VNS and WCS Plug-in Guide

• 1 VNS and WCS Plug-in Guide
  • 1.1 Job Submission
    • 1.1.1 Submission Options
  • 1.2 Plug-in Configuration
  • 1.3 Render Node Setup
    • 1.3.1 Setting up the listener port
    • 1.3.2 Setting up the paths
  • 1.4 FAQ
  • 1.5 Error Messages And Meanings

Job Submission

You can submit VNS or WCS jobs from the Monitor. Before submitting, make sure all the slaves you are planning to render with have gone through the Render Node Setup described in this guide.

Submission Options

The general Deadline options are explained in the Job Submission documentation. The VNS/WCS specific options are:

• Project File: The project file to render.
• Application: The application to use, VNS or WCS.

Plug-in Configuration

You can configure the VNS/WCS plug-in settings from the Deadline Monitor. While in super user mode, select Tools -> Plugins Configuration and select the VNS plug-in from the list on the left. To get a description of each setting, simply hover the mouse cursor over a setting and a tool tip will be displayed.

Render Node Setup

The preference file for VNS/WCS must be configured on each render node. If VNS/WCS is not configured properly, you will likely get errors when rendering through Deadline. As an alternative to configuring the preference file on each machine individually, you can do it once on one machine and copy the preferences file to a network location. Then configure the VNS plugin to copy that preference file to each render node before VNS/WCS is launched.

Setting up the listener port

Deadline communicates with VNS/WCS through a port, so we must configure the application to open a port when it launches. To do this, start up VNS/WCS on your render nodes and do the following:

• Under the File menu, select Preferences -> General, and then select the Config tab.

• In the Option Name field enter netscript_permit_addr and in the Option Value field enter 127.0.0.1, then press the Set button.
• Now change the Option Name to netscript_port_num and in the Option Value field enter the port number you wish Deadline and VNS/WCS to communicate through. Then press the Set button. By default Deadline uses port 4242. If you wish to use a different port, this can be configured in the plugin configuration from the Monitor.
• Close the application and reopen it to make sure the changes have stuck.

If they do not stick try opening a project first, setting the preferences, then saving the project. This is directly from the VNS documentation:

Note: VNS will not save these Advanced Config options into the VNS.Prefs file unless you have loaded a project. If you start VNS, change an option and immediately quit, the change will not be resaved. To ensure your changes are saved, make them after you have loaded a Project. Your changes will then be saved into the VNS.Prefs file the next time you save the Project or quit VNS.

Setting up the paths

It is advised that you set up these paths to point to a network location. This way the project, it's components, and the output directory can be accessed from anywhere on the network.

• Under the File menu, select Preferences -> General, and then select the Paths tab.

FAQ

Is VNS or WCS supported by Deadline?

Yes, both applications are supported by Deadline.

I set the preferences in VNS/WCS but when I close and reopen the program they are no longer set, why?

The preferences seem to saved when you save the project. Try opening a project, setting the preferences, and then saving the project.

Deadline keeps reporting that it timed out while waiting for a connection from VNS/WCS

Make sure the netscript_port_num and netscript_permit_addr are set in your application. This must be done for every slave. See the Render Node Setup documentation above.

You can make sure VNS has the port open by opening a command prompt and typing netstat -a -b. This will list all the open ports and what applications are using each.

Also make sure the port you tell VNS/WCS matches the one that deadline uses. By default this is 4242 but can be changed in the VNS plug-in configuration.

Error Messages And Meanings

This is a collection of known VNS error messages and their meanings, as well as possible solutions. We want to keep this list as up to date as possible, so if you run into an error message that isn't listed here, please email Deadline Support and let us know.

Waiting for result over socket failed. Ensure that the connection port and IP address has been configured in VNS on this machine

VNS needs to be configured on each render node in order for Deadline to connect to it using a socket. If Deadline can't connect properly, you get this error message. See the Render Node Setup documentation for more details.