Learning Forum

[Charlie Maurice]

Hello. We run the Ansys suite on our Citrix Terminal Server farm. Since we have updated to 2022R2, the mechanical APDL launcher wont work when only the app is presented through citrix. As in, if you present a full desktop, run launcher.exe and then hit run, it works. Present only the launcher.exe app through citrix, and it doesnt. I have figured out its something with MPI, because if I choose SMP, then it runs (so not the firewall, because it works for the same user if they have a full desktop). The issue here is that this is used by a lot of students/classes. We can't expect them to try using the product and change the setting to SMP. Its a struggle just to get them to launch it as is. So, first question is, any fix for making MPI just work in the session? If not, is there some flag I can use to force the default to be SMP when the launcher.exe runs? As in %programfiles%\blah\launcher.exe -usesmp ? Barring any of that, is there a way to make the default profile be SMP instead of MPI? Thanks!

[Gary_S]

You may be able to set the launcher to use a saved profile.
See help: 
https://ansyshelp.ansys.com/account/secured?returnurl=/Views/Secured/corp/v231/en/ans_ope/launcherhelp.htm

See the section: 4.2.2. Launcher Menu Options

 

 

[Charlie Maurice]

I apologize for the delayed response, I never received notification to the topic, and its not showing as a topic in my profile either for some reason. Anyways...

I had looked at the help/manual. The issue is that I need to save it to like the "default" profile, so that when anyone on the computer opens up the program, its set. I couldn't find anything in the help that said how to do that. It only talked about setting or using profiles for the currently logged in user. Is there a way to set a profile for all users? Im assuming here there are no flags or arguments to set on launcher.exe?

[Gary_S]

In the Launcher, you can save/load/manage profiles. 

Lets back up for a moment because using SMP (instead of DMP) can drastically reduce solution performance.
There have not been any recent changes to DMP operation.
Just to clairify: Are you finding that eariler versions of Ansys work OK with DMP, but 2022R2 does not? 
If so, then we may want to look into using the "mpitest" program to troubleshoot the issue. (Search Ansys help for "mpitest")

[Charlie Maurice]

I understand you can manage your own profiles in the launcher. The issue is that I need to manage up to 10k students profiles :) I work for an engineering college at a university that uses Ansys in their classes. Telling a student how to do these things is not easily communicated. This is why I need to find a way to either edit the default profile that you get when you first run the software, or have a flag for the launcher.exe that does it. 

RE: SMP vs DMP. To be fair, we updated our version of citrix at the same time. Im not sure if it has something to do with that, or the upgrade from 2021 R1 to 2022 R2 that did it. All I know is it worked before, and doesnt now. I tried to run mpitest, but get an error. I assume its because users aren't an admin on the machine (and the default working directory is the executable directory). It also appears that the -dir flag doesnt work with mpitest. As you can see, you get an error denied: 

c:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\ansys\bin\winx64>ANSYS222.exe -np 2 -mpitest

[proxy:0:0@Xen09] HYD_spawn (..\windows\src\hydra_spawn.c:282): unable to create process "C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\ANSYS\bin\winx64\MPITESTINTELMPI.EXE" -mpitest (error code 5)

[proxy:0:0@Xen09] launch_processes (proxy.c:596): error creating process (error code 5). Access is denied.

 

[proxy:0:0@Xen09] main (proxy.c:969): error launching_processes

[mpiexec@Xen09] wmain (mpiexec.c:2162): assert (pg->intel.exitcodes != NULL) failed

[mpiexec@Xen09] HYD_sock_write (..\windows\src\hydra_sock.c:387): write error (errno = 34)

 

If I eleveate and run it, it works fine (which isnt an option in the real world)

If I try to run ansys222.exe on its own (ie, ANSYS222.exe -dir c:\temp -np 2 ) a command box pops up for half a second and disappears. I havent been able to find an error log or anything anywhere on the system to find what its doing.

The only way Ive found around these issues is to change to smp (either add -smp or choosing smp in the launcher). Then everything works fine.

If we can get mpi to work, that would be the best. However, getting smp to be the default would work too. The students arent doing any hardcore computation, they are using it to do some homework, so smp would probably be fine.

[Ashish Khemka]

Hi Charlie,

Can you please share the Notification preferences available under your profile? I receive notifications daily. For me the preferences are indicated below:

 

Regards,

Ashish Khemka

[Charlie Maurice]

Thanks for following up on that Ashish! Mine are all set the same, and I actually did receive notifications for both of your replies this time! I didnt for the initial reply though (I double checked my email after I got the new ones). Nothing in spam either. No idea. Thanks for looking at it :)

[Gary_S]

 

 

 

That MPITEST output is helpful. 

Q: Does the 2021R1 MPITEST work OK?

c:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v211\ansys\bin\winx64>ANSYS211.exe -np 2 -mpitest ??

