1QALTER(1P) POSIX Programmer's Manual QALTER(1P)
2
6 This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. The Linux
7 implementation of this interface may differ (consult the corresponding
8 Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the interface may
9 not be implemented on Linux.
10
12 qalter - alter batch job
13
15 qalter [-a date_time][-A account_string][-c interval][-e path_name]
16 [-h hold_list][-j join_list][-k keep_list][-l resource_list]
17 [-m mail_options][-M mail_list][-N name][-o path_name]
18 [-p priority][-r y|n][-S path_name_list][-u user_list]
19 job_identifier ...
20
22 The attributes of a batch job are altered by a request to the batch
23 server that manages the batch job. The qalter utility is a user-acces‐
24 sible batch client that requests the alteration of the attributes of
25 one or more batch jobs.
26 The qalter utility shall alter the attributes of those batch jobs, and
28 only those batch jobs, for which a batch job_identifier is presented to
29 the utility.
30 The qalter utility shall alter the attributes of batch jobs in the
32 order in which the batch job_identifiers are presented to the utility.
33 If the qalter utility fails to process a batch job_identifier success‐
35 fully, the utility shall proceed to process the remaining batch
36 job_identifiers, if any.
37 For each batch job_identifier for which the qalter utility succeeds,
39 each attribute of the identified batch job shall be altered as indi‐
40 cated by all the options presented to the utility.
41 For each identified batch job for which the qalter utility fails, the
43 utility shall not alter any attribute of the batch job.
44 For each batch job that the qalter utility processes, the utility shall
46 not modify any attribute other than those required by the options and
47 option-arguments presented to the utility.
48 The qalter utility shall alter batch jobs by sending a Modify Job
50 Request to the batch server that manages each batch job. At the time
51 the qalter utility exits, it shall have modified the batch job corre‐
52 sponding to each successfully processed batch job_identifier. An
53 attempt to alter the attributes of a batch job in the RUNNING state is
54 implementation-defined.
55
57 The qalter utility shall conform to the Base Definitions volume of
58 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 12.2, Utility Syntax Guidelines.
59 The following options shall be supported by the implementation:
61 -a date_time
63 Redefine the time at which the batch job becomes eligible for
64 execution.
65 The date_time argument shall be in the same form and represent the same
67 time as for the touch utility. The time so represented shall be set
68 into the Execution_Time attribute of the batch job. If the time speci‐
69 fied is earlier than the current time, the -a option shall have no
70 effect.
71 -A account_string
73 Redefine the account to which the resource consumption of the
75 batch job should be charged.
76 The syntax of the account_string option-argument is unspecified.
78 The qalter utility shall set the Account_Name attribute of the batch
80 job to the value of the account_string option-argument.
81 -c interval
83 Redefine whether the batch job should be checkpointed, and if
84 so, how often.
85 The qalter utility shall accept a value for the interval option-argu‐
87 ment that is one of the following:
88 n
90 No checkpointing is to be performed on the batch job (NO_CHECK‐
91 POINT).
92 s
94 Checkpointing is to be performed only when the batch server is
95 shut down (CHECKPOINT_AT_SHUTDOWN).
96 c
98 Automatic periodic checkpointing is to be performed at the Mini‐
99 mum_Cpu_Interval attribute of the batch queue, in units of CPU
100 minutes (CHECKPOINT_AT_MIN_CPU_INTERVAL).
101 c=minutes
103 Automatic periodic checkpointing is to be performed every min‐
104 utes of CPU time, or every Minimum_Cpu_Interval minutes, which‐
105 ever is greater. The minutes argument shall conform to the syn‐
106 tax for unsigned integers and shall be greater than zero.
107 An implementation may define other checkpoint intervals. The confor‐
110 mance document for an implementation shall describe any alternative
111 checkpoint intervals, how they are specified, their internal behavior,
112 and how they affect the behavior of the utility.
113 The qalter utility shall set the Checkpoint attribute of the batch job
115 to the value of the interval option-argument.
116 -e path_name
118 Redefine the path to be used for the standard error stream of
119 the batch job.
120 The qalter utility shall accept a path_name option-argument that con‐
122 forms to the syntax of the path_name element defined in the System
123 Interfaces volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, which can be preceded by a
124 host name element of the form hostname:.
125 If the path_name option-argument constitutes an absolute pathname, the
127 qalter utility shall set the Error_Path attribute of the batch job to
128 the value of the path_name option-argument, including the host name
129 element, if present.
