Ucr Hpcc Cluster

ucr_hpcc_cluster

Help users work with the UCR HPCC (High Performance Computing Center) cluster. This skill provides commands for connecting, submitting jobs, managing software, and handling data storage.

Auto-Configuration

When the user asks to "configure the cluster", "set up HPCC", or "install cluster aliases", automatically add the HPCC helper functions and aliases to their ~/.bashrc.

What to Install

Append the following block to ~/.bashrc (check if already present first by searching for # ── UCR HPCC):

# ── UCR HPCC Cluster Helpers ───────────────────────────────────────────────

# Claude Code alias
alias cc='claude --dangerously-skip-permissions'

# Launch Claude Code in an interactive SLURM session
# Usage: ccn [hours]
# Examples:
#   ccn           # 2 hours (short partition)
#   ccn 4         # 4 hours (auto-selects epyc)
#   ccn 24        # 24 hours
ccn() {
    local hours="${1:-2}"
    local dir="$(pwd)"
    local partition="short"
    local cpucnt="4"
    local mem="16"

    # Auto-select partition based on time
    if (( hours > 2 )); then
        partition="epyc"
    fi

    echo "Launching Claude Code on $partition partition (${hours}h, ${mem}GB RAM)..."
    echo "Working directory: $dir"
    echo "To exit: type 'exit' or press Ctrl+D"
    echo ""

    srun -p "$partition" -c "$cpucnt" --mem="${mem}GB" -t "${hours}:00:00" --pty bash -c "cd '$dir' && claude --dangerously-skip-permissions"
}

# Launch VS Code tunnel in an interactive SLURM session
# Usage: vsc [hours] [cpus] [memory_gb]
# Examples:
#   vsc              # 2h, 8 CPUs, 32GB (default)
#   vsc 5            # 5h, 8 CPUs, 32GB
#   vsc 5 16 64      # 5h, 16 CPUs, 64GB
vsc() {
    local hours="${1:-2}"
    local cpus="${2:-8}"
    local mem="${3:-32}"
    local partition="short"

    if (( hours > 2 )); then
        partition="epyc"
    fi

    echo "VS Code tunnel: $partition partition (${hours}h, ${cpus} CPUs, ${mem}GB RAM)"
    echo ""

    # Estimate wait time using sbatch --test-only
    local test_script=$(mktemp)
    echo -e "#!/bin/bash\n#SBATCH -p $partition\n#SBATCH -c $cpus\n#SBATCH --mem=${mem}GB\n#SBATCH -t ${hours}:00:00\nsleep 1" > "$test_script"
    local estimate=$(sbatch --test-only "$test_script" 2>&1)
    rm -f "$test_script"

    if echo "$estimate" | grep -q "to start at"; then
        local start_time=$(echo "$estimate" | grep -oP "to start at \K[0-9T:-]+")
        local start_epoch=$(date -d "$start_time" +%s 2>/dev/null)
        local now_epoch=$(date +%s)
        if [[ -n "$start_epoch" ]]; then
            local wait_secs=$((start_epoch - now_epoch))
            if (( wait_secs <= 0 )); then
                echo "Estimated wait: Starting immediately"
            elif (( wait_secs < 60 )); then
                echo "Estimated wait: <1 minute"
            elif (( wait_secs < 3600 )); then
                echo "Estimated wait: $((wait_secs / 60)) minutes"
            else
                echo "Estimated wait: $((wait_secs / 3600))h $((wait_secs % 3600 / 60))m (start ~$start_time)"
            fi
        fi
    else
        echo "Estimated wait: Unable to determine"
    fi

    echo ""
    echo "After authorization, connect via:"
    echo "  - Browser: https://vscode.dev/tunnel/<tunnel-name>"
    echo "  - Desktop: Click green '><' icon -> Connect to Tunnel"
    echo "To exit: Ctrl+C to stop tunnel, then 'exit'"
    echo ""

    srun -p "$partition" -c "$cpus" --mem="${mem}GB" -t "${hours}:00:00" --pty bash -c "module load vscode && code tunnel"
}

# Quick interactive node: node [hours] [partition]
node() {
    local hours="${1:-2}" partition="${2:-short}"
    (( hours > 2 )) && [[ "$partition" == "short" ]] && partition="epyc"
    srun -p "$partition" -c 4 --mem=16GB -t "${hours}:00:00" --pty bash -l
}

