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ComputeMode Grid Manager News

February 2008

ComputeMode 1.6-1 virtual appliance is released and finally ships with the latest drivers for intel (e1000) and Broadcom (tg3) cards (sorry for forgeting about it in the previous release !)
Get it on the download page !
The web packages are available from : http://www.computemode.org/dl/computemode-1.6/

December 2007

ComputeMode 1.6 virtual appliance released
This release features all components from the former Computemode Professional version. Get it on the download page !
The web packages are available from : http://www.computemode.org/dl/computemode-1.6/

September 2007

Icatis stops supporting ComputeMode
The Icatis compagny does not have resources anymore to support ComputeMode. As a result, ComputeMode will now be released as a open-source only product.

May 2007

Updated images for client nodes The current kernel image shipped with the server does not support the latest Intel (e1000) and Broadcom cards (tg3).
An new image has been updated and is available at:
http://www.computemode.org/dl/computemode-1.6/kernel+initrd-cm-2.4.27-3-686.tar.gz
To install it (as root): 
   cd /var/lib/tftpboot/PXEClient
   mkdir /root/bak
   mv debian-initrd-2.4.27-3-686-smp debian-vmlinuz-2.4.27-3-686-smp /root/bak
   tar zxvf /root/kernel+initrd-cm-2.4.27-3-686.tar.gz
   chmod 0644 debian-initrd-2.4.27-3-686-smp debian-vmlinuz-2.4.27-3-686-smp
Reboot a node through PXE, and voilą !
ComputeMode 1.6 will include this update.

November 2006

ComputeMode 1.5 virtual appliance released
Get it on the download page !
The web packages are available from : http://www.computemode.org/dl/computemode-1.5/

October 2006

Several issues have been reported in the web administration interface of version 1.4.1. You can install updated web interface packages for future version 1.5. Get them from:
http://www.computemode.org/dl/computemode-1.4.1/
Once downloaded, backup the /var/www/cm/config.php file, then use dpkg to update the packages. Feel free to drop by our mailing lists if you need help. 
Preliminary changelog from 1.4.1 to 1.5

   - cosmetic bugfixes (HTML + CSS + hide the 'Display' button if javascript is
     available + clock showing the server time)
   - import bugfix for empty non final labels
   - import bugfix to avoid having twice a same label
   - better input validation
   - simpler import/export format: only 1 file 
   - bugfix for when multi-operation could fail
   - usability: click a label in the nodes management page to automatically select it
   - usability: labels/change_schedule = change schedule for a group of labels

September 2006

ComputeMode 1.4.1 released It is available either as an installable ISO image file or as a VMware virtual appliance.
Get it on the download page !
What's in it ?

July 2006

ComputeMode is present at the DAC2006 conference.

January 31st 2006

ComputeMode 1.4 released (tagged 20060131 - CHANGELOG)
2006-01-31 ComputeMode 1.4 release (tagged 20060131)
  - server and clients distrib updates
    (security fixes, packages - up to date as of 2006-01-30)
  - SMP debian kernels are now used
  - debian-server+client: fix issues with bcmxx00/tg3/b44 (the 2 latters are disabled)
  - debian server: added wine, freedos, distcc
  - debian-client: added wine, freedos, distcc and the x libraries
  - OAR: updated OAR to version 1.6.1svn40
    (fix issues with sudo upgrade + checkpoint warning facility)
  - UI: buttons to mass enable/disable wake on lan
  - UI: labels used to create groups of nodes
  - UI/OAR: mapping between CM labels and OAR properties
  - CM: nodes go into inhibit state if they are rebooted while in CM mode
        (may be disable through config.php)
  - CM: agents: windows agent are now available from the main page
        (let windows hosts be rebooted automatically)
  - CM: exceptions now allow a user to let his/her machine to computemode for a
    few days (vacations for instance)
    (see config.php)
  - UI: user page let user add or remove exceptions on their own machine
    (see config.php)
  - UI: reboot statistics for ComputeMode events (when machines reboot, etc)
Statistics feature:
 CM Statistics (click to enlarge)

