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A zombie is a running job that fails authentication when communicating with the ecflow_server
How are zombies created ?
There are wide variety of reasons why a zombie is created.
The most common causes are due to user action:
- The node tree is deleted, replaced or reloaded whilst jobs are running
- A task is rerun, whilst in a submitted or active state
- A job is forced to new state, i.e. complete
More rarer causes might be:
- ecf script errors, where we have multiple calls to init and complete child command s
- The child command s in the ecf script are placed in the background. In this case order in which the child command contact the server, may be indeterminate.
- Load leveller submitting a job twice
- Server crash and recovered check point file is out of date
- Machine crash
How can zombie’s be handled ?
The default behaviour for init, complete, abort and wait child commands, is to block the job, and for event, label, meter to continue(fob). (from version 4.0.4, previously all zombie, child commands, blocked)
The child command continues attempting to contact the ecflow_server.
This is done for period of 24 hours. (This period is configurable by using the environment variable ECF_TIMEOUT(in your scripts). See ecflow_client).
After which the child(init,complete,abort) exits with a failure. Depending on your script, this can be caught by a trap,
which will typically call abort child command, this again can wait for 24 hours before exiting the process.
Hence it is worth considering if this appropriate behaviour for your system.
The jobs can also configured, so that if the server denies the communication, then
the child command can be set to fail immediately.
(This can be done setting the environment variable ECF_DENIED in your scripts. See ecflow_client)
This can be useful to detect network issues early.
ecflow_ui provides a tab which lists all the zombies and the actions that can be taken.
Note |
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The zombies tab is shown, in the info panel when the server node( i.e top most) is selected. |
The actions include:
Terminate:
The child command is asked to fail.Depending on your scripts,this may cause the abort child command to be called.Which again will be flagged as a zombie.Fob:
Allow the job to continue. The child command completes and hence no longer blocks the job.
Great care should be taken when this action is chosen.If we have two jobs running, they may cause data corruption.Even when we have a single job, issues can arise.i.e. if the associated command was an event child command, then theDelete:
Remove the zombie from the server. The job will continue blocking, henceIf the job is killed manually, then this option can be used.Rescue:
This should only be used when the user is sure there are no additional jobs.Adopt the zombie and update the node tree.The unique password(ECF_PASS) on the zombie is copied over to the task, so that the next child command will continue as normal.Kill:
Applies the kill command (ECF_KILL_CMD ) using the process id stored on the zombie.If the script has correct signal trapping, this should end up calling abort.Note: path zombies will need to be killed manually.
Warning |
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Of the four action above, only Rescue will allow child command to change the state of the node tree. |
What to do
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