# GPU interactive node: gpunode [hours]
gpunode() {
    local hours="${1:-1}"
    srun -p gpu --gres=gpu:1 -c 8 --mem=32GB -t "${hours}:00:00" --pty bash -l
}

# Job monitoring aliases
alias sq='squeue -u $USER -o "%.10i %.12j %.10P %.8T %.10M %.10l %.6C %.10m %R" --sort=-S'
alias sqstart='squeue -u $USER --start -o "%.10i %.12j %.10P %.8T %.19S %.10l %R"'
alias sqwatch='watch -n 5 "squeue -u $USER -o \"%.10i %.12j %.10P %.8T %.10M %.10l %.6C %R\""'
alias sqgpu='squeue -p gpu,short_gpu,preempt_gpu -o "%.10i %.12j %.10P %.8u %.8T %.10M %b %R"'

# GPU availability
alias gpus='sinfo -p gpu,short_gpu,preempt_gpu -O "NodeList:12,Gres:20,GresUsed:20,StateLong:12,Partition:14" --noheader'

# Job helpers: eff JOBID, joblog JOBID, joberr JOBID
eff() { seff "$1"; }
joblog() { tail -f "${2:-logs}"/*_"$1".out 2>/dev/null || echo "Log not found"; }
joberr() { tail -f "${2:-logs}"/*_"$1".err 2>/dev/null || echo "Log not found"; }

# Login node cleanup
alias mymem='ps -U $USER -o pid,rss:12,etime,comm --sort=-rss | head -15'
alias killnodes='pkill -u $USER node; pkill -u $USER -f "npm exec notebo"'

# ── End HPCC Helpers ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Installation Steps

When configuring for a user:

1. Check if already configured:

   grep -q "# ── UCR HPCC Cluster Helpers" ~/.bashrc && echo "Already configured" || echo "Not configured"
   

2. If not configured, append the block above to ~/.bashrc

3. Remind user to reload:

   source ~/.bashrc
   

Quick Reference After Installation

Connection

SSH to the cluster:

ssh -X username@cluster.hpcc.ucr.edu

Web-based access (Open OnDemand) is also available for browser-based JupyterHub, RStudio, and VSCode sessions.

Change password after first login:

passwd

Important: Do NOT run computationally intensive tasks on head nodes. Always submit jobs via sbatch or srun to compute nodes.

Slurm Job Submission

Interactive Jobs

# Basic interactive session (uses default epyc partition)
srun --pty bash -l

# With resources specified
srun --mem=1gb --cpus-per-task=1 --ntasks=1 --time=10:00:00 --pty bash -l

# Short partition (2 hour max)
srun -p short -t 2:00:00 -c 8 --mem=8GB --pty bash -l

# GPU interactive
srun -p gpu --gres=gpu:1 --mem=100g --time=1:00:00 --pty bash -l

# GPU interactive with specific GPU type
srun -p gpu --gres=gpu:a100:1 --mem=100g --pty bash -l

Login Node Memory Limits

IMPORTANT: Login nodes enforce per-user memory limits (typically 1 GB via cgroups). Running memory-intensive tools like Claude Code, VS Code remote sessions, or Jupyter kernels on login nodes can trigger the OOM killer.

Symptoms of hitting the limit:

• Processes getting killed randomly
• dmesg shows: Memory cgroup out of memory: Killed process ... constraint=CONSTRAINT_MEMCG

Check for OOM kills:

dmesg -T | grep -i "oom\|killed" | tail -10

Check your current memory usage:

ps -U $USER -o pid,rss:12,comm --sort=-rss | head -15

Solution: Run memory-intensive tools on compute nodes via srun:

srun -p short -c 4 --mem=16GB -t 2:00:00 --pty bash -l

Clean up zombie processes: Old VS Code sessions and Jupyter kernels often leave orphaned node processes consuming memory:

# Check for old node processes
ps -U $USER -o pid,rss:12,etime,comm --sort=-rss | grep node

# Kill them
pkill -u $USER node
pkill -u $USER -f "npm exec notebo"

Claude Code & VS Code on HPCC

Important: Run these tools on compute nodes, not login nodes. Use the auto-configured shortcuts (see Auto-Configuration):

VS Code first-time setup:

1. Run vsc — it prompts for GitHub authorization
2. Follow the link and enter the code
3. Connect via https://vscode.dev/tunnel/<name> or desktop VS Code "Remote - Tunnels" extension

To exit: Ctrl+C to stop the app, then exit to end the SLURM job.

