Solving Exceeded Step Memory Limit in Slurmstepd

Slurmstepd is the daemon of the Slurm Workload Manager used for job step execution. Sometimes, however, the job step may hit a memory limit exceeded error. This can be caused by other processes and can be difficult to debug. In this guide, we will discuss how to identify and fix the exceeded step memory limit in Slurmstepd.

Firstly, we need to identify the cause of the memory limit exceeded error. To do this we need to analyze the memory usage of the processes.

Analyzing Process Memory Usage

1. Log in as root user.
2. Run the top and ps auxf commands (if the system is a Linux server) to get the amount of memory being used by each process.
3. Check the total amount of available memory using the command free –m and calculate the leftover memory.
4. Calculate the memory being used by each process and compare it to the total available memory.
5. Identify the process that is using the most memory and investigate why it is doing so.

Once the cause of the memory limit exceeded error has been identified, we can begin the process of fixing it.

Fixing the Exceeded Step Memory Limit Error

1. If the problem is with the job step configuration settings, adjust the settings as necessary (e.g. changing the job step's --memory flag).
2. If the problem is due to another process, try to stop or reduce the memory usage of the process.
3. If the problem is due to a lack of available memory, add more memory to the system.
4. Restart the Slurmstepd daemon and try running the job step again.

FAQs

Q1: What is Slurmstepd?

A1: Slurmstepd is the daemon of the Slurm Workload Manager used for job step execution.

Q2: How do I analyze process memory usage?

A2: The top and ps auxf commands can be used to check the amount of memory being used by each process. The command free –m can be used to check the total amount of available memory.

Q3: What can I do if a job step hits a memory limit exceeded error?

A3: You should first analyze the memory usage of the processes to identify the cause of the error. If the problem is with the job step configuration settings, adjust the settings. If the problem is due to another process, try to stop or reduce the memory usage of the process. If the problem is due to a lack of available memory, add more memory to the system. Finally, restart the Slurmstepd daemon and try running the job step again.

Q4: How do I adjust the job step configuration settings?

A4: The job step configuration settings can be adjusted via the command line, using the --memory flag for example.

Q5: How can I add more memory to the system?

A5: The amount of memory on the system can be increased by physically adding more memory modules or swapping out existing ones for ones with higher capacity.