Tip Try running from a home folder

C:\Users\username>c:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v211\ansys\bin\winx64>ANSYS211.exe -np 2 -mpitest

It should write a simple mpitest.out
---------------

4.6. Troubleshooting (ansys.com)

...To aid in troubleshooting, you may need to view the actual MPI run command line. On Linux the command is mpirun, and you can view the command line by setting the ANS_SEE_RUN_COMMAND environment variable to 1. On Windows the command is mpiexec, and you can view the command line by setting the ANS_SEE_RUN and ANS_CMD_NODIAG environment variables to TRUE.

 

 

 

[Charlie Maurice]

I looked back through all the backups we have, and I dont have an image of a machine this works with, so I unfortunately have nothing to go back and test with on the older version that worked. 

Is there any logs at all that I can look at to see what its trying to do and fail? (or some way to turn them on) I see the troubleshooting info you pasted, but will that work since when I launch ansys on its own (IE c:\Users\cmaurice>"c:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\ansys\bin\winx64\ANSYS222.exe" -np 2 ) it pops the black box open for a half a second then closes? 

Thank you for all the help thus far!

[Gary_S]

Setting the debug variables preserves the output window and echoes the actual commands. It you have a local machine with Ansys installed, you may want to use that to compare outputs from your server. 

[Charlie Maurice]

I ran with and without mpitest. with mpitest gives me the same thing, but the error I posted above as well (I can post that too if you think it would help). Not sure if its easier to see a pic or the actual output, so here are both: 

c:\Users\cmaurice>set ANS_SEE_RUN=TRUE

 

c:\Users\cmaurice>set ANS_CMD_NODIAG=TRUE

 

c:\Users\cmaurice>"c:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\ansys\bin\winx64\ANSYS222.exe" -np 2 -dir c:\temp

 

 *** The AWP_ROOT222 environment variable is set to: C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222

 

 *** The AWP_LOCALE222 environment variable is set to: en-us

 

 *** The ANSYS222_DIR environment variable is set to: C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\ANSYS

 

 *** The ANSYS_SYSDIR environment variable is set to: winx64

 

 *** The CADOE_DOCDIR222 environment variable is set to: C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\CommonFiles\help\en-us\solviewer

 

 *** The CADOE_LIBDIR222 environment variable is set to: C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\CommonFiles\Language\en-us

 

 *** The LSTC_LICENSE environment variable is set to: Ansys

 

 *** The P_SCHEMA environment variable is set to: C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\AISOL\CADIntegration\Parasolid\PSchema

 

 *** The TEMP environment variable is set to: C:\Users\cmaurice\AppData\Local\Temp\17

 

 

 *** The PATH environment variable is set to: C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\commonfiles\MPI\Intel\2021.5.0\winx64\libfabric\bin;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\commonfiles\MPI\Intel\2021.5.0\winx64\bin\release;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\commonfiles\MPI\Intel\2021.5.0\winx64\bin;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\ANSYS\bin\winx64\MPI\IntelMPI;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\ansys\bin\winx64\GPU\SIM;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\ansys\bin\winx64\BLAS\INTEL;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\tp\IntelCompiler\2019.5.281\winx64;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\tp\IntelMKL\2020.0.166\winx64;G☻C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\aisol\bin\winx64;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\Framework\bin\Win64;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\tp\IntelCompiler\2019.5.281\winx64;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\tp\IntelMKL\2020.0.166\winx64;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\tp\hdf5\1.10.5\winx64;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\tp\qt_fw\5.5.1\Win64\bin;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\commonfiles\Stride\winx64;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\commonfiles\fluids\lib\winx64;[INSTALLDIR];C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\AspenTech Shared\;C:\Program Files\Rockwell Software\RSCommon;C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Intel\Shared Libraries\redist\ia32_win\compiler;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Intel\Shared Libraries\redist\ia32\mpirt;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Intel\Shared Libraries\redist\ia32\compiler;C:\Windows\system32;C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem;C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Windows\System32\OpenSSH\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\HDX\bin\;C:\Program Files\Citrix\HDX\bin\;C:\Program Files\Citrix\Virtual Desktop Agent\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer;C:\Program Files\Ricardo\bin;C:\Program Files\Matlab 2022a\runtime\win64;C:\Program Files\Matlab 2022a\bin;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Intel\Shared Libraries\redist\intel64_win\compiler\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\Client SDK\ODBC\110\Tools\Binn\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\8.1\Windows Performance Toolkit\;C:\Program Files (x86)\IVI Foundation\VISA\WinNT\Bin\;C:\Program Files\IVI Foundation\VISA\Win64\Bin\;C:\Program Files (x86)\IVI Foundation\VISA\WinNT\Bin;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\150\Tools\Binn\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\150\Tools\Binn\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\150\DTS\Binn\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\150\DTS\Binn\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\Client SDK\ODBC\170\Tools\Binn\;C:\Users\cmaurice\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps;