Batch Jobs

Submit a script:

sbatch script.sh
sbatch -p epyc script.sh
sbatch -p highmem --mem=100g --time=24:00:00 script.sh
sbatch -p gpu --gres=gpu:1 --mem=100g --time=1:00:00 script.sh

SBATCH Script Template

#!/bin/bash -l

#SBATCH --nodes=1
#SBATCH --ntasks=1
#SBATCH --cpus-per-task=10
#SBATCH --mem=10G
#SBATCH --time=1-00:15:00     # D-HH:MM:SS
#SBATCH --mail-user=user@email.com
#SBATCH --mail-type=ALL
#SBATCH --job-name="my_job"
#SBATCH -p epyc

module load <software>
# Your commands here

Array Jobs

#SBATCH --array=1-100
# Access index with ${SLURM_ARRAY_TASK_ID}
# Array job limit: 2500 jobs per array

GPU Jobs

#SBATCH -p gpu
#SBATCH --gres=gpu:1              # 1 GPU (any type)
#SBATCH --gres=gpu:a100:1         # Specific GPU type
#SBATCH --gres=gpu:4              # 4 GPUs

The assigned GPUs are exposed via the CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES environment variable.

Important: GPU types and availability change over time. Always auto-detect using the commands in the "Auto-Detecting Cluster Resources" section below rather than assuming a fixed list.

Preemptible Jobs

Preemptible partitions offer access without counting against lab quotas, but jobs can be killed at any time (1-minute grace period):

# CPU preempt (requires -A preempt)
sbatch -p preempt -A preempt --time=12:00:00 script.sh

# GPU preempt
sbatch -p preempt_gpu -A preempt --gres=gpu:1 script.sh

Job Monitoring

squeue -u $USER --start          # Your jobs with start times
scontrol show job JOBID          # Job details
sacct -u $USER -l                # Past job history
seff JOBID                       # Resource usage after completion
scancel JOBID                    # Cancel a job
scancel JOBID1 JOBID2 JOBID3     # Cancel multiple jobs
group_cpus                       # Cores used by your group
slurm_limits                     # Show resource limits
jobMonitor                       # Cluster activity summary

Resource Efficiency

After a job completes, use seff JOBID to check efficiency. Aim to request ~20% more memory than actually used to account for spikes while avoiding waste.

Partitions (Queues)

Group limits: 768 cores and 8 GPUs across all users in a group. Max 5000 queued/running jobs per user.

Module System

The cluster uses Environment Modules (Tcl-based). Note: module spider is not available; use module avail to search.

module avail                     # List available software
module avail R                   # Search for R versions
module load miniconda3           # Load Python/conda
module load R/4.2.0              # Load specific version
module list                      # Show loaded modules
module unload <name>             # Unload a module
module purge                     # Unload all modules
module help                      # Module help

Conda Environments

The default Python module is miniconda3 (minimal packages). anaconda provides a full distribution with pre-installed packages. mamba is available as a faster drop-in replacement for conda.

Configure conda for bigdata storage (~/.condarc):

channels:
  - defaults
pkgs_dirs:
  - ~/bigdata/.conda/pkgs
envs_dirs:
  - ~/bigdata/.conda/envs
auto_activate_base: false

Manage environments:

conda create -n myenv python=3.10
conda activate myenv
conda install package_name
conda env list
conda deactivate
conda env remove --name myenv

Install packages on a compute node to avoid memory issues:

srun -p short -c 4 --mem=10g --pty bash -l
conda install -n myenv package_name

Jupyter Kernel Registration

To use a conda environment in Jupyter, register it as a kernel:

conda activate myenv
conda install ipykernel
python -m ipykernel install --user --name myenv --display-name "My Env"

Storage

• Scratch is SSD-backed, node-local, and faster than persistent storage. Data is auto-deleted after job completion.
• /dev/shm is RAM-based (fastest) but consumes from your job's memory allocation.

Check usage:

check_quota home
check_quota bigdata
du -sh .                         # Current directory size
du -sch *                        # Subdirectory sizes

Snapshots (backups):

• Home: daily, kept 1 week (/rhome/.snapshots/)
• Bigdata: weekly, kept 1 month (/bigdata/.snapshots/)
• List snapshots: mmlssnapshot home or mmlssnapshot bigdata

SSH Tunneling (for Jupyter, etc.)

ssh -NL 8888:NodeName:8888 username@cluster.hpcc.ucr.edu

Then open http://localhost:8888 in your browser.