130 If the path_name option-argument constitutes a relative pathname and no
132 host name element is specified, the qalter utility shall set the
133 Error_Path attribute of the batch job to the value of the absolute
134 pathname derived by expanding the path_name option-argument relative to
135 the current directory of the process that executes the qalter utility.
136 If the path_name option-argument constitutes a relative pathname and a
138 host name element is specified, the qalter utility shall set the
139 Error_Path attribute of the batch job to the value of the option-argu‐
140 ment without expansion.
141 If the path_name option-argument does not include a host name element,
143 the qalter utility shall prefix the pathname in the Error_Path
144 attribute with hostname:, where hostname is the name of the host upon
145 which the qalter utility is being executed.
146 -h hold_list
148 Redefine the types of holds, if any, on the batch job. The qal‐
149 ter -h option shall accept a value for the hold_list option-
150 argument that is a string of alphanumeric characters in the por‐
151 table character set.
152 The qalter utility shall accept a value for the hold_list option-argu‐
154 ment that is a string of one or more of the characters 'u', 's', or
155 'o', or the single character 'n' . For each unique character in the
156 hold_list option-argument, the qalter utility shall add a value to the
157 Hold_Types attribute of the batch job as follows, each representing a
158 different hold type:
159 u
161 USER
162 s
164 SYSTEM
165 o
167 OPERATOR
168 If any of these characters are duplicated in the hold_list option-argu‐
171 ment, the duplicates shall be ignored. An existing Hold_Types attribute
172 can be cleared by the hold type:
173 n
175 NO_HOLD
176 The qalter utility shall consider it an error if any hold type other
179 than 'n' is combined with hold type 'n' . Strictly conforming applica‐
180 tions shall not repeat any of the characters 'u', 's', 'o', or 'n'
181 within the hold_list option-argument. The qalter utility shall permit
182 the repetition of characters, but shall not assign additional meaning
183 to the repeated characters. An implementation may define other hold
184 types. The conformance document for an implementation shall describe
185 any additional hold types, how they are specified, their internal
186 behavior, and how they affect the behavior of the utility.
187 -j join_list
189 Redefine which streams of the batch job are to be merged. The
190 qalter -j option shall accept a value for the join_list option-
191 argument that is a string of alphanumeric characters in the por‐
192 table character set.
193 The qalter utility shall accept a join_list option-argument that con‐
195 sists of one or more of the characters 'e' and 'o', or the single char‐
196 acter 'n' .
197 All of the other batch job output streams specified shall be merged
199 into the output stream represented by the character listed first in the
200 join_list option-argument.
201 For each unique character in the join_list option-argument, the qalter
203 utility shall add a value to the Join_Path attribute of the batch job
204 as follows, each representing a different batch job stream to join:
205 e
207 The standard error of the batch job (JOIN_STD_ERROR).
208 o
210 The standard output of the batch job (JOIN_STD_OUTPUT).
211 An existing Join_Path attribute can be cleared by the join type:
214 n
216 NO_JOIN
217 If 'n' is specified, then no files are joined. The qalter utility shall
220 consider it an error if any join type other than 'n' is combined with
221 join type 'n' .
222 Strictly conforming applications shall not repeat any of the characters
224 'e', 'o', or 'n' within the join_list option-argument. The qalter util‐
225 ity shall permit the repetition of characters, but shall not assign
226 additional meaning to the repeated characters.
227 An implementation may define other join types. The conformance document
229 for an implementation shall describe any additional batch job streams,
230 how they are specified, their internal behavior, and how they affect
231 the behavior of the utility.
232 -k keep_list
234 Redefine which output of the batch job to retain on the execu‐
235 tion host.
236 The qalter -k option shall accept a value for the keep_list option-
238 argument that is a string of alphanumeric characters in the portable
239 character set.
240 The qalter utility shall accept a keep_list option-argument that con‐
242 sists of one or more of the characters 'e' and 'o', or the single char‐
243 acter 'n' .
244 For each unique character in the keep_list option-argument, the qalter
246 utility shall add a value to the Keep_Files attribute of the batch job
247 as follows, each representing a different batch job stream to keep:
248 e
250 The standard error of the batch job (KEEP_STD_ERROR).
251 o
253 The standard output of the batch job (KEEP_STD_OUTPUT).
254 If both 'e' and 'o' are specified, then both files are retained. An
257 existing Keep_Files attribute can be cleared by the keep type:
258 n
260 NO_KEEP
261 If 'n' is specified, then no files are retained. The qalter utility
264 shall consider it an error if any keep type other than 'n' is combined
265 with keep type 'n' .
