLURM_ARRAY_TASK_ID"
    echo "SLURM_ARRAY_TASK_COUNT = $SLURM_ARRAY_TASK_COUNT"
    echo
    if [ $SLURM_ARRAY_TASK_ID -lt $SLURM_ARRAY_TASK_COUNT ]; then
      echo "Restarting job with the most recent output dat file …"
      ln -sfv output/$(ls -ltr output | grep .cas | tail -n1 | awk '{print $9}') sample-restart.cas.gz
      ln -sfv output/$(ls -ltr output | grep .dat | tail -n1 | awk '{print $9}') sample-restart.dat.gz
      ls -lh cavity* output/*
    else
      echo "Job completed successfully! Exiting now."
      scancel $SLURM_ARRAY_JOB_ID
     fi
else
     echo "Simulation failed. Exiting …"
fi

File : script-flu-bycore+restart.sh

#!/bin/bash

#SBATCH --account=def-group   # Specify account
#SBATCH --time=00-03:00       # Specify time limit dd-hh:mm
##SBATCH --nodes=2            # Optional (uncomment to specify 1 or more compute nodes)
#SBATCH --ntasks=16           # Specify total number of cores
#SBATCH --mem-per-cpu=4G      # Specify memory per core
#SBATCH --cpus-per-task=1     # Do not change
#SBATCH --array=1-5%1         # Specify number of restart aka time steps (2 or more, 5 is shown)

rm -f cleanup* core*

#module load StdEnv/2016      # Applies to cedar, beluga, graham
#module load ansys/2020R2     # or older module versions

#module load StdEnv/2020      # Applies to narval only
#module load ansys/2019R3     # or newer module versions

module load StdEnv/2020       # Applies to cedar, beluga, graham
module load ansys/2021R2      # or newer module versions

if [[ "${CC_CLUSTER}" == narval && "${EBVERSIONANSYS}" == @(2019R3|2020R2) ]]; then
 module load intel/2021 intelmpi
 export INTELMPI_ROOT=$I_MPI_ROOT/mpi/latest
 unset I_MPI_HYDRA_BOOTSTRAP_EXEC_EXTRA_ARGS
 unset I_MPI_ROOT
fi

slurm_hl2hl.py --format ANSYS-FLUENT > /tmp/machinefile-$SLURM_JOB_ID
NCORES=$((SLURM_NTASKS * SLURM_CPUS_PER_TASK))

# Specify 2d, 2ddp, 3d or 3ddp and replace sample with your journal filename …
if [ "$SLURM_NNODES" == 1 ]; then
  if [ "$SLURM_ARRAY_TASK_ID" == 1 ]; then
    fluent -g 2ddp -t $NCORES -affinity=0 -i sample.jou
  else
    fluent -g 2ddp -t $NCORES -affinity=0 -i sample-restart.jou
  fi
else 
  if [ "$SLURM_ARRAY_TASK_ID" == 1 ]; then
    fluent -g 2ddp -t $NCORES -affinity=0 -cnf=/tmp/machinefile-$SLURM_JOB_ID -mpi=intel -ssh -i sample.jou 
  else
    fluent -g 2ddp -t $NCORES -affinity=0 -cnf=/tmp/machinefile-$SLURM_JOB_ID -mpi=intel -ssh -i sample-restart.jou 
  fi
fi
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    echo
    echo "SLURM_ARRAY_TASK_ID  = $SLURM_ARRAY_TASK_ID"
    echo "SLURM_ARRAY_TASK_COUNT = $SLURM_ARRAY_TASK_COUNT"
    echo
    if [ $SLURM_ARRAY_TASK_ID -lt $SLURM_ARRAY_TASK_COUNT ]; then
      echo "Restarting job with the most recent output dat file …"
      ln -sfv output/$(ls -ltr output | grep .cas | tail -n1 | awk '{print $9}') sample-restart.cas.gz
      ln -sfv output/$(ls -ltr output | grep .dat | tail -n1 | awk '{print $9}') sample-restart.dat.gz
      ls -lh cavity* output/*
    else
      echo "Job completed successfully! Exiting now."
      scancel $SLURM_ARRAY_JOB_ID
     fi
else
     echo "Simulation failed. Exiting …"
fi

Journal files[edit]

Fluent journal files can include basically any command from Fluent's Text-User-Interface (TUI); commands can be used to change simulation parameters like temperature, pressure and flow speed. With this you can run a series of simulations under different conditions with a single case file, by only changing the parameters in the journal file. Refer to the Fluent User's Guide for more information and a list of all commands that can be used. The following journal files are set up with /file/cff-files no to use the legacy .cas/.dat file format (the default in module versions 2019R3 or older). Set this instead to /file/cff-files yes to use the more efficient .cas.h5/.dat.h5 file format (the default in module versions 2020R1 or newer).

Journal file (steady, case)Journal file (steady, case + data)Journal file (transient)

File : sample1.jou

; SAMPLE FLUENT JOURNAL FILE - STEADY SIMULATION
; ----------------------------------------------
; lines beginning with a semicolon are comments

; Read/Write ANSYS common fluids format (CFF) files? [yes by default]
/file/cff-files no

; Read input case and data files:
/file/read-case-data FFF-in

; Run the solver for this many iterations:
/solve/iterate 1000

; Overwrite output files by default:
/file/confirm-overwrite n

; Write final output data file:
/file/write-data FFF-out

; Write simulation report to file (optional):
/report/summary y "My_Simulation_Report.txt"

; Exit fluent (required to requeue):
exit

File : sample2.jou

; SAMPLE FLUENT JOURNAL FILE - STEADY SIMULATION
; ----------------------------------------------
; lines beginning with a semicolon are comments

; Read/Write ANSYS common fluids format (CFF) files? [yes by default]
/file/cff-files no