Node Constraints

Request specific hardware:

srun -p short --constraint intel --pty bash -l
srun -p short --constraint "amd&(rome|milan)" --pty bash -l
srun -p short_gpu --constraint "gpu_latest" --gpus=1 --pty bash -l

Auto-Detecting Cluster Resources

IMPORTANT: When the user asks about available GPUs, nodes, hardware, or cluster resources — or when writing a job script that targets specific hardware — ALWAYS run the detection commands below to get live data. Do NOT rely on hardcoded lists, as nodes are frequently added, removed, or taken down for maintenance.

GPU inventory (all GPU nodes across all partitions)

Run this to get a per-node breakdown of GPU type, count, CPUs, memory, state, and partitions:

sinfo -N -o "%N %G %c %m %P %T" --noheader 2>/dev/null | grep -i gpu | sort -t'u' -k2 -n | uniq

Summary by partition

Run this for a partition-level view (which GPU types are in which partition):

sinfo -o "%P %N %G %a %T" --noheader 2>/dev/null | grep -i gpu | sort

Current GPU availability (idle vs in-use)

Run this to see how many GPUs are free right now:

sinfo -p gpu,short_gpu,preempt_gpu -O "NodeList:12,Gres:20,GresUsed:20,StateLong:12,Partition:14" --noheader 2>/dev/null

Node details (specific node)

To inspect a specific node's full hardware:

scontrol show node NODENAME

When to auto-detect

Run detection commands automatically when:

• User asks "what GPUs are available?", "how many A100s?", "show me the nodes", etc.
• User asks which GPU type to use for their workload
• Writing or modifying a job script that requests GPU resources (to verify the requested GPU type actually exists and is available)
• User asks about cluster capacity or current utilization

Interpreting results

When presenting results to the user:

• Show a clean summary table (node, GPU type, count, CPUs, RAM, partitions, state)
• Highlight which nodes are down or drain (unavailable)
• Note partition restrictions (e.g., some GPUs only in short_gpu/preempt_gpu, not in gpu)
• Calculate totals by GPU type
• Mention per-user limits: 4 GPUs and 48 cores in gpu/short_gpu; 1 GPU in preempt_gpu; group limit of 8 GPUs

Estimating Wait Time & Choosing the Best Partition

IMPORTANT: When a user wants to submit a GPU job, proactively estimate queue wait times and recommend the best partition/GPU combination. Run these commands and analyze the results.

Step 1: Check current GPU utilization

See which GPUs are in use vs available on each node:

sinfo -p gpu,short_gpu,preempt_gpu -O "NodeList:12,Gres:20,GresUsed:20,StateLong:12,Partition:14" --noheader 2>/dev/null

Compare Gres (total) vs GresUsed (in use). For example, gpu:a100:8 with gpu:a100:6(IDX:0-5) means 2 A100s are free on that node.

Step 2: Check pending queue depth per partition

squeue -p gpu --state=PENDING -o "%i %P %u %T %l %S %r" --noheader 2>/dev/null | head -20
squeue -p short_gpu --state=PENDING --noheader 2>/dev/null | wc -l
squeue -p preempt_gpu --state=PENDING --noheader 2>/dev/null | wc -l

The %S field shows the estimated start time (may be N/A for far-out jobs). The %r field shows the pending reason.

Step 3: Check running jobs to estimate when GPUs free up

squeue -p gpu,short_gpu,preempt_gpu --state=RUNNING -o "%i %P %N %u %M %l %b" --noheader 2>/dev/null

Key columns: %M = elapsed time, %l = time limit, %b = GRES (GPU) allocation. Calculate remaining time as time_limit - elapsed to estimate when each GPU becomes available.

Step 4: Analyze and recommend

After gathering the data above, analyze it to provide a recommendation:

1. Free GPUs right now? If any GPUs show Gres > GresUsed, those are immediately available. Recommend submitting there.
2. Soonest availability: Look at running jobs' remaining time (time_limit - elapsed). The job finishing soonest frees up a GPU first.
3. Queue depth: Fewer pending jobs = shorter wait. Compare pending counts across gpu, short_gpu, and preempt_gpu.
4. Partition trade-offs: Present options like:
   • gpu partition: up to 7-day jobs, but may have a long queue
   • short_gpu: 2-hour max, but often empty queue (good for quick tests)
   • preempt_gpu: up to 24 hours, can be preempted, but often has idle GPUs (requires -A preempt)
5. GPU type matters: If user needs a specific GPU (e.g., A100 for large models), check availability of that type specifically. If flexible, recommend whichever type has the shortest wait.
6. Specific node targeting: If a particular node has free GPUs, the user can request it with --nodelist=gpu09 (not guaranteed but can help).