266 Strictly conforming applications shall not repeat any of the characters
268 'e', 'o', or 'n' within the keep_list option-argument. The qalter util‐
269 ity shall permit the repetition of characters, but shall not assign
270 additional meaning to the repeated characters. An implementation may
271 define other keep types. The conformance document for an implementation
272 shall describe any additional keep types, how they are specified, their
273 internal behavior, and how they affect the behavior of the utility.
274 -l resource_list
276 Redefine the resources that are allowed or required by the batch
278 job.
279 The qalter utility shall accept a resource_list option-argument that
281 conforms to the following syntax:
282 resource=value[,,resource=value,,...]
285 The qalter utility shall set one entry in the value of the
287 Resource_List attribute of the batch job for each resource listed in
288 the resource_list option-argument.
289 Because the list of supported resource names might vary by batch
291 server, the qalter utility shall rely on the batch server to validate
292 the resource names and associated values. See Multiple Keyword-Value
293 Pairs for a means of removing keyword= value (and value@ keyword) pairs
294 and other general rules for list-oriented batch job attributes.
295 -m mail_options
297 Redefine the points in the execution of the batch job at which
299 the batch server is to send mail about a change in the state of
300 the batch job.
301 The qalter -m option shall accept a value for the mail_options option-
303 argument that is a string of alphanumeric characters in the portable
304 character set.
305 The qalter utility shall accept a value for the mail_options option-
307 argument that is a string of one or more of the characters 'e', 'b',
308 and 'a', or the single character 'n' . For each unique character in the
309 mail_options option-argument, the qalter utility shall add a value to
310 the Mail_Users attribute of the batch job as follows, each representing
311 a different time during the life of a batch job at which to send mail:
312 e
314 MAIL_AT_EXIT
315 b
317 MAIL_AT_BEGINNING
318 a
320 MAIL_AT_ABORT
321 If any of these characters are duplicated in the mail_options option-
324 argument, the duplicates shall be ignored.
325 An existing Mail_Points attribute can be cleared by the mail type:
327 n
329 NO_MAIL
330 If 'n' is specified, then mail is not sent. The qalter utility shall
333 consider it an error if any mail type other than 'n' is combined with
334 mail type 'n' . Strictly conforming applications shall not repeat any
335 of the characters 'e', 'b', 'a', or 'n' within the mail_options option-
336 argument. The qalter utility shall permit the repetition of characters
337 but shall not assign additional meaning to the repeated characters.
338 An implementation may define other mail types. The conformance document
340 for an implementation shall describe any additional mail types, how
341 they are specified, their internal behavior, and how they affect the
342 behavior of the utility.
343 -M mail_list
345 Redefine the list of users to which the batch server that exe‐
346 cutes the batch job is to send mail, if the batch server sends
347 mail about the batch job.
348 The syntax of the mail_list option-argument is unspecified. If the
350 implementation of the qalter utility uses a name service to locate
351 users, the utility shall accept the syntax used by the name service.
352 If the implementation of the qalter utility does not use a name service
354 to locate users, the implementation shall accept the following syntax
355 for user names:
356 mail_address[,,mail_address,,...]
359 The interpretation of mail_address is implementation-defined.
361 The qalter utility shall set the Mail_Users attribute of the batch job
363 to the value of the mail_list option-argument.
364 -N name
366 Redefine the name of the batch job.
367 The qalter -N option shall accept a value for the name option-argument
369 that is a string of up to 15 alphanumeric characters in the portable
370 character set where the first character is alphabetic.
371 The syntax of the name option-argument is unspecified.
373 The qalter utility shall set the Job_Name attribute of the batch job to
375 the value of the name option-argument.
376 -o path_name
378 Redefine the path for the standard output of the batch job.
379 The qalter utility shall accept a path_name option-argument that con‐
381 forms to the syntax of the path_name element defined in the System
382 Interfaces volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, which can be preceded by a
383 host name element of the form hostname:.
384 If the path_name option-argument constitutes an absolute pathname, the
386 qalter utility shall set the Output_Path attribute of the batch job to
387 the value of the path_name option-argument.