; Read input files (.cas/.dat or .cas.h5/.dat.h5):
/file/read-case-data FFF-in

; Write a data file every 100 iterations:
/file/auto-save/data-frequency 100

; Retain data files from 5 most recent iterations:
/file/auto-save/retain-most-recent-files y

; Write data files to output sub-directory (appends iteration)
/file/auto-save/root-name output/FFF-out

; Run the solver for this many iterations:
/solve/iterate 1000

; Write final output case and data files:
/file/write-case-data FFF-out

; Write simulation report to file (optional):
/report/summary y "My_Simulation_Report.txt"

; Exit fluent (required to requeue):
exit

File : sample3.jou

; SAMPLE FLUENT JOURNAL FILE - TRANSIENT SIMULATION
; -------------------------------------------------
; lines beginning with a semicolon are comments

; Read/Write ANSYS common fluids format (CFF) files? [yes by default]
/file/cff-files no

; Read only the input case file:
/file/read-case FFF-transient-inp

; For continuation (restart) read in both case and data input files:
;/file/read-case-data FFF-transient-inp

; Write a data (and maybe case) file every 100 time steps:
/file/auto-save/data-frequency 100
/file/auto-save/case-frequency if-case-is-modified

; Retain only the most recent 5 data (and maybe case) files:
/file/auto-save/retain-most-recent-files y

; Write to output sub-directory (appends flowtime and timestep)
/file/auto-save/root-name output/FFF-transient-out-%10.6f

; ##### Settings for Transient simulation :  #####

; Set the physical time step size
/solve/set/time-step 0.0001

; Set the max number of iterations per time step:
/solve/set/max-iterations-per-time-step 20

; Set the number of iterations for which convergence monitors are reported:
/solve/set/reporting-interval 1

; ##### End of settings for Transient simulation #####

; Initialize using the hybrid initialization method:
/solve/initialize/hyb-initialization

; Perform unsteady iterations for a specified number of time steps:
/solve/dual-time-iterate 1000 ,

; Write final case and data output files:
/file/write-case-data FFF-transient-out

; Write simulation report to file (optional):
/report/summary y Report_Transient_Simulation.txt

; Exit fluent (required to requeue):
exit

Ansys CFX[edit]

Slurm scripts[edit]

Multinode (stable)Single node (testing)

File : script-cfx.sh

#!/bin/bash

#SBATCH --account=def-group   # Specify account name
#SBATCH --time=00-03:00       # Specify time limit dd-hh:mm
#SBATCH --nodes=1             # Specify number compute nodes (1 or more)
#SBATCH --cpus-per-task=32    # Specify number cores per node (graham 32 or 44, cedar 32 or 48, beluga 40)
#SBATCH --mem=0               # Do not change (allocate all memory per compute node)
#SBATCH --ntasks-per-node=1   # Do not change

#module load StdEnv/2016      # Applies to: graham, cedar, beluga
#module load ansys/2020R2     # Or older module versions

module load StdEnv/2020       # Applies to: graham, cedar, beluga, narval
module load ansys/2021R1      # Or newer module versions

NNODES=$(slurm_hl2hl.py --format ANSYS-CFX)

# other options may be appended to the following command line as needed
cfx5solve -def YOURFILE.def -start-method "Intel MPI Distributed Parallel" -par-dist $NNODES

File : script-cfx.sh

#!/bin/bash

#SBATCH --account=def-group   # Specify account name
#SBATCH --time=00-03:00       # Specify time limit dd-hh:mm
#SBATCH --ntasks-per-node=4   # Specify number cores (narval up to 64)
#SBATCH --mem=8G              # Specify 0 when using all cores
#SBATCH --nodes=1             # Do not change

module load StdEnv/2020       # Applies to: narval, graham, cedar
module load ansys/2020R2      # Or version 2019R3

# other options may be appended to the following command line as needed
cfx5solve -def YOURFILE.def -start-method "Open MPI Local Parallel" -part $SLURM_CPUS_ON_NODE

Note: You may get the following error in your output file which does not seem to affect the computation: /etc/tmi.conf: No such file or directory.

Workbench[edit]

Before submitting a job (sbatch script-wbpj.sh) to the queue: 1) specify the name of YOURPROJECT.wbpj file in one of the scripts below; and 2) initialize the project by opening it in Ansys Workbench as described in the Graphical use section, click File -> Open to load your project, start Mechanical by double clicking Setup or Solution for the Analysis System in the main display window, click File -> Clear Generated Data -> Yes, click File -> Save Project, click File -> Close Mechanical and finally click File -> Exit.

To avoid writing the solution when a job successfully completes on a cluster, remove ;Save(Overwrite=True) from the last line of your script. Doing this will make it easier to run multiple test jobs (for scaling purposes when changing ntasks), since the initialized solution will not be overwritten each time and therefore not need to be re-initialized between jobs. Alternatively, a copy of the initialized YOURPROJECT.wbpj file and YOURPROJECT_files sub-directory could be saved prior to submitting each job, and restored after the solution is written. For APDL-based simulations submitted under the legacy StdEnv/2016 environment, nodes=1 may be either removed from the script or changed to be greater than 1 to permit computations across multiple nodes.

