Updated 2023-02-06

ParaView

Overview

On PACE, we provide the capability to start a ParaView server on the cluster; and then connect to the server the ParaView desktop client on your own computer.

To connect to ParaView on PACE, you must use the ParaView version 5.11 desktop client (download here). Other versions of the desktop client may not be compatable with the versions on PACE. Fortunately, it is possible to have multiple versions of the desktop client on your computer.

Starting the ParaView Server on PACE

After ssh-ing into the Phoenix or Hive login node, load the ParaView 5.11 module with:

module load gcc/10.3.0
module load mvapich2/2.3.6
module load paraview/5.11

You can now run the pace-paraview-server script to start a job with a ParaView server. You must specify your PI's charge account with the --account option. For example:

pace-paraview-server --account p-mypi

Other available options are:

  • --nodes: Number of nodes to run on. Default: 1
  • --gpus-per-node: Number of gpus-per-node. Our ParaView server always runs on one or more GPUs. Default: 1
  • --time: Time limit for job. Default: 00:60:00

When your job begins, you will see further instructions for connecting to the server. Please follow the instructions exactly as shown. The first two instrucitons describe:

  1. Opening the SSH console
  2. Opening an SSH tunnel

After that, you can connect to the ParaView server using the ParaView client on your computer.

Starting the ParaView Client on your Computer

After you download and install the desktop client (download here), you should create the server configuration. First, click on the "Connect" icon as shown below (if you don't see the icon, you can select File -> Connect in the top menu). Then, in the "Choose Server Configuration" window, click on the "Add Server" button.

ParaView

This will take you to the "Edit Server Configuration" window, as shown below. You should enter:

  • Name: This is arbitrary. You can use any name you want.
  • Server Type: Client/Server
  • Host: localhost
  • Port: 8722

Then click "Configure"

ParaView

On the next screen, ensure "Startup Type" is set to "Manual" and click "Save".

ParaView

This should return you to the "Choose Server Configuration" window, where you should see your new server at cs://localhost:8722.

Finally, click on the "Connect" button. At this point, you can open and visualize files directly from the cluster.

Note

If you have previously followed the client setup steps and already have cs://localhost:8722 configured, you can re-use that configuration.

ParaView

Cleaning Up Your Job

When you close the ParaView client or disconnect from the server (using the "Disconnnect" icon or File -> Disconnect), your ParaView server should also terminate. However, we highly recommend that you verify that your job has ended; this will ensure you are not accidentally charged for time you are not actively using ParaView.

To ensure your ParaView server is terminated:

  1. In the terminal, go to the login node on Phoenix or Hive
  2. Check your running jobs. You can see all ParaView jobs with squeue --name=paraview
  3. If necessary, terminate your ParaView job. You can terminate your paraview job with scancel --name=paraview