388 If the path_name option-argument constitutes a relative pathname and no
390 host name element is specified, the qalter utility shall set the Out‐
391 put_Path attribute of the batch job to the absolute pathname derived by
392 expanding the path_name option-argument relative to the current direc‐
393 tory of the process that executes the qalter utility.
394 If the path_name option-argument constitutes a relative pathname and a
396 host name element is specified, the qalter utility shall set the Out‐
397 put_Path attribute of the batch job to the value of the path_name
398 option-argument without any expansion of the pathname.
399 If the path_name option-argument does not include a host name element,
401 the qalter utility shall prefix the pathname in the Output_Path
402 attribute with hostname:, where hostname is the name of the host upon
403 which the qalter utility is being executed.
404 -p priority
406 Redefine the priority of the batch job.
407 The qalter utility shall accept a value for the priority option-argu‐
409 ment that conforms to the syntax for signed decimal integers, and which
410 is not less than -1024 and not greater than 1023.
411 The qalter utility shall set the Priority attribute of the batch job to
413 the value of the priority option-argument.
414 -r y|n
416 Redefine whether the batch job is rerunnable.
417 If the value of the option-argument is 'y', the qalter utility shall
419 set the Rerunable attribute of the batch job to TRUE.
420 If the value of the option-argument is 'n', the qalter utility shall
422 set the Rerunable attribute of the batch job to FALSE.
423 The qalter utility shall consider it an error if any character other
425 than 'y' or 'n' is specified in the option-argument.
426 -S path_name_list
428 Redefine the shell that interprets the script at the destination
430 system.
431 The qalter utility shall accept a path_name_list option-argument that
433 conforms to the following syntax:
434 pathname[@host][,pathname[@host],...]
437 The qalter utility shall accept only one pathname that is missing a
439 corresponding host name. The qalter utility shall allow only one path‐
440 name per named host.
441 The qalter utility shall add a value to the Shell_Path_List attribute
443 of the batch job for each entry in the path_name_list option-argument.
444 See Multiple Keyword-Value Pairs for a means of removing keyword= value
445 (and value@ keyword) pairs and other general rules for list-oriented
446 batch job attributes.
447 -u user_list
449 Redefine the user name under which the batch job is to run at
450 the destination system.
451 The qalter utility shall accept a user_list option-argument that con‐
453 forms to the following syntax:
454 username[@host][,,username[@host],,...]
457 The qalter utility shall accept only one user name that is missing a
459 corresponding host name. The qalter utility shall accept only one user
460 name per named host.
461 The qalter utility shall add a value to the User_List attribute of the
463 batch job for each entry in the user_list option-argument. See Multiple
464 Keyword-Value Pairs for a means of removing keyword= value (and value@
465 keyword) pairs and other general rules for list-oriented batch job
466 attributes.
467
470 The qalter utility shall accept one or more operands that conform to
471 the syntax for a batch job_identifier (see Batch Job Identifier ).
472
474 Not used.
475
477 None.
478
480 The following environment variables shall affect the execution of qal‐
481 ter:
482 LANG Provide a default value for the internationalization variables
484 that are unset or null. (See the Base Definitions volume of
485 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 8.2, Internationalization Vari‐
486 ables for the precedence of internationalization variables used
487 to determine the values of locale categories.)
488 LC_ALL If set to a non-empty string value, override the values of all
490 the other internationalization variables.
491 LC_CTYPE
493 Determine the locale for the interpretation of sequences of
494 bytes of text data as characters (for example, single-byte as
495 opposed to multi-byte characters in arguments).
496 LC_MESSAGES
498 Determine the locale that should be used to affect the format
499 and contents of diagnostic messages written to standard error.
500 LOGNAME
502 Determine the login name of the user.
503 TZ Determine the timezone used to interpret the date-time option-
505 argument. If TZ is unset or null, an unspecified default time‐
506 zone shall be used.
507
510 Default.
511
513 None.
514
516 The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.
517
519 None.
520
522 None.
523
525 The following exit values shall be returned:
526 0 Successful completion.
528 >0 An error occurred.
530
533 In addition to the default behavior, the qalter utility shall not be
534 required to write a diagnostic message to standard error when the error
535 reply received from a batch server indicates that the batch job_identi‐
536 fier does not exist on the server. Whether or not the qalter utility
537 attempts to locate the batch job on other batch servers is implementa‐
538 tion-defined.