Slurm scripts[edit]

Single node (StdEnv/2020)Single node (StdEnv/2016)

File : script-wbpj-2020.sh

#!/bin/bash

#SBATCH --account=def-account
#SBATCH --time=00-03:00                # Time (DD-HH:MM)
#SBATCH --mem=16G                      # Total Memory (set to 0 for all node memory)
#SBATCH --ntasks=4                     # Number of cores
#SBATCH --nodes=1                      # Do not change
##SBATCH --exclusive                   # Uncomment for scaling testing
##SBATCH --constraint=broadwell        # Applicable to graham or cedar

module load StdEnv/2020 ansys/2021R2   # OR newer Ansys modules (DMP not supported on Narval for 2021R2)

MEMPAR=0                               # Set to 0 for SMP or 1 for DMP (distributed memory parallel)

rm -fv *_files/.lock
MWFILE=~/.mw/Application\ Data/Ansys/`basename $(find $EBROOTANSYS/v* -maxdepth 0 -type d)`/SolveHandlers.xml
sed -re "s/(.AnsysSolution>+)[a-zA-Z0-9]*(<\/Distribute.)/\1$MEMPAR\2/" -i "$MWFILE"
sed -re "s/(.Processors>+)[a-zA-Z0-9]*(<\/MaxNumber.)/\1$SLURM_NTASKS\2/" -i "$MWFILE"
sed -i "s!UserConfigured=\"0\"!UserConfigured=\"1\"!g" "$MWFILE"

export KMP_AFFINITY=disabled
export I_MPI_HYDRA_BOOTSTRAP=ssh

runwb2 -B -E "Update();Save(Overwrite=True)" -F YOURPROJECT.wbpj

File : script-wbpj-2016.sh

#!/bin/bash

#SBATCH --account=def-account
#SBATCH --time=00-03:00                # Time (DD-HH:MM)
#SBATCH --mem=16G                      # Total Memory (set to 0 for all node memory)
#SBATCH --ntasks=4                     # Number of cores
#SBATCH --nodes=1                      # Do not change

module load StdEnv/2016 ansys/2019R3   # Do not change

MEMPAR=1                               # Do not change

rm -fv *_files/.lock
MWFILE=~/.mw/Application\ Data/Ansys/`basename $(find $EBROOTANSYS/v* -maxdepth 0 -type d)`/SolveHandlers.xml
sed -re "s/(.AnsysSolution>+)[a-zA-Z0-9]*(<\/Distribute.)/\1$MEMPAR\2/" -i "$MWFILE"
sed -re "s/(.Processors>+)[a-zA-Z0-9]*(<\/MaxNumber.)/\1$((SLURM_NTASKS-1))\2/" -i "$MWFILE"

export KMP_AFFINITY=balanced
export I_MPI_HYDRA_BOOTSTRAP=ssh
export PATH=/cvmfs/soft.computecanada.ca/nix/var/nix/profiles/16.09/bin:$PATH

runwb2 -B -E "Update();Save(Overwrite=True)" -F YOURPROJECT.wbpj

Mechanical[edit]

The input file can be generated from within your interactive Workbench Mechanical session by clicking Solution -> Tools -> Write Input Files then specify File name: YOURAPDLFILE.inp and Save as type: APDL Input Files (*.inp). APDL jobs can then be submitted to the queue by running the sbatch script-name.sh command.

Slurm scripts[edit]

The Ansys modules used in each of the following scripts have been tested on Graham and should work without issue (uncomment one). Once the scripts have been tested on other clusters, they will be updated if required.

Single node (stdenv/2016)Single node (stdenv/2020)Multinode (stdenv/2016)Multinode script (stdenv/2020)

File : script-smp-2016.sh

#!/bin/bash
#SBATCH --account=def-account  # Specify your account
#SBATCH --time=00-03:00        # Specify time (DD-HH:MM)
#SBATCH --mem=16G              # Specify memory for all cores
#SBATCH --ntasks=8             # Specify number of cores (1 or more)
#SBATCH --nodes=1              # Specify one node (do not change)

unset SLURM_GTIDS

module load StdEnv/2016

#module load ansys/19.1
#module load ansys/19.2
#module load ansys/2019R2
#module load ansys/2019R3
#module load ansys/2020R1
module load ansys/2020R2

mapdl -smp -b nolist -np $SLURM_NTASKS -dir $SLURM_TMPDIR -I YOURAPDLFILE.inp

rm -rf results-*
mkdir results-$SLURM_JOB_ID
cp -a --no-preserve=ownership $SLURM_TMPDIR/* results-$SLURM_JOB_ID

File : script-smp-2020.sh

#!/bin/bash
#SBATCH --account=def-account  # Specify your account
#SBATCH --time=00-03:00        # Specify time (DD-HH:MM)
#SBATCH --mem=16G              # Specify memory for all cores
#SBATCH --ntasks=8             # Specify number of cores (1 or more)
#SBATCH --nodes=1              # Specify one node (do not change)

unset SLURM_GTIDS

module load StdEnv/2020

#module load ansys/2021R2
#module load ansys/2022R1
module load ansys/2022R2

mapdl -smp -b nolist -np $SLURM_NTASKS -dir $SLURM_TMPDIR -I YOURAPDLFILE.inp

rm -rf results-*
mkdir results-$SLURM_JOB_ID
cp -a --no-preserve=ownership $SLURM_TMPDIR/* results-$SLURM_JOB_ID

File : script-dis-2016.sh

#!/bin/bash
#SBATCH --account=def-account  # Specify your account
#SBATCH --time=00-03:00        # Specify time (DD-HH:MM)
#SBATCH --mem-per-cpu=2G       # Specify memory per core
#SBATCH --ntasks=8             # Specify number of cores (2 or more)
##SBATCH --nodes=2             # Specify number of nodes (optional)
##SBATCH --ntasks-per-node=4   # Specify cores per node (optional)

unset SLURM_GTIDS

module load StdEnv/2016

#module load ansys/2019R3
module load ansys/2020R1

export I_MPI_HYDRA_BOOTSTRAP=ssh; export KMP_AFFINITY=compact
mapdl -dis -mpi intelmpi -b nolist -np $SLURM_NTASKS -dir $SLURM_TMPDIR -I YOURAPDLFILE.inp

rm -rf results-*
mkdir results-$SLURM_JOB_ID
cp -a --no-preserve=ownership $SLURM_TMPDIR/* results-$SLURM_JOB_ID

