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InTime Cluster Mode (Linux only)

Note

Starting from InTime version 2023.2, users are encouraged to run InTime in a new -cluster mode. "Cluster" mode is InTime's new mechanism for distributing builds that is easier to set up and manage compared to previous methods. Users running InTime on a single server machine can skip this section.

Prerequisites

Using InTime in cluster mode requires the following:

  1. Cluster mode is supported only in Linux, supporting LSF/PBS/SGE/SLURM or conventional SSH.

  2. The FPGA vendor tool volume and mount point must be accessible by InTime and all build machines via NFS.

  3. The project disk volume and mount point must be the same and accessible by InTime and all build machines via NFS.

    Warning

    If any of the above conditions is not met, cluster mode will not work.

Launch InTime in Cluster mode

Pre-requisite: Ensure that the FPGA vendor tool executable is in the PATH environment variable.

Example 1
Launch InTime with Vivado 2023.1 to use SSH in a HPC cluster with host 192.168.1.2, 192.168.1.3.

$ export LM_LICENSE_FILE=2100@192.168.2.250
$ source /mnt/opt3/Xilinx/2023.1/Vivado/2023.1/settings64.sh
$ cd <intime installation folder>
$ ./intime.sh -ip 192.168.2.3 -comport 39940 -cluster ssh -tc vivado -clusterargs "192.168.1.2 192.168.1.3"

Here is an explanation of the arguments used in the command:

Arguments Description
ip This is the InTime Server/License IP address
comport This is the network port required to connect to the server.
cluster This is a mandatory argument when using Cluster mode. Options include lsf, pbs, sge, slurm and ssh.
clusterargs This is an optional argument when using Cluster mode. Options include <queue parameters or hosts list>.
tc FPGA vendor tool type. Options include vivado, quartusii, quartuspp, libero and ise. It will detect the version from the PATH variable.

-cluster (mandatory)
InTime will fall back to "Agent" mode if the -cluster argument is not supplied.

Options Description
lsf Use in a LSF environment.
pbs Use in a PBS environment
sge Use in a SGE environment.
slurm Use in a SLURM environment.
ssh Use in an environment where the user can logon to build machines via SSH.

-clusterargs (optional) This is an optional argument because users can setup the parameters after InTime has started.

Options Description
<queue or partition info> Use in a LSF/PBS/SGE/SLURM/SSH environment.

After launching InTime in Cluster mode, go to File > Settings... > Run Targets.

In this example, the user has specified 2 build machines with the IP addresses, 192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.3, using the -clusterargs argument.

SSH Enabled

Example 2
Launch InTime with Vivado 2023.1 to use SGE in a HPC cluster with queue dev.q.

$ export LM_LICENSE_FILE=2100@192.168.2.250
$ source /mnt/opt3/Xilinx/2023.1/Vivado/2023.1/settings64.sh
$ cd <intime installation folder>
$ ./intime.sh -ip 192.168.2.3 -comport 39940 -cluster sge -tc vivado -clusterargs "-q dev.q"

After launching InTime in Cluster mode, go to File > Settings... > Run Targets.

As shown in the image, SGE has been enabled in the Grid Parameters settings.

SSH Enabled