539 The following sections are informative.
541
543 None.
544
546 None.
547
549 The qalter utility allows users to change the attributes of a batch
550 job.
551 As a means of altering a queued job, the qalter utility is superior to
553 deleting and requeuing the batch job insofar as an altered job retains
554 its place in the queue with some traditional selection algorithms. In
555 addition, the qalter utility is both shorter and simpler than a
556 sequence of qdel and qsub utilities.
557 The result of an attempt on the part of a user to alter a batch job in
559 a RUNNING state is implementation-defined because a batch job in the
560 RUNNING state will already have opened its output files and otherwise
561 performed any actions indicated by the options in effect at the time
562 the batch job began execution.
563 The options processed by the qalter utility are identical to those of
565 the qsub utility, with a few exceptions: -V, -v, and -q. The -V and -v
566 are inappropriate for the qalter utility, since they capture poten‐
567 tially transient environment information from the submitting process.
568 The -q option would specify a new queue, which would largely negate the
569 previously stated advantage of using qalter; furthermore, the qmove
570 utility provides a superior means of moving jobs.
571 Each of the following paragraphs provides the rationale for a qalter
573 option.
574 Additional rationale concerning these options can be found in the
576 rationale for the qsub utility.
577 The -a option allows users to alter the date and time at which a batch
579 job becomes eligible to run.
580 The -A option allows users to change the account that will be charged
582 for the resources consumed by the batch job. Support for the -A option
583 is mandatory for conforming implementations of qalter, even though sup‐
584 port of accounting is optional for servers. Whether or not to support
585 accounting is left to the implementor of the server, but mandatory sup‐
586 port of the -A option assures users of a consistent interface and
587 allows them to control accounting on servers that support accounting.
588 The -c option allows users to alter the checkpointing interval of a
590 batch job. A checkpointing system, which is not defined by
591 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, allows recovery of a batch job at the most recent
592 checkpoint in the event of a crash. Checkpointing is typically used
593 for jobs that consume expensive computing time or must meet a critical
594 schedule. Users should be allowed to make the tradeoff between the
595 overhead of checkpointing and the risk to the timely completion of the
596 batch job; therefore, this volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 provides the
597 checkpointing interval option. Support for checkpointing is optional
598 for servers.
599 The -e option allows users to alter the name and location of the stan‐
601 dard error stream written by a batch job. However, the path of the
602 standard error stream is meaningless if the value of the Join_Path
603 attribute of the batch job is TRUE.
604 The -h option allows users to set the hold type in the Hold_Types
606 attribute of a batch job. The qhold and qrls utilities add or remove
607 hold types to the Hold_Types attribute, respectively. The -h option has
608 been modified to allow for implementation-defined hold types.
609 The -j option allows users to alter the decision to join (merge) the
611 standard error stream of the batch job with the standard output stream
612 of the batch job.
613 The -l option allows users to change the resource limits imposed on a
615 batch job.
616 The -m option allows users to modify the list of points in the life of
618 a batch job at which the designated users will receive mail notifica‐
619 tion.
620 The -M option allows users to alter the list of users who will receive
622 notification about events in the life of a batch job.
623 The -N option allows users to change the name of a batch job.
625 The -o option allows users to alter the name and path to which the
627 standard output stream of the batch job will be written.
628 The -P option allows users to modify the priority of a batch job. Sup‐
630 port for priority is optional for batch servers.
631 The -r option allows users to alter the rerunability status of a batch
633 job.
634 The -S option allows users to change the name and location of the shell
636 image that will be invoked to interpret the script of the batch job.
637 This option has been modified to allow a list of shell name and loca‐
638 tions associated with different hosts.
639 The -u option allows users to change the user identifier under which
641 the batch job will execute.
642 The job_identifier operand syntax is provided so that the user can dif‐
644 ferentiate between the originating and destination (or executing) batch
645 server. These may or may not be the same. The . server_name portion
646 identifies the originating batch server, while the @ server portion
647 identifies the destination batch server.
648 Historically, the qalter utility has been a component of the Network
650 Queuing System (NQS), the existing practice from which this utility has
651 been derived.
652
654 None.
655
657 Batch Environment Services, qdel, qhold, qmove, qrls, qsub, touch
658
660 Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
661 from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
662 -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
663 Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of
664 Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the
665 event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
666 The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
667 is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online
668 at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
669IEEE/The Open Group 2003 QALTER(1P)