File : script-dis-2020.sh

#!/bin/bash
#SBATCH --account=def-account  # Specify your account
#SBATCH --time=00-03:00        # Specify time (DD-HH:MM)
#SBATCH --mem-per-cpu=2G       # Specify memory per core
#SBATCH --ntasks=8             # Specify number of cores (2 or more)
##SBATCH --nodes=2             # Specify number of nodes (optional)
##SBATCH --ntasks-per-node=4   # Specify cores per node (optional)

unset SLURM_GTIDS

module load StdEnv/2020

module load ansys/2022R2

mapdl -dis -mpi openmpi -b nolist -np $SLURM_NTASKS -dir $SLURM_TMPDIR -I YOURAPDLFILE.inp

rm -rf results-*
mkdir results-$SLURM_JOB_ID
cp -a --no-preserve=ownership $SLURM_TMPDIR/* results-$SLURM_JOB_ID

Ansys allocates 1024 MB total memory and 1024 MB database memory by default for APDL jobs. These values can be manually specified (or changed) by adding arguments -m 1024 and/or -db 1024 to the mapdl command line in the above scripts. When using a remote institutional license server with multiple Ansys licenses, it may be necessary to add -p aa_r or -ppf anshpc, depending on which Ansys module you are using. As always, perform detailed scaling tests before running production jobs to ensure that the optimal number of cores and minimum amount memory is specified in your scripts. The single node (SMP Shared Memory Parallel) scripts will typically perform better than the multinode (DIS Distributed Memory Parallel) scripts and therefore should be used whenever possible. To help avoid compatibility issues the Ansys module loaded in your script should ideally match the version used to to generate the input file:

 [gra-login2:~/ansys/mechanical/demo] cat YOURAPDLFILE.inp | grep version
! ANSYS input file written by Workbench version 2019 R3

Ansys EDT[edit]

Ansys EDT can be run interactively in batch (non-gui) mode by first starting an salloc session with options salloc --time=3:00:00 --tasks=8 --mem=16G --account=def-account and then copy-pasting the full ansysedt command found in the last line of script-local-cmd.sh, being sure to manually specify $YOUR_AEDT_FILE.

Slurm scripts[edit]

Ansys Electronic Desktop jobs may be submitted to a cluster queue with the sbatch script-name.sh command using either of the following single node scripts. As of January 2023, the scripts had only been tested on Graham and therefore may be updated in the future as required to support other clusters. Before using them, specify the simulation time, memory, number of cores and replace YOUR_AEDT_FILE with your input file name. A full listing of command line options can be obtained by starting Ansys EDT in graphical mode with commands ansysedt -help or ansysedt -Batchoptionhelp to obtain scrollable graphical popups.

Single node (command line)Single node (options file)

File : script-local-cmd.sh

#!/bin/bash

#SBATCH --account=account      # Specify your account (def or rrg)
#SBATCH --time=00-01:00        # Specify time (DD-HH:MM)
#SBATCH --mem=16G              # Specify memory (set to 0 to use all compute node memory)
#SBATCH --ntasks=8             # Specify cores (beluga 40, cedar 32 or 48, graham 32 or 44, narval 64)
#SBATCH --nodes=1              # Request one node (Do Not Change)

module load StdEnv/2020
module load ansysedt/2021R2

# Uncomment next line to run a test example:
cp -f $EBROOTANSYSEDT/AnsysEM21.2/Linux64/Examples/HFSS/Antennas/TransientGeoRadar.aedt .

# Specify input file such as:
YOUR_AEDT_FILE="TransientGeoRadar.aedt"

# Remove previous output:
rm -rf $YOUR_AEDT_FILE.* ${YOUR_AEDT_FILE}results

# ---- do not change anything below this line ---- #

echo -e "\nANSYSLI_SERVERS= $ANSYSLI_SERVERS"
echo "ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE= $ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE"
echo -e "SLURM_TMPDIR= $SLURM_TMPDIR on $SLURMD_NODENAME\n"

export KMP_AFFINITY=disabled
ansysedt -monitor -UseElectronicsPPE -ng -distributed -machinelist list=localhost:1:$SLURM_NTASKS \
-batchoptions "TempDirectory=$SLURM_TMPDIR HPCLicenseType=pool HFSS/EnableGPU=0" -batchsolve $YOUR_AEDT_FILE

File : script-local-opt.sh

#!/bin/bash

#SBATCH --account=account      # Specify your account (def or rrg)
#SBATCH --time=00-01:00        # Specify time (DD-HH:MM)
#SBATCH --mem=16G              # Specify memory (set to 0 to allocate all compute node memory)
#SBATCH --ntasks=8             # Specify cores (beluga 40, cedar 32 or 48, graham 32 or 44, narval 64)
#SBATCH --nodes=1              # Request one node (Do Not Change)

module load StdEnv/2020
module load ansysedt/2021R2

# Uncomment next line to run a test example:
cp -f $EBROOTANSYSEDT/AnsysEM21.2/Linux64/Examples/HFSS/Antennas/TransientGeoRadar.aedt .

# Specify input filename such as:
YOUR_AEDT_FILE="TransientGeoRadar.aedt"

# Remove previous output:
rm -rf $YOUR_AEDT_FILE.* ${YOUR_AEDT_FILE}results

# Specify options filename:
OPTIONS_TXT="Options.txt"

# Write sample options file
rm -f $OPTIONS_TXT
cat > $OPTIONS_TXT <<EOF
\$begin 'Config'
'TempDirectory'='$SLURM_TMPDIR'
'HPCLicenseType'='pool'
'HFSS/EnableGPU'=0
\$end 'Config'
EOF

# ---- do not change anything below this line ---- #

echo -e "\nANSYSLI_SERVERS= $ANSYSLI_SERVERS"
echo "ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE= $ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE"
echo -e "SLURM_TMPDIR= $SLURM_TMPDIR on $SLURMD_NODENAME\n"

export KMP_AFFINITY=disabled
ansysedt -monitor -UseElectronicsPPE -ng -distributed -machinelist list=localhost:1:$SLURM_NTASKS \
-batchoptions $OPTIONS_TXT -batchsolve $YOUR_AEDT_FILE

Graphical use[edit]

Ansys programs may be run interactively in GUI mode on cluster compute nodes or Graham VDI Nodes.

