launch_build.md

How to run TDW on a Linux server

Launch a TDW build on a remote server from a personal computer

Step 1: Launch remote_build_launcher.py on the remote server

binary_manager.py can be used to launch and manage TDW builds on a remote server.

Setup

1. Copy this file to the remote server.
2. Make sure that the server has Python 3.6 or newer

Usage

python3 binary_manager.py [ARGUMENTS]

Argument	Type	Default	Description
--listening_port	str	5556	The socket port.
--build_path	str	os.environ.get("TDW_BUILD_PATH")	The path to the build.
--force_glcore42	bool	False	Use OpenGL 4.2 instead of latest system version. Read this for more information.
--screen_width	int	256	Screen width in pixels.
--screen_height	int	256	Screen height in pixels.
--gpus	str	0	GPUs to be used for rendering.

Step 2: Launch a controller with RemoteBuildLauncher

Use RemoteBuildLauncher to launch a build on a remote server from a person computer. To use this, you need to have already launched binary_manager.py on the remote server.

This is a minimal example of a controller that uses RemoteBuildLauncher to connect to a remote build:

import argparse
from tdw.controller import Controller
from tdw.remote_build_launcher import RemoteBuildLauncher


class MinimalRemote(Controller):
    """
    A minimal example of how to use the launch binaries daemon to
    start and connect to a build on a remote node. Note: the remote
    must be running binary_manager.py.
    """

    def __init__(self):
        args = self.parse_args()
        build_info = RemoteBuildLauncher.launch_build(args.listening_port,
                                                      args.build_address,
                                                      args.controller_address)

        super().__init__(port=build_info["build_port"])

    def parse_args(self):
        """
        Helper function that parses command line arguments .
        Returns parsed args.
        """
        parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
        parser.add_argument(
            "--listening_port",
            default="5556",
            type=str,
            help="Port on which binary_manager is listening",
        )
        parser.add_argument(
            "--build_address",
            default="node14-ccncluster.stanford.edu",
            type=str,
            help="IP/hostname on which to launch build",
        )
        parser.add_argument(
            "--controller_address",
            default="node05-ccncluster.stanford.edu",
            type=str,
            help="Address of controller",
        )
        args = parser.parse_args()
        return args

    def run(self):
        # Create an empty environment.
        self.communicate({"$type": "create_empty_environment"})
        for i in range(100):
            # Do nothing. Receive a response from the build.
            resp = self.communicate([])
            print(resp)
        self.communicate({"$type": "terminate"})


if __name__ == "__main__":
    MinimalRemote().run()

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Next: Remote rendering with xpra.

Return to the README

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Example controllers:

• minimal_remote.py A minimal example of how to use the launch binaries daemon to start and connect to a build on a remote node. Note: the remote must be running binary_manager.py.

Python API:

• RemoteBuildLauncher