Example recommendation format

Present findings as a concise summary:

Current GPU availability:
- gpu06: 0/8 A100 free (next available in ~1d 2h)
- gpu07: 2/8 A100 free  <-- submit here
- gpu09: 9/10 Ada 6000 free (short_gpu/preempt_gpu only)

Recommendation: Submit to gpu partition targeting A100 (2 free on gpu07).
If job is <2 hours, use short_gpu for faster scheduling.
If job is <24 hours and can tolerate preemption, preempt_gpu has 9 idle Ada 6000s on gpu09.

Pending queue: gpu=28 jobs, short_gpu=0, preempt_gpu=1

Common Slurm Flags

Best Practices: Project & Environment Setup

Directory Strategy

Home (/rhome) is only 20GB — use it for configs and dotfiles only. Put projects, environments, and data on bigdata:

/rhome/username/              # 20GB — configs, small scripts, symlinks
├── .condarc                  # points conda to bigdata
├── .bashrc                   # shell config
├── .Renviron                 # R library path → bigdata
└── workspace -> /bigdata/labname/username/workspace  # symlink

/bigdata/labname/username/    # Lab quota — bulk storage
├── workspace/                # project code
│   └── my_project/
│       ├── scripts/
│       ├── results/
│       └── .venv/            # uv venv (if using uv)
├── .conda/                   # conda envs + package cache
│   ├── envs/
│   └── pkgs/
├── .cache/                   # pip, uv, huggingface caches
│   ├── uv/
│   └── huggingface/
└── R/                        # R libraries

Create a symlink for convenience:

ln -s /bigdata/labname/username/workspace ~/workspace

Python: Conda/Mamba Setup

Step 1: Redirect conda storage — create ~/.condarc:

channels:
  - conda-forge
  - defaults
pkgs_dirs:
  - ~/bigdata/.conda/pkgs
envs_dirs:
  - ~/bigdata/.conda/envs
auto_activate_base: false

Step 2: Create environments on a compute node (not the head node):

srun -p short -c 4 --mem=10g --pty bash -l
module load miniconda3
mamba create -n myproject python=3.11
conda activate myproject
mamba install numpy pandas scikit-learn

Python: uv Setup

uv is not installed cluster-wide but can be installed per-user:

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

Redirect cache to bigdata — add to ~/.bashrc:

export UV_CACHE_DIR=/bigdata/labname/username/.cache/uv

Use in projects:

cd /bigdata/labname/username/workspace/my_project
uv init                       # creates pyproject.toml
uv add numpy pandas           # adds dependencies + creates .venv
uv run python my_script.py    # runs with the project's env

In a job script, uv run handles activation automatically:

#!/bin/bash -l
#SBATCH -p epyc --cpus-per-task=4 --mem=16G --time=4:00:00
cd /bigdata/labname/username/workspace/my_project
uv run python my_script.py

R Setup

Redirect R library path to bigdata — create ~/.Renviron:

R_LIBS_USER=/bigdata/labname/username/R/%p-library/%v

Then in R:

# Packages install to bigdata automatically
install.packages("ggplot2")

Note: Reinstall R packages when upgrading R versions — they aren't backward compatible across versions.

Cache Management

Many tools cache to ~/.cache by default, which quickly fills the home quota. Common offenders and typical sizes:

Diagnose: Check what's using space:

check_quota home
du -sh ~/.cache/*/  2>/dev/null | sort -rh | head -15

Clean: Safe to delete — these are all regeneratable caches:

rm -rf ~/.cache/uv
rm -rf ~/.cache/pip
rm -rf ~/.cache/huggingface
rm -rf ~/.cache/torch
rm -rf ~/.cache/conda
rm -rf ~/.cache/nvidia
rm -rf ~/.cache/matplotlib
rm -rf ~/.cache/wandb
rm -rf ~/.cache/singularity
rm -rf ~/.cache/YAPF

Redirect (permanent fix): Add to ~/.bashrc so caches go to bigdata instead of home:

# ── Redirect caches to bigdata (home is only 20-50GB) ──
export PIP_CACHE_DIR=/bigdata/labname/username/.cache/pip
export UV_CACHE_DIR=/bigdata/labname/username/.cache/uv
export HF_HOME=/bigdata/labname/username/.cache/huggingface
export TORCH_HOME=/bigdata/labname/username/.cache/torch
export CONDA_PKGS_DIRS=/bigdata/labname/username/.cache/conda/pkgs
export SINGULARITY_CACHEDIR=/bigdata/labname/username/.cache/singularity
export WANDB_DIR=/bigdata/labname/username/.cache/wandb
export MPLCONFIGDIR=/bigdata/labname/username/.cache/matplotlib

Create the target directories:

mkdir -p /bigdata/labname/username/.cache/{pip,uv,huggingface,torch,conda/pkgs,singularity,wandb,matplotlib}

Important: After adding redirects to ~/.bashrc, clean the old ~/.cache directories to reclaim space. The redirects only affect future caching — existing cached files stay in home until manually removed.

Data Storage Strategy

Best Practices: Writing Production sbatch Scripts

When creating sbatch scripts for real workloads (not just quick tests), follow these patterns to make scripts robust, self-documenting, and easy to reuse.

Script Structure

A well-structured sbatch script has these sections in order:

1. SBATCH directives — resource requests
2. Safety flags — set -euo pipefail (fail fast on errors)
3. Self-submit with generic GPU request (optional, for GPU jobs)
4. Path definitions — all paths in one place at the top
5. Environment setup — module loads, SSL fixes, venv setup
6. Diagnostics banner — print node, GPU, CUDA info for debugging
7. Work steps — with skip-if-done guards for idempotency

Self-Submit with Generic GPU Request

This pattern lets you run a GPU script directly (./script.sh) instead of manually typing sbatch -p ... --gres=gpu:1 script.sh. When run outside SLURM, it submits itself with a generic GPU request:

#!/bin/bash -l
#SBATCH --job-name="my_gpu_job"
#SBATCH --nodes=1
#SBATCH --ntasks=1
#SBATCH --cpus-per-task=16
#SBATCH --mem=100G
#SBATCH --time=2:00:00
#SBATCH -p short_gpu
#SBATCH --gres=gpu:1
#SBATCH --output=logs/%x_%j.out
#SBATCH --error=logs/%x_%j.err

set -euo pipefail

# ── Self-submit with generic GPU request ─────────────────────────────
# When run outside SLURM, submit itself and let SLURM pick the best GPU.
if [ -z "${SLURM_JOB_ID:-}" ]; then
    PARTITION="${PARTITION:-short_gpu}"
    mkdir -p logs
    echo "Submitting to $PARTITION with generic GPU request"
    exec sbatch -p "$PARTITION" --gres=gpu:1 "$0" "$@"
fi

How it works:

• SLURM_JOB_ID is only set when running inside a SLURM job — so the if block only runs when executed directly
• Uses --gres=gpu:1 (no specific type) — SLURM picks the best available node and GPU
• exec sbatch ... "$0" "$@" replaces the current shell with the sbatch submission, passing through any CLI arguments
• Override the partition with PARTITION=gpu ./script.sh

Why NOT auto-select a specific GPU type: Scripting GPU type selection (e.g., --gres=gpu:a100:1) at submission time is unreliable:

1. Stale availability — A GPU free at submission may be taken by the time the job actually starts
2. Column truncation — sinfo output columns can truncate long GPU type names, breaking grep-based parsing
3. All-or-nothing — Requesting a specific type prevents SLURM from scheduling on other available types, causing jobs to queue indefinitely when that type fills up

Use generic --gres=gpu:1 and let SLURM's scheduler handle GPU assignment. Only use --gres=gpu:TYPE:1 when you truly need a specific GPU (e.g., for VRAM requirements), and accept that the job may wait longer.