 

Mechanical APDL execution Command: mpiexec  -genvlist ANS_USER_PATH,ANSWAIT,ANSYS_HPC_PARAMETRIC_ID,ANSYS_HPC_PARAMETRIC_SERVER,ANSYS_SYSDIR,ANSYS_SYSDIR32,ANSYS222_DIR,ANSYSLI_RESERVE_ID,ANSYSLI_USAGE,AWP_LOCALE222,AWP_ROOT222,CADOE_DOCDIR222,CADOE_LIBDIR222,LSTC_LICENSE,P_SCHEMA,PATH,I_MPI_COLL_INTRANODE,I_MPI_AUTH_METHOD,I_MPI_FABRICS  -localonly -np 1 -env KMP_AFFINITY norespect "C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\ANSYS\bin\winx64\ANSYS.EXE"   -dir c:\temp  : -np 1 "C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\ANSYS\bin\winx64\ANSYS.EXE"   -dir c:\temp

 

[Gary_S]

I do see reference to an old Intel compiler in your PATH. It might be an issue not sure.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Intel\Shared Libraries\redist\ia32_win\compiler;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Intel\Shared Libraries\redist\ia32\mpirt;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Intel\Shared Libraries\redist\ia32\compiler;

[Charlie Maurice]

Same issues when I remove them:

 

c:\Users\cmaurice>"c:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\ansys\bin\winx64\ANSYS222.exe" -np 2

 

 *** The AWP_ROOT222 environment variable is set to: C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222

 

 *** The AWP_LOCALE222 environment variable is set to: en-us

 

 *** The ANSYS222_DIR environment variable is set to: C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\ANSYS

 

 *** The ANSYS_SYSDIR environment variable is set to: winx64

 

 *** The CADOE_DOCDIR222 environment variable is set to: C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\CommonFiles\help\en-us\solviewer

 

 *** The CADOE_LIBDIR222 environment variable is set to: C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\CommonFiles\Language\en-us

 

 *** The LSTC_LICENSE environment variable is set to: Ansys

 

 *** The P_SCHEMA environment variable is set to: C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\AISOL\CADIntegration\Parasolid\PSchema

 

 *** The TEMP environment variable is set to: C:\Users\cmaurice\AppData\Local\Temp\17

 

 

 *** The PATH environment variable is set to: C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\commonfiles\MPI\Intel\2021.5.0\winx64\libfabric\bin;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\commonfiles\MPI\Intel\2021.5.0\winx64\bin\release;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\commonfiles\MPI\Intel\2021.5.0\winx64\bin;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\ANSYS\bin\winx64\MPI\IntelMPI;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\ansys\bin\winx64\GPU\SIM;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\ansys\bin\winx64\BLAS\INTEL;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\tp\IntelCompiler\2019.5.281\winx64;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\tp\IntelMKL\2020.0.166\winx64; ♥C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\aisol\bin\winx64;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\Framework\bin\Win64;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\tp\IntelCompiler\2019.5.281\winx64;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\tp\IntelMKL\2020.0.166\winx64;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\tp\hdf5\1.10.5\winx64;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\tp\qt_fw\5.5.1\Win64\bin;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\commonfiles\Stride\winx64;C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\commonfiles\fluids\lib\winx64;[INSTALLDIR];C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\AspenTech Shared\;C:\Program Files\Rockwell Software\RSCommon;C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common;C:\Windows\system32;C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem;C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Windows\System32\OpenSSH\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\HDX\bin\;C:\Program Files\Citrix\HDX\bin\;C:\Program Files\Citrix\Virtual Desktop Agent\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer;C:\Program Files\Ricardo\bin;C:\Program Files\Matlab 2022a\runtime\win64;C:\Program Files\Matlab 2022a\bin;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Intel\Shared Libraries\redist\intel64_win\compiler\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\Client SDK\ODBC\110\Tools\Binn\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\8.1\Windows Performance Toolkit\;C:\Program Files (x86)\IVI Foundation\VISA\WinNT\Bin\;C:\Program Files\IVI Foundation\VISA\Win64\Bin\;C:\Program Files (x86)\IVI Foundation\VISA\WinNT\Bin;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\150\Tools\Binn\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\150\Tools\Binn\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\150\DTS\Binn\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\150\DTS\Binn\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\Client SDK\ODBC\170\Tools\Binn\;C:\Users\cmaurice\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps;

 