October 17th 2005

Issues with the web interface (2005-09-21...2005-10-17) (affected version = 1.3) (FIXED in version 1.4): some bugs are fixed in the debian packages available on this web page. To upgrade your files, type as root: 
	wget http://www.computemode.org/dl/computemode-1.3/cmwebadmin-1.3.1_1.2/cmwebadmin-data_1.3.1.20050906-1.2_all.deb
	wget http://www.computemode.org/dl/computemode-1.3/cmwebadmin-1.3.1_1.2/cmwebadmin_1.3.1.20050906-1.2_all.deb
	dpkg -i cmwebadmin-data_1.3.1.20050906-1.2_all.deb cmwebadmin_1.3.1.20050906-1.2_all.deb


Debian updates (2005-09-28): Debian has released several updates since we released the latest version of the ISO (it contains the security fixes up tot DSA-804-1). Some software shipped with the installation CD have potential security flaws which are fixed by Debian updates. If you care about the security of your system, you really should upgrade it.
To upgrade your client and server systems, type as root: 
	dselect update
	apt-get dist-upgrade
	chroot /cm/debian/orig
	dselect update
	apt-get dist-upgrade
	exit
Note: there may be issues if you upgrade the kernel packages, so try to avoid doing it !

Mandriva updates (2005-09-28): Mandriva has released several updates since we released the latest version of the ComputeMode ISO image. If you care about the security of your system, you really should upgrade it.
To update the Mandriva client, you will have first to type once the line: 
	perl -i -pe "s#../../media/(media_info/hdlist)_.+\.cz#\1.cz#g" /cm/mandriva/orig/etc/urpmi/urpmi.cfg
Then, when you want to upgrade the client part, type as root: 
	chroot /cm/mandriva/orig
	urpmi.update ftp1 ftp2 ftp3
	urpmi.update -a
	urpmi --auto-select
	exit
Note: there may be issues if you upgrade the kernel packages, so try to avoid doing it !

September 13th 2005

ComputeMode 1.3 has just been released (tagged 20050808 - CHANGELOG)
CHANGELOG from 1.2 to 1.3
2005-09-08 ComputeMode 1.3 release (tagged 20050908)
  - system: the CM reserved network has moved from private class C
  192.168.128.0/24 to private class B 172.28.0.0/16 (255 machines are
  now supported but this limit may easily be increased)
  - global: server and clients distribution updated (security fixes)
  - debian server: switched to Debian sarge/stable (instead testing)
  - debian-client: switched to Debian sarge/stable (instead of testing)
  - debian server + client: added LAM package
  - UI: nodes detected are now name U_xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx (where xx...xx is
    replace by their mac addresses)
  - UI: new submenu gathering the 'Unconfigured' nodes
  - UI: button to enable/disable the wake on lan features on a per-node
    basis
  - UI: some fixes with regard to long lists
  - CM clients: improved NFS/network faults handling
       (reboots should now happen more reliably)
  - fixed issues with TFTP daemon
  - installer: stronger checks wrt to network configuration
  - system: renamed tftp-hpa CM version to cmtftp-hpa version
  - system: added a cmwebadmin package to handle smoother upgrades
  - installer: stronger checks wrt to network configuration
  - system: renamed tftp-hpa CM version to cmtftp-hpa version
  - system: added a cmwebadmin package to handle smoother upgrades
  - system: OAR upgraded to 1.6.1cvs20050709
  - specific timeslots are no longer handled
  - Debian Security fixes have been applied to both the client and server (up
    to and including DSA 804-1)
  - bugs reported in v1.2 prior to 2005-09-08 have been fixed
	(with the batch manager OAR (2005-05-18),
	 with Debian client OS (2005-05-18),
	 with the web interface (2005-09-01),
	 with the online help messages in the ComputeMode bootmode edition (2005-09-01),
	 with the web site and wake on LAN (2005-09-07))

September 6th 2005

Issues with CM 1.2 It has been a long time since we updated the ISO image. The latest version is still 1.2 and there will not be a 1.2.1 version as we are currently approaching a version 1.3 release (read within the next days).

Below are a list of all the patches/hotfixes you have to apply to version 1.2 to have a working CM server.

Issues with the batch manager OAR (2005-05-18) (FIXED in version 1.3): there is a version mismatch between OAR versions installed on the Debian server, the Debian client and the Mandriva client.
Workaround: As root, type:
/etc/init.d/oar-server stop
killall oar_meta_sched sarko
cp /usr/lib/oar/oar_iolib.pm /usr/lib/oar/oarexec /usr/lib/oar/ping_checker.pm /cm/mandriva/orig/usr/lib/oar/
cp /usr/lib/oar/oar_iolib.pm /usr/lib/oar/oarexec /usr/lib/oar/ping_checker.pm /cm/debian/orig/usr/lib/oar/
/etc/init.d/oar-server start
Issues with Debian client OS (2005-05-18) (FIXED in version 1.3): a last minute update slipped into the Debian client upgrade and broke the network (NIS, portmap, etc...)
Workaround: As root, type:
  mkdir /cm/debian/patch/etc/network/run
  mv /cm/debian/patch/etc/network/ifstate /cm/debian/patch/etc/network/run
  vim -c ':%s+copypatch:/etc/network/ifstate+copypatch:/etc/network/run/ifstate+g' -c ':wq' /cm/debian/rules
Issues with the web interface (2005-09-01) (FIXED in version 1.3): (thanks to Alexei Korobkin for spotting it !)
Workaround: As root, type:
  cd /var/www/cm/dyn/
  vim -c "%s+\.{\\\$_SESSION\['source_page'\]}\.+.\$_SESSION['source_page'].+g" -c ':wq' bootmode_delete.php
Issues with the online help messages in the ComputeMode bootmode edition (2005-09-01) (FIXED in version 1.3): (thanks to Alexei Korobkin for spotting it !)
DHCPPORT parameter corresponds to to the port dhclient must use and not the port to send queries to. It should default to 68 instead of 67.

Issues with the web site and wake on LAN (2005-09-07) (FIXED in version 1.3) One more patch to apply...
http://www.computemode.org/dl/cm-1.2final-update1.tar.gz: cosmetic fix in node edition, 'DB constraint error' when removing node fix, bad link from nodeweeklytimeslot fix

August 31st 2005

Fresh news After the summer break, work resumed on version 1.3. This version will incorporate several bugfixes (UI, client images), improvements (UI, packaging) and upgrades (packages, tools).
On a side note, ComputeMode is being tested by our partners in the RNTL IGGI project.
On another side, ComputeMode, which was already working with vmware (server and client OS), now works as a client with Fabrice Bellard's qemu with the help of etherboot's PXE mode (see Rom-O-Matic for etherboot images).

May 17th 2005

ComputeMode 1.2 is released (tagged 20050516-1905)
This update brings a batch of fixes, updates, adds support for CCISS and adds the newest Mandriva 10.2/LE2005 computemode-ized (CHANGELOG).
Get the new version: ComputeMode 1.2 ISO.

May 2005

Issue with the demonstration (FIXED in version 1.2): the NFS export for /home is incorrectly exported (in read-only mode instead of read/write), which causes the POV demonstration to fail.
Workaround: in /etc/exports replace all the 'ro' regarding /home by 'rw'. Issue with Broadcom ethernet cards (FIXED in version 1.2): If your server happens to use a Broadcom 57xx or 44xx, the network driver card may not work with the drivers shipped on the CD(b44 and tg3).
In this case, you might want to give a shot to module-assistant (but this may be troublesome since you most likely have no network connection...) or download the packages we compiled (bcm4400 or bcm5700). They can be installed by typing : dpkg -i bcm*.deb Issue with CCISS RAID arrays (FIXED in version 1.2): If your server happens to have a hard disk recognized under Linux as something different from IDE (hdX) or SCSI (sdX), the installation will fail. ComputeMode 1.1 release is out (tagged 20050429-1538).
The installation CD-Rom has been updated and several possible issues have been fixed. (CHANGELOG)

April 2005

ComputeMode UFRIMA installation counts now up to 60 machines (100 in a near future) : these nodes are available for computation at night and during the week-ends, while still remaining operational for the students during the open hours. The computation power of this virtual cluster is at the disposal of the Grenoble CiGri community.
An interesting point is that ComputeMode Server also allows the UFRIMA administrators to deploy the machines daytime system (Microsoft Windows and GNU/Linux Debian) automatically and efficiently (working in conjunction with Norton Ghost).

March 2005

ComputeMode is being deployed in Grenoble University, within UFRIMA, so that PCs within computer classrooms may be used by the campus scientists as a powerful cluster during closed hours (at night and during holidays).

January 21st 2005

ComputeMode 1.0 is released (tagged 20050121-1935). (CHANGELOG)

Year 2004

ComputeMode is redeveloped from scratch. It now features: At the same time (around April), ComputeMode v0.4 (which is still