Compute nodes[edit]

Ansys can be run interactively on a single compute node for up to 24 hours. This approach is ideal for testing large simulations since all cores and memory can be requested with salloc as described in TigerVNC. Once connected with vncviewer, any of the following program versions can be started after loading the required modules as shown below.

Fluids[edit]

module load StdEnv/2020 ansys/2022R2, or

module load StdEnv/2020 ansys/2022R1, or

module load StdEnv/2020 ansys/2021R2, or

module load StdEnv/2020 ansys/2021R1

unset SESSION_MANAGER

fluent -mpi=intel | cfx5

Where the vertical bar notation means run command1 OR command2.

Note: ansys/2022R2 fluent is not currently working on compute nodes.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

module load StdEnv/2016 ansys/2020R2 (or older versions)

fluent | cfx5

Workbench[edit]

module load StdEnv/2020 ansys/2022R2, or

module load StdEnv/2020 ansys/2022R1, or

module load StdEnv/2020 ansys/2021R2

runwb2

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

module load StdEnv/2016 ansys/2019R3 (not available on Narval)

export PATH=$EBROOTNIXPKGS/bin:$PATH

runwb2

To run an Analysis Program in parallel within Workbench on a single node such as Mechanical or Fluent, untick Distributed and specify a value of cores equal to your salloc session setting minus 1. Most popdown menus in Workbench Mechanical gui do NOT respond properly to mouse over or mouse click events due to a focus issue with the window manager. A workaround to this problem is provided in the Gui Issues section below until a fix can be found.

Ansys EDT[edit]

module load CcEnv StdEnv/2020 ansysedt/2021R2

rm -rf ~/.mw (optionally return to initial configuration)

ansysedt

Ensight[edit]

module load StdEnv/2020 ansys/2022R2; A=222; B=5.12.6, or

module load StdEnv/2020 ansys/2022R1; A=221; B=5.12.6, or

module load StdEnv/2020 ansys/2021R2; A=212; B=5.12.6, or

module load StdEnv/2020 ansys/2021R1; A=211; B=5.12.6, or

module load StdEnv/2016 ansys/2020R2; A=202; B=5.12.6, or

module load StdEnv/2016 ansys/2020R1; A=201; B=5.10.1, or

module load StdEnv/2016 ansys/2019R3; A=195; B=5.10.1, or

export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$EBROOTANSYS/v$A/CEI/apex$A/machines/linux_2.6_64/qt-$B/lib

ensight -X

Note: ansys/2022R2 Ensight is lightly tested on compute nodes. Please let us know if you find any problems using it.

VDI nodes[edit]

Ansys programs can be run for up to 24 hours on graham VDI Nodes using a maximum of 8 cores and 128GB memory. The VDI System provides GPU OpenGL acceleration therefore it is ideal for performing tasks that benefit from high performance graphics. One might use VDI to create or modify simulation input files, post-process data or visualize simulation results. To get started, log in to gra-vdi.computecanada.ca with TigerVNC, open a new terminal window and start one of the following supported program versions as shown below. The vertical bar | notation is used to separate the various commands.

Fluids[edit]

module load CcEnv StdEnv/2020 ansys/2022R2, or

module load CcEnv StdEnv/2020 ansys/2022R1, or

module load CcEnv StdEnv/2020 ansys/2021R2, or

module load CcEnv StdEnv/2020 ansys/2021R1

unset SESSION_MANAGER

fluent | cfx5 | icemcfd

Note: If icemcfd crashes on startup, click Settings -> Display -> X11.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

module load CcEnv StdEnv/2016 ansys/2020R2, or

module load CcEnv StdEnv/2016 ansys/2020R1, or

module load CcEnv StdEnv/2016 ansys/2019R3

export HOOPS_PICTURE=opengl

fluent | cfx5 | icemcfd

Workbench[edit]

module load SnEnv ansys/2023R1

module load CcEnv StdEnv/2020 ansys/2023R1 (coming soon)

module load CcEnv StdEnv/2020 ansys/2022R2

module load CcEnv StdEnv/2020 ansys/2022R1

module load CcEnv StdEnv/2020 ansys/2021R2

runwb2

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

module load SnEnv ansys/2021R1, or

module load SnEnv ansys/2020R2

runwb2

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

module load CcEnv StdEnv/2016 ansys/2020R1, or

module load CcEnv StdEnv/2016 ansys/2019R3

export PATH=$EBROOTNIXPKGS/bin:$PATH

runwb2

To run an Analysis Program in parallel within Workbench on gra-vdi such as Mechanical or Fluent, untick Distributed and specify a value of cores no greater than 12. To run with more cores than 12 use a compute node instead. If an Ansys program refuses to start following a previous run there maybe hung processes if the program was not shutdown cleanly or possibly the program was minimized instead. To clear out any old processes run pkill -9 -e -u $USER -f "ansys|fluent|mwrpcss|mwfwrapper|ENGINE|mono" and then try starting the program again. Most popdown menus in Workbench Mechanical gui do NOT respond properly to mouse over or mouse click events due to a focus issue with the window manager. A workaround to this problem is provided in the Gui Issues section below until a fix can be found.