Mechanical APDL execution Command: mpiexec  -genvlist ANS_USER_PATH,ANSWAIT,ANSYS_HPC_PARAMETRIC_ID,ANSYS_HPC_PARAMETRIC_SERVER,ANSYS_SYSDIR,ANSYS_SYSDIR32,ANSYS222_DIR,ANSYSLI_RESERVE_ID,ANSYSLI_USAGE,AWP_LOCALE222,AWP_ROOT222,CADOE_DOCDIR222,CADOE_LIBDIR222,LSTC_LICENSE,P_SCHEMA,PATH,I_MPI_COLL_INTRANODE,I_MPI_AUTH_METHOD,I_MPI_FABRICS  -localonly -np 1 -env KMP_AFFINITY norespect "C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\ANSYS\bin\winx64\ANSYS.EXE"    : -np 1 "C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\ANSYS\bin\winx64\ANSYS.EXE"

[Charlie Maurice]

I tried changing it to the MS MPI and it worked, so it seems to be something specific to the Intel MPI. So that either means getting intel MPI to work, or making the MS MPI the default (no idea what the differences are, like I said, Im just an IT guy who runs the stuff :) ).

[Gary_S]

I did a web search in this phrase: HYD_sock_write (..\windows\src\hydra_sock.c:387): write error (errno = 34)

This user performs a simple mpi test using notepad. Perhaps try same on your system?

Re:Windows MPI 2021.4 : unable to create process - Intel Communities

[Charlie Maurice]

Tried that and got similar results! I first ran the mpiexec located in C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\commonfiles\MPI\Intel\2018.3.210. That one gave me an error launching notepad. When using the MPI located in C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v222\commonfiles\MPI\Intel\2021.6.0, it launched notepad just fine. That seems to me then that I need to change which MPI is used by ansys? How can I do that (and hopefully for the whole system, not just the current user). Thank you!

[Gary_S]

 

Previously you had run a test with the -mpi msmpi for the Microsoft MPI
You can also try
-mpi intelmpi2018
-mpi intelmpi2019
-mpi intelmpi2021

I will look for a way to set the default MPI. In the meantime…

Can you try some tests to see if these work?

Q: When you installed Ansys, did you also install the “Install MPI for Ansys Parallel Processing” ?
(Generally we do NOT need to install this package…Check the Installed Programs to see if it is there)

 

[Charlie Maurice]

So this is strange. When I specified 2021 on the command line, it didnt work. But when I specified 2018 and 2019, it did work.

I did not install the MPI separately, just have the default ones included in the install itself.

[Gary_S]

Would it be possble for you to try version 2023R1 v231?

[Charlie Maurice]

I should be able to try that, but its gonna be Monday before I can get it all done and report back. Ill update this post when I know more. Thank you!

[Charlie Maurice]

I got 2023R1 installed and had the same results. Running with MPI 2021 failed, and 2018 and 2019 worked fine.

[Gary_S]

OK. Yes the default MPI for 2022R2 and 2023R1 is Intel MPI MPI Type: INTELMPI MPI Version: Intel(R) MPI Library 2021.5 for Windows* OS.
It is strange that earlier MPI versions run OK without requiring elevated permissions. 

At this point, I would recommend submitting a standard Ansys support request and including the information you have found. 

[Charlie Maurice]

OK. I can do that. Thank you for all the help!

[Charlie Maurice]

Well, I guess I cant. I submitted a ticket and got this back:

Thank you for contacting Ansys. Support is not handled through the ticket system, but rather through the forum. We can reach out to you directly regarding the forum post to escalate the support process.

Can you help me with what to do here?

[Frédéric Normand]

Hello,

I experiment the same issue with version 2023R1. We try to use the Mechanial APDL 2023, but unlike the other application this one doesn't launch through VMware Horizon view RDSH environment. It works in VDI or directly on the host but not through the RDSH portal.

2021 R1 is working perfectly.

Note that as Charlie, I work for a faculty of Engineering and individual profile chanhe not really an option.

 

Charlie did you get any answer outside the forum for that issue ?

 

Thank you,

 

Cheers

[Gary_S]

The supported versions of VMWare Horizon is different per the Ansys version.
Perhaps this is the issue? 

remote-display-and-virtual-desktop-support-2021-r1.pdf (ansys.com)

ansys-2023-r2-remote-display-and-virtual-desktop-support.pdf

[Frédéric Normand]

Thank you Gary

 

Very helpful. we have 2 clusters, 1 with GPU and one without and I was trying on the non GPU one.

 

We have Nvidia A40 so it should (hopefully work) on the GPU cluster.

 

Thx again.

 

Cheers,

[Charlie Maurice]

No, it never got resolved. There was an engineer working on it with me, but then he stopped responding when it came time to try some things in person. If you find something, would love to hear it!

[Gary_S]

Hi Charlie
v2023R2 is available. 
As a data point, it may be worth installing 2023R2 and see how it behaves.
(Please upgrade the license server to support 2023R2 first.)

Q: Do you have any other independent systems that you can try this on?
Sometimes the only way to find these issues is to compare a working system to the one that fails.