Installation and configuration

Automatic installation

The simplest way to install MOSIX is to run "./mosix.install". This script can be used to install the MOSIX binaries either on the local node, or in a common root-directory that is shared by several nodes of a cluster.

Manual installation

Before beginning the installation, create the directories "/etc/mosix" and "/etc/mosix/var" (when "/etc" is non-writable, the later can be a symbolic link to a writable directory such as "/var/mosix"), then place each of the following files in the corresponding "Where" directory, then run the appropriate special instructions:

File                    Where                         chmod
-------------------------------------------------------------------
man/*                   wherever manuals live - suggest /usr/local/man
mos_checkconf           /sbin
mos_in_job              /sbin
mosbestnode             /bin                    chmod u+s /bin/mosbestnode
mosconf*                /sbin
mosctl                  /bin
mosd                    /sbin
mosenv                  /bin
mosixd                  /sbin
moskillall              /bin                    chmod u+s /bin/moskillall
mosmigrate              /bin                    chmod u+s /bin/mosmigrate
mosmon                  /bin
mosnative               /bin
mospipe                 /bin
mospostald              /sbin
mosps                   /bin                    chmod u+s /bin/mosps
mosremoted              /sbin
mosrun                  /bin                    chmod u+s /bin/mosrun
mossetpe                /sbin
mostestload             /bin
mostimeof               /bin                    chmod u+s /bin/mostimeof
man/*                   wherever manuals live - suggest /usr/local/man

1. If you cannot modify /bin or /sbin:

As a second (or third) choice, you may place the MOSIX binaries: instead of in /bin - in /usr/bin or in /usr/local/bin and instead of in /sbin - in /usr/sbin or in /usr/local/sbin

If you do so, you must make sure that none of the above binaries already exists in /bin (or /sbin) from previous installations.

2. Another recommended program:

"lzop" is a fast compression program used by MOSIX to reduce the communication overhead. "lzop" is freely available by courtesy of its author, Markus Franz Xaver Johannes Oberhumer.

If you have a multi-cluster with computers in different buildings/sites, or if your network is slow, this program can improve MOSIX performance.

To install this program, run: "cp other/lzop /usr/bin/lzop" or download it from "http://www.lzop.org" into "/usr/bin/lzop".

Configuration

The "mosconf" script lead you step-by-step through the various configuration items. It is usually first called by "mosix.install".

If you prefer to edit the configuration files manually, the format of all configuration files is given in the "CONFIGURATION" section of "man mosix" and at least the following files must be present:

/etc/mosix/mosix.map    (which nodes are in the local cluster)
/etc/mosix/secret       (grid-wide authentication - chmod 600!)

Also very recommended:

/etc/mosix/userview.map         (Recommended - using node numbers, not just IPs)

If you intend to have a multi-cluster, you must also configure:

/etc/mosix/partners/*   (multi-cluster partners)

The following configuration files are optional, but commonly used:

/etc/mosix/private.conf (allocating space for private temporary files) /etc/mosix/retainpri (delay processes of lower priority) /etc/mosix/speed (to set the processor speed) /etc/mosix/freeze.conf (freezing policy)

The following configuration files are rarely used:

/etc/mosix/maxguests (limit number of guests from multi-cluster) /etc/mosix/mosip (our IP - if not clear from "ifconfig")

Starting MOSIX

To start MOSIX, run "mosd" (this is what "/etc/init.d/mosix start" does).