Ansys EDT[edit]

module load SnEnv ansysedt/2023R1

ansysedt

*** OR ***

module load SnEnv ansys/2023R1

runwb2

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

module load CcEnv StdEnv/2020 ansysedt/2021R2

ansysedt

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To return to the initial configuration of Ansys EDT run:

rm -rf ~/.mw

Ensight[edit]

module load SnEnv ansys/2023R1,

module load SnEnv ansys/2022R2, or

module load SnEnv ansys/2022R1, or

module load SnEnv ansys/2021R2, or

module load SnEnv ansys/2021R1, or

module load SnEnv ansys/2020R2, or

module load SnEnv ansys/2020R1, or

module load SnEnv ansys/2019R3, or

module load SnEnv ansys/2019R2

ensight

Rocky[edit]

module load SnEnv rocky/2023R1.1, or

module load SnEnv rocky/2023R1

Rocky

o The license server used by Rocky is read from your ~/licenses/ansys.lic

o Sharcnet Ansys license includes free demo for anyone, expires May 31,2023

o Standalone use only on gra-vdi (no workbench or coupling support on linux)

o Module for clusters coming soon (likewise for standalone use only on linux)

Gui Issues[edit]

Most of the popdown menus and icons in Ansys Mechanical when run within Workbench do not respond normally to simple mouseover or mouse click events. The problem occurs on both gra-vdi and compute nodes. The following bullets provide workarounds to give equivalent control when working in the Workbench gui on Alliance systems ...

o To access the pulldown menus for items located in the upper left project tree either double-left click them with your mouse or do a single left-click followed by double right-click.

o To activate the dropdown menus (indicated by tiny vertical down arrows) for the icons located in the upper menu bar perform (such as the Analysis and Units selector icons found in the Home panel horizontal menu) do the following click sequence with your mouse:

left-click the icon once to select it, pause briefly, left-click the icon a second time, pause less briefly, then quickly double left-click the icon

. The sequence (or some variation thereof) may need to be repeated a few times until the menu finally drops down and stays down. Do NOT do this for the Solve icon otherwise the solver will start. Instead click the tiny angled down arrow (found in the lower right corner of the Solve panel) once and the Solve Process Settings box appear.

o The width of the left side menu pane may initially appear too narrow to see the full text for all of the pulled down or input field items. To widen it drag the vertical divider bar located on the right hand side of the left menu to the right as required. Doing this will also make drop down arrows associated with each item (found in the lower left menu region) visible. The left side window can be restored to its default layout appearance by clicking Home -> Layout -> Reset Layout where the click sequence in the previous bullet will likely need to be used.

o If you minimize Workbench, Mechanical or Fluent (etc) and want to maximize it again, look for an ansys program tab or terminal icon somewhere along the bottom (or top) menu bar of your vncviewer desktop frame and click it.

o Ansys versions 2021R2, 2021R1, 2020R2 have a compatibility issue on gra-vdi that affects how some tic boxes and menu tabs in the left hand panels update when clicked. As a workaround, try dragging all panels that are overlaid (and thus have selector tabs) outside the main window so they are separate (and thus no longer have selector tabs). If a panel becomes blurred, click the tiny maximize button in its upper right hand corner (to the left of the tiny x button) to refresh it. If you still experience this problem, 1) use a different version not impacted by this issue; or 2) use the same version on a compute node. If none of these solutions work then open a problem ticket to let us know.

Ssh Issues[edit]

Some Ansys GUI programs can be run remotely on a cluster compute node by X forwarding over SSH to your local desktop. Unlike VNC, this approach is untested and unsupported since it relies on a properly setup X display server for your particular operating system OR the selection, installation and configuration of a suitable X client emulator package such as MobaXterm. Most users will find interactive response times unacceptably slow for basic menu tasks let alone performing more complex tasks such as those involving graphics rendering. Startup times for GUI programs can also be very slow depending on your Internet connection. For example, in one test it took 40 minutes to fully start ansysedt over SSH while starting it with vncviewer required only 34 seconds. Despite the potential slowness when connecting over SSH to run GUI programs, doing so may still be of interest if your only goal is to open a simulation and perform some basic menu operations or run some calculations. The basic steps are given here as a starting point: 1) ssh -Y username@graham.computecanada.ca; 2) salloc --x11 --time=1:00:00 --mem=16G --cpus-per-task=4 [--gpus-per-node=1] --account=def-mygroup; 3) once connected onto a compute node try running xclock. If the clock appears on your desktop, proceed to load the desired Ansys module and try running the program.

Site-specific usage[edit]

SHARCNET license[edit]

The SHARCNET Ansys license is free for academic use by any Alliance researcher on any Alliance system. The installed software does not have any solver or geometry limits. It may only be used for the purpose of Publishable Academic Research. The license was upgraded from CFD to MCS (Multiphysics Campus Solution) in May of 2020 and includes the following products: HF, EM, Electronics HPC, Mechanical and CFD as described here. Neither LS-DYNA or Lumerical are included. In July of 2021 an additional 1024 anshpc licenses were added to the previous 512 pool. Before running large parallel jobs, scaling tests should be run for any given simulation. Parallel jobs that do not achieve at least 50% CPU utilization may be flagged by the system for a follow-up by our support team.

As of December 2022, each researcher can run 4 jobs using a total of 252 anshpc (plus 4 anshpc per job). Thus any of the following uniform job size combinations are possible: one 256 core job, two 130 core jobs, three 88 core jobs, or four 67 core jobs according to ( (252 + 4*num_jobs) / num_jobs ). Since the best parallel performance is usually achieved by using all cores on packed compute nodes (aka full nodes), one can determine the number of full nodes by dividing the total anshpc cores with the compute node size. For example, consider Graham which has many 32-core (Broadwell) and some 44-core (Cascade) compute nodes, the maximum number of nodes that could be requested when running various size jobs on 32-core nodes would be: 256/32=8, 130/32=~4, 88/32=~2 or 67/32=~2 to run 1, 2, 3 or 4 simultaneous jobs respectively. To express this in equation form, for a given compute node size on any cluster, the number of compute nodes can be calculated by ( 252 + (4*num_jobs) ) / (num_jobs*cores_per_node) ) then round down and finally determine the total cores to request by multiplying the even number of nodes by the number of cores_per_node.

