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Appendix E

C-MOLD NT Launch Service

We provide the NT Launch Service to allow C-MOLD users running on Windows 95 and NT to run batch jobs on a different machine or on the same machine even after logging out. A "service" is the NT equivalent of a UNIX daemon. In Windows 95, the concept of "logging on" is limited. Batch jobs on Windows 95 run in the background as long as the required resources (such as disk directories) are available. Windows NT, on the other hand, is a multiuser operating system and batch jobs run whether the original or a new user is logged on.

C-MOLD offers two methods for running a simulation: Run Now and Run As Batch. Run-now jobs execute immediately and their messages appear in a console window on the local display. Batch jobs execute in the background, without a console, and their messages are saved to a log file. The NT Launch Service allows C-MOLD simulations to be run on a remote NT machine or to continue running on a local machine when the user logs out. Beyond the need to install the service, the end user sees no difference from current batch processing on UNIX.

The service runs only under Windows NT, but both NT and Windows 95 clients can submit batch jobs. We do not currently support running batch jobs from NT to UNIX or visa versa. File and directory naming conventions between the two operating systems are quite distinct and would need to be resolved to permit cross-platform batch jobs.

Installing the NT Launch Service

Currently there is no automated install for the service, so you'll need to perform the following steps on each computer you want to run batch jobs from:

  1. Log on as Administrator.
  2. Install C-MOLD on a local drive of the computer the service will run on.
    Warning! Bad things will happen if you try to use a network drive.
  3. With the User Manager, create a user account for the service to run under. This account will need access permissions to any directories that will be used by the batch job. If you have defined a group for users running C-MOLD, this would be a good choice. Using backup or administrator privileges opens a security breach in your system. By mistake or design, someone could bypass normal file permissions via the NT Launch Service. For this reason, these access permissions are not recommended.
  4. In the NT System applet of the NT Control Panel, set the CMOLD_DAT, CMOLD_DB, and CMOLD_KEY environment variables to the correct settings for the version of C-MOLD you have installed. Set the PATH to include cmold98x\bin and cmold98x\rtl, where x is the incremental version number. You also need to set CMOLD_TEST_BATCH to yes. You must set them in the SYSTEM environment settings. For background information about C-MOLD environment variables, refer to Appendix G, "C-MOLD Environment Variables."
  5. Open a DOS command prompt window and type the command below; you should see the message that follows it if the installation was successful.
    % cmwinln -install
    CMOLD NT Launch Service Installed
  6. Open the Services applet on the NT Control Panel. In the dialogue that pops up, set the service to log on as the account you created.
  7. Now REBOOT THE COMPUTER. The service absolutely, positively will not work until you do so.
  8. Check the Services applet on the NT Control Panel to see whether the NT Launch Service is running. Once started, the C-MOLD Analysis Launch Service will be started each time the computer is rebooted. Keep in mind that when you install a new incremental version of C-MOLD, you need to first stop the NT Launch Service, and perform steps 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 again.

Launching Batch Jobs

To launch batch jobs on a remote computer

 Set the CMOLD_HOST environment variable to the name of a computer running the NT Launch Service (set CMOLD_HOME=computername). You also need to set CMOLD_TEST_BATCH to yes. Note that you can use upper or lower case letters, but sticking with the UNIX convention of upper case for environment variables will be less confusing if you also work on UNIX. We suggest you work in a directory on the machine running the NT Launch Service. If you are working in a directory on a different computer, you need to share that directory so the NT Launch Service can access it. See "Working in Local Directories" on page E-3 for notes about working in a local directory and how to share a directory.

To launch batch jobs on your computer

If you want to be able to log out without stopping the job, you need to install the NT Launch Service on your computer. Follow all the steps shown above and set the CMOLD_HOST environment variable to the name of your computer.

Suggested Directory Layout

We suggest you place your C-MOLD users' home directories on the NT Launch Service machine. If this is not possible, at least consider providing directories for users to do their C-MOLD work on the server. Some reasons for this are:

Troubleshooting

 Start by running a Filling/EZ simulation from the C-MOLD Control Panel. One small difference from UNIX is that the "Analysis Launched" message you see on the Control Panel actually comes from the NT Launch Service. What it really means is that the Control Panel is connected to the service and that the service was able to find the working directory and pass things off to cmlaunch. This is a good sign.

NT Launched

If you get this message at the C-MOLD Control Panel, check for a log file from cmlaunch in your working directory (they are currently named cmwnn.tmp). If you are running Filling/EZ, check for a .ozl file. The contents of these two files will usually tell you what happened.

Could not connect to

This message means that either the service was not running on the machine you tried to connect to or another user was trying to launch a job at exactly the same time you were.

Cannot open log file

This message usually means that the service does not have correct permissions to access your working directory.

Most other messages indicate that the service was not installed correctly.

Working in Local Directories

Because NT can't reliably find the universal naming convention (UNC) name of a local path, you must perform the following steps if you want work in a directory on your local computer and launch a batch job on a remote computer:

  1. Create a share that includes the directory you will be working in.
  2. Mount the share as a drive on your computer and work on that drive. For example, let's say you work in c:\cmusers\me\projects. From the File Manager, share c:\cmusers as cmusers.
  3. Then mount \\mycomputer\cmusers as (for instance) drive q: and open your design in q:\me\projects.
  4. By doing this, the NT Launch Service will be able to find your files.

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