Diagnostics Banner

Always print environment info at the start of your job for debugging failed runs:

echo "============================================"
echo "  Job: $SLURM_JOB_NAME"
echo "  Node:  $(hostname)"
echo "  GPU:   $(nvidia-smi --query-gpu=name,memory.total --format=csv,noheader 2>/dev/null || echo 'N/A')"
echo "  CUDA:  $(nvcc --version 2>/dev/null | tail -1 || echo 'N/A')"
echo "============================================"

SSL Certificate Fix

HPC nodes often have SSL issues when downloading from HuggingFace, PyPI, or GitHub. Add this after module load:

export SSL_CERT_FILE=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-bundle.crt
export REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-bundle.crt

Idempotent Setup Functions

Wrap expensive setup (venv creation, package installs) in functions that skip if already done:

setup_venv() {
    if [ -f "$VENV/bin/python" ] && "$VENV/bin/python" -c "import torch" 2>/dev/null; then
        echo "[Setup] Venv OK"
        return
    fi
    echo "[Setup] Creating venv..."
    # --seed includes pip and setuptools in the venv (without it, only uv pip works)
    uv venv "$VENV" --python python3.11 --seed
    # Use the venv's pip for installs that compile C extensions (uv pip
    # strips pkg_resources, which breaks some build-time imports)
    "$VENV/bin/pip" install --upgrade pip "setuptools<71" wheel
    "$VENV/bin/pip" install torch torchvision
}

setup_venv

Skip-If-Done Guards

For multi-step pipelines, skip steps whose output already exists:

if [ -d "$OUTPUT_DIR" ] && [ "$(ls -1 "$OUTPUT_DIR"/*.png 2>/dev/null | wc -l)" -gt 0 ]; then
    echo "[Skip] Output already exists at $OUTPUT_DIR"
else
    python process.py --output "$OUTPUT_DIR"
fi

Job Monitoring Utility

For projects with multiple SLURM jobs, use a monitoring script to quickly check status, tail logs, and manage jobs. See the templates/monitor.sh template for a reusable utility that provides:

• ./monitor.sh — show all your jobs
• ./monitor.sh watch — live refresh every 5s
• ./monitor.sh log JOBID — tail stdout log
• ./monitor.sh err JOBID — tail stderr log
• ./monitor.sh info JOBID — full job details
• ./monitor.sh eff JOBID — resource efficiency (completed jobs)
• ./monitor.sh gpus — show all GPU nodes and availability
• ./monitor.sh cancel JOBID — cancel a specific job
• ./monitor.sh cancel all — cancel all your jobs

Copy it into your project and adjust the log directory pattern if needed (default: logs/*_JOBID.out).

SLURM Resource Limits

SLURM enforces group-level caps on simultaneous resource usage per partition. Even if the cluster has idle GPUs, your jobs will queue if your account hits these limits.

Checking Your Limits

sacctmgr show assoc where user=$USER format=User,Account,GrpTRES,MaxTRES -p

Typical Limits (jlilab account, short_gpu)

Practical Impact

• 4 GPU jobs max: Group limit of 4 GPUs = max 4 single-GPU jobs
• CPU bottleneck: 48 CPUs / 4 jobs = 12 CPUs each. Requesting 16 CPUs/job only allows 3 concurrent jobs
• Memory bottleneck: 512G / 4 jobs = 128G each. Requesting 200G/job only allows 2 concurrent jobs

Recommended Settings for Concurrent GPU Jobs

To maximize concurrent GPU jobs (up to 4):

--cpus-per-task=12 --mem=80G --gres=gpu:1

This gives: 4 × 12 = 48 CPUs, 4 × 80G = 320G memory — fits within all limits.

SLURM Pending Reasons

Auto-Resubmit for Time-Limited Partitions

For short_gpu (2-hour limit), use this pattern to auto-resubmit on timeout:

EXIT_CODE=0
python train.py ... || EXIT_CODE=$?

if [ $EXIT_CODE -eq 143 ]; then
    # 143 = SIGTERM (128+15), sent by SLURM at time limit
    sbatch ... "$0" "$@"
fi

Common Slurm Errors

Troubleshooting: CUDA & Python Build Issues

Common pitfalls when building CUDA extensions (tiny-cuda-nn, custom PyTorch ops, etc.) on HPCC.

GCC Too Old for CUDA Extensions

Symptom: Compilation fails with "You're trying to build PyTorch with a too old version of GCC. We need GCC 9 or later."

Cause: HPCC default GCC is 8.x (RHEL 8). PyTorch 2.3+ CUDA extension headers require GCC 9+.

Fix: Load GCC 12 before any compilation:

module load gcc/12.2.0
module load cuda/12.1

This must happen before activating the venv and before any pip install that compiles C++ extensions.

pkg_resources / setuptools Conflicts with CUDA Builds

Symptom: Building packages with CUDA extensions fails with:

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pkg_resources'

or:

ImportError: cannot import name 'packaging' from 'pkg_resources'

Cause (layered):

1. uv pip strips pkg_resources — uv's bundled setuptools omits the pkg_resources module. Any package that imports it at build time fails.
2. **PyTorch < 2.3 imports pkg_resources.packaging** — torch.utils.cpp_extension (used during CUDA extension compilation) uses pkg_resources.packaging, which was removed in setuptools >= 71.