The SHARCNET Ansys license is made available on a first come first serve basis. Should an unusually large number of Ansys jobs be submitted on a given day some jobs could fail on startup should insufficient licenses be available. These events however have become very rare given the recent increase in anshpc licenses. If your research requires more licenses than SHARCNET can provide, a dedicated researcher license may be purchased (and hosted) on an Ansys license server at your local institution. Researchers can purchase a license directly from SimuTech where an extra 20% country-wide uplift fee must be added if the cluster where the license will be used is not co-located at your institution (for example the Graham cluster at Waterloo). To use a local institutional Ansys license server, reconfigure the ~/.licenses/ansys.lic file on the cluster(s) where you want to use it.

License server file[edit]

To use the SHARCNET Ansys license, configure your ansys.lic file as follows:

[gra-login1:~/.licenses] cat ansys.lic
setenv("ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE", "1055@license3.sharcnet.ca")
setenv("ANSYSLI_SERVERS", "2325@license3.sharcnet.ca")

Query license server[edit]

To show the number of licenses in use by your username and the total in use by all users, run:

ssh graham.computecanada.ca
module load ansys
lmutil lmstat -c $ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE -a | grep "Users of\|$USER"

If you discover any licenses unexpectedly in use by your username (usually due to ansys not exiting cleanly on gra-vdi) then connect to the node where its running, open a terminal window and run the following command to terminate the rogue processes pkill -9 -e -u $USER -f "ansys" after which your licenses should be freed. Note that gra-vdi consists of two nodes (gra-vdi3 and gra-vdi4) which researchers are randomly placed on when connecting to gra-vdi.computecanada.ca with tigervnc. Therefore it's necessary to specify the full hostname (gra-vdi3.sharcnet.ca or grav-vdi4.sharcnet.ca) when connecting with tigervnc to ensure you log in to the correct node before running pkill.

Local VDI modules[edit]

When using gra-vdi, researchers have the choice of loading Ansys modules from our global environment (after loading CcEnv) or loading Ansys modules installed locally on the machine itself (after loading SnEnv). The local modules may be of interest as they include some Ansys programs and versions not yet supported by our standard environment. When starting programs from local Ansys modules, you can select the CMC license server or accept the default SHARCNET license server. Presently, the settings from ~/.licenses/ansys.lic are not used by the local Ansys modules except when starting runwb2 where they will override the default SHARCNET license server settings. Suitable usage of Ansys programs on gra-vdi includes: running a single test job interactively with up to 8 cores and/or 128G RAM, create or modify simulation input files, post process or visualize data.

Ansys modules[edit]

Connect to gra-vdi.computecanada.ca with TigerVNC.
Open a new terminal window and load a module:
module load SnEnv ansys/2021R2, or

module load SnEnv ansys/2021R1, or

module load SnEnv ansys/2020R2, or

module load SnEnv ansys/2020R1, or

module load SnEnv ansys/2019R3
Start an Ansys program by issuing one of the following:
runwb2|fluent|cfx5|icemcfd|apdl
Press y and Enter to accept the conditions
Press Enter to accept the n option and use the SHARCNET license server by default (in the case of runwb2 ~/.licenses/ansysedt.lic will be used if present, otherwise ANSYSLI_SERVERS and ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE will be used if set in your environment for example to some other remote license server). If you change n to y and hit y. the CMC license server will be used.

where cfx5 from step 3. above provides the option to start the following components:

   1) CFX-Launcher  (cfx5 -> cfx5launch)
   2) CFX-Pre       (cfx5pre)
   3) CFD-Post      (cfdpost -> cfx5post)
   4) CFX-Solver    (cfx5solve)

ansysedt modules[edit]

Connect to gra-vdi.computecanada.ca with TigerVNC.
Open a new terminal window and load a module:
module load SnEnv ansysedt/2021R2, or

module load SnEnv ansysedt/2021R1
Start the Ansys Electromagnetics Desktop program by typing the following command: ansysedt
Press y and Enter to accept the conditions.
Press Enter to accept the n option and use the SHARCNET license server by default (note that ~/.licenses/ansysedt.lic will be used if present, otherwise ANSYSLI_SERVERS and ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE will be used if set in your environment for example to some other remote license server). If you change n to y and hit enter, the CMC license server will be used.

License feature preferences previously setup with anslic_admin are no longer supported following the recent SHARCNET license server update (2021-09-09). If a license problem occurs, try removing the ~/.ansys directory in your /home account to clear the settings. If problems persist please contact our technical support and provide the contents of your ~/.licenses/ansys.lic file.

Additive Manufacturing[edit]

To get started configure your ~/.licenses/ansys.lic file to point to a license server that has a valid Ansys Mechanical License. This must be done on all systems where you plan to run the software.

Enable Additive[edit]

To enable Ansys Additive Manufacturing in your project do the following 3 steps:

Start Workbench[edit]

start workbench as described in the Graphical use - WORKBENCH section found above.

Install extensions[edit]

click Extensions -> Install Extension
specify the following /path/to/AdditiveWizard.wbex then click Open: /cvmfs/restricted.computecanada.ca/easybuild/software/2017/Core/ansys/2019R3/v195/aisol/WBAddins/MechanicalExtensions/AdditiveWizard.wbex

Load extensions[edit]

click Extensions -> Manage Extensions and tick Additive Wizard
click the ACT Start Page tab X to return to your Project tab

Run Additive[edit]

Gra-vdi[edit]

A user can run a single Ansys Additive Manufacturing job on gra-vdi with up to 16 cores as follows:

Start Workbench on Gra-vdi as described above in Enable Additive.
click File -> Open and select test.wbpj then click Open
click View -> reset workspace if you get a grey screen
start Mechanical, Clear Generated Data, tick Distributed, specify Cores
click File -> Save Project -> Solve

Check utilization:

open another terminal and run: top -u $USER **OR** ps u -u $USER | grep ansys
kill rogue processes from previous runs: pkill -9 -e -u $USER -f "ansys|mwrpcss|mwfwrapper|ENGINE"

Please note that rogue processes can persistently tie up licenses between gra-vdi login sessions or cause other unusual errors when trying to start gui programs on gra-vdi. Although rare, rogue processes can occur if an ansys gui session (fluent, workbench, etc) is not cleanly terminated by the user before vncviewer is terminated either manually or unexpectedly - for instance due to a transient network outage or hung filesystem. If the latter is to blame then the processes may not by killable until normal disk access is restored.

Cluster[edit]

Project preparation:

Before submitting a newly uploaded Additive project to a cluster queue (with sbatch scriptname) certain preparations must be done. To begin, open your simulation with Workbench gui (as described in the Enable Additive section above) in the same directory that your job will be submitted from and then save it again. Be sure to use the same ansys module version that will be used for the job. Next create a Slurm script (as explained in the Cluster Batch Job Submission - WORKBENCH section above). To perform parametric studies change Update() to UpdateAllDesignPoints() in the Slurm script. Determine the optimal number of cores and memory by submitting several short test jobs. To avoid needing to manually clear the solution and recreate all the design points in Workbench between each test run, either 1) change Save(Overwrite=True) to Save(Overwrite=False) or 2) save a copy of the original YOURPROJECT.wbpj file and corresponding YOURPROJECT_files directory. Optionally create and then manually run a replay file on the cluster in the respective test case directory between each run, noting that a single replay file can be used in different directories by opening it in a text editor and changing the internal FilePath setting.

module load ansys/2019R3
rm -f test_files/.lock
runwb2 -R myreplay.wbjn

Resource utilization:

Once your additive job has been running for a few minutes a snapshot of its resource utilization on the compute node(s) can be obtained with the following srun command. Sample output corresponding to an eight core submission script is shown next. It can be seen that two nodes were selected by the scheduler:

[gra-login1:~] srun --jobid=myjobid top -bn1 -u $USER | grep R | grep -v top
  PID USER   PR  NI    VIRT    RES    SHR S  %CPU %MEM    TIME+  COMMAND
22843 demo   20   0 2272124 256048  72796 R  88.0  0.2  1:06.24  ansys.e
22849 demo   20   0 2272118 256024  72822 R  99.0  0.2  1:06.37  ansys.e
22838 demo   20   0 2272362 255086  76644 R  96.0  0.2  1:06.37  ansys.e
  PID USER   PR  NI    VIRT    RES    SHR S  %CPU %MEM    TIME+  COMMAND
 4310 demo   20   0 2740212 271096 101892 R 101.0  0.2  1:06.26  ansys.e
 4311 demo   20   0 2740416 284552  98084 R  98.0  0.2  1:06.55  ansys.e
 4304 demo   20   0 2729516 268824 100388 R 100.0  0.2  1:06.12  ansys.e
 4305 demo   20   0 2729436 263204 100932 R 100.0  0.2  1:06.88  ansys.e
 4306 demo   20   0 2734720 431532  95180 R 100.0  0.3  1:06.57  ansys.e

Scaling tests:

After a job completes its "Job Wall-clock time" can be obtained from seff myjobid. Using this value scaling tests can be performed by submitting short test jobs with an increasing number of cores. If the Wall-clock time decreases by ~50% when the number of cores are doubled then additional cores may be considered.

Online documentation[edit]

The full Ansys documentation for versions back to 19.2 can be accessed by following these steps:

Connect to gra-vdi.computecanada.ca. with tigervnc as described in VDI Nodes.
If the Firefox browser or the Ansys Workbench are open, close them now.
Start Firefox by clicking Applications -> Internet -> Firefox.
Open a new terminal window by clicking Applications -> System Tools -> Mate Terminal.
Start Workbench by typing the following in your terminal: module load CcEnv StdEnv ansys; runwb2.
In the upper Workbench menu bar click Help -> ANSYS Workbench Help; the Ansys documentation page should immediately appear in Firefox.
At this point Workbench is no longer needed so close it by clicking the >Unsaved Project - Workbench tab located along the bottom frame (doing this will bring Workbench into focus) and then click File -> Exit.
In the top middle of the Ansys documentation page, click the word HOME located just left of API DOCS.
Now scroll down and you should see a list of Ansys product icons and/or alphabetical ranges.
Select a product to view its documentation. The documentation for the latest release version will be displayed by default. Change the version by clicking the Release Year pull down located above and just to the right of the Ansys documentation page search bar.
To search for documentation corresponding to a different Ansys product, click HOME again.

Ansys

Licensing[edit]

Configuring your license file[edit]

Local license servers[edit]

Checking license usage[edit]

Niagara specific[edit]

Version compatibility[edit]

Cluster batch job submission[edit]

Ansys Fluent[edit]

Slurm scripts[edit]

General purpose[edit]

License requeue[edit]

Solution restart[edit]

Journal files[edit]

Ansys CFX[edit]

Slurm scripts[edit]

Workbench[edit]

Slurm scripts[edit]

Mechanical[edit]

Slurm scripts[edit]

Ansys EDT[edit]

Slurm scripts[edit]

Graphical use[edit]

Compute nodes[edit]

Fluids[edit]

Workbench[edit]

Ansys EDT[edit]

Ensight[edit]

VDI nodes[edit]

Fluids[edit]

Workbench[edit]

Ansys EDT[edit]

Ensight[edit]

Rocky[edit]

Gui Issues[edit]

Ssh Issues[edit]

Site-specific usage[edit]

SHARCNET license[edit]

License server file[edit]

Query license server[edit]

Local VDI modules[edit]

Ansys modules[edit]

ansysedt modules[edit]

Additive Manufacturing[edit]

Enable Additive[edit]

Start Workbench[edit]

Install extensions[edit]

Load extensions[edit]

Run Additive[edit]

Gra-vdi[edit]

Cluster[edit]

Online documentation[edit]

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