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Define Task Dependencies

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Applies To: Windows HPC Server 2008

A task flow job contains a set of tasks that run in a prescribed order. In HPC Cluster Manager, you can establish the order in which tasks are run by defining dependencies between the tasks.

In the Task Dependency dialog box, you can organize your tasks into groups. All tasks in a group will complete before any tasks in the next group are started. Initially, all of your tasks are part of Group 1.

Note

You can create more complex, non-linear task dependencies using the HPC command-line tools, HPC PowerShell, HPC Basic Profile Web Service, or by using the HPC application programming interfaces (APIs). For more information, see Online Resources for Windows HPC Server.

For information about using HPC Cluster Manager, see Overview of HPC Cluster Manager.

Defining task dependencies

In HPC Cluster Manager, the option to define task dependencies is available in the New Job, Modify Job, and Copy Job dialog boxes. As an example, the following procedure describes how to define task dependencies in the Modify Job dialog box.

To define task dependencies

  1. In Job Management, in the Navigation Pane, click All Jobs.

  2. In the job list, right-click a job, then click Modify Job.

  3. In the left pane of the Modify Job dialog box, click Task List.

  4. Click the Dependency button to open the Task Dependency dialog box.

  5. Under Groups, click the Add button to add a group. Add as many groups as the job requires. Note that the Remove button only removes the selected grouping level, it does not remove the tasks themselves.

  6. Select one or more tasks, then use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to move the selected tasks between groups.

  7. Click OK to accept the task dependency grouping and return to the Create New Job dialog box.

    Note

    By default, tasks are assigned to Group 1. If you add more tasks to your job, return to the Task Dependency dialog box to ensure that the tasks are ordered as you intended.

Additional considerations

  • To open HPC Cluster Manager, click Start, point to All Programs, click Microsoft HPC Pack, and then click HPC Cluster Manager. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Continue.

Additional references