Fix: Use uv only for venv creation, then use the venv's own pip for installs:

UV="$HOME/.local/bin/uv"
$UV venv "$VENV_DIR" --python python3.11 --seed   # --seed includes pip
"$VENV_DIR/bin/pip" install --upgrade pip "setuptools<71" wheel ninja

# Use PyTorch 2.3+ (doesn't use pkg_resources.packaging)
"$VENV_DIR/bin/pip" install torch==2.3.1 torchvision==0.18.1 \
    --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cu121

For packages like tiny-cuda-nn that need direct setup.py invocation:

cd tiny-cuda-nn/bindings/torch
"$VENV_DIR/bin/python" setup.py install

python3.11 Not Found on Compute Nodes

Symptom: python3.11 -m venv fails on compute nodes with command not found.

Cause: python3.11 installed via uv at ~/.local/bin/ is in $PATH on the login node but not consistently on compute nodes.

Fix: Use uv venv instead of python3.11 -m venv. uv has its own Python discovery and doesn't rely on $PATH:

$UV venv "$VENV_DIR" --python python3.11 --seed

uv venv Creates Venv Without pip

Symptom: After uv venv, running pip install fails with No module named pip.

Cause: uv venv by default creates a minimal venv without pip or setuptools (unlike python -m venv). uv expects you to use uv pip instead.

Fix: Add the --seed flag to include pip and setuptools:

$UV venv "$VENV_DIR" --python python3.11 --seed

Vulkan on GPU Nodes

Vulkan is available on HPCC GPU nodes. The NVIDIA ICD file is at:

/usr/share/vulkan/icd.d/nvidia_icd.x86_64.json

To use Vulkan in job scripts (e.g., for rendering with Kaolin, Blender, or other GPU-accelerated graphics):

export VK_ICD_FILENAMES=/usr/share/vulkan/icd.d/nvidia_icd.x86_64.json

Note: The ICD file is at /usr/share/vulkan/icd.d/, not /etc/vulkan/icd.d/ as some documentation suggests.

Auto GPU Selection Is Unreliable — Use Generic Requests

Symptom: Job script auto-selected a GPU type (e.g., --gres=gpu:a100:1) at submission, but by the time the job starts, those GPUs are taken. Job queues indefinitely with ReqNodeNotAvail or Resources pending reason, even though other GPU types are free.

Cause: Three compounding issues make scripted GPU auto-selection unreliable:

1. Stale availability — GPU free at submission may be taken minutes/hours later when SLURM schedules the job
2. Column truncation — sinfo output columns truncate long GPU type names (e.g., ada6000 → ada600), breaking grep-based parsing
3. All-or-nothing — Requesting gpu:a100:1 prevents SLURM from scheduling on other types (e.g., ada6000) that have free slots

Fix: Use generic --gres=gpu:1 instead of specifying a GPU type. SLURM's scheduler will pick the best available node:

# Bad — locks you into one GPU type
sbatch --gres=gpu:a100:1 script.sh

# Good — SLURM picks the best available
sbatch --gres=gpu:1 script.sh

To check GPU availability for informational purposes:

sinfo -N -p "$PARTITION" \
    -O "NodeList:12,Gres:20,GresUsed:20,StateLong:12" \
    --noheader 2>/dev/null

Compare Gres (total) vs GresUsed (allocated). If gpu:h100:4 and gpu:h100:4(IDX:0-3), all H100s are taken even if node state is mix.

BCOE Department Cluster (BCC)

The BCOE (Bourns College of Engineering) cluster is a smaller department-managed cluster separate from the main UCR HPCC. Detect which cluster you are on by checking the hostname:

hostname   # "bcc" = BCOE cluster, otherwise likely HPCC

Key Differences from HPCC

BCOE Partitions

GPU QoS limit: Max 4 GPUs per user (gpu_limit QoS on gpu partition).

BCOE Hardware Summary

Total GPUs: 21x A6000 Ada (48 GB each) + 14x RTX 2080 Ti (11 GB each)

BCOE Connection

ssh username@bcc

BCOE Interactive Jobs

# Default debug node (1-day max)
srun --pty bash -l

# Batch node for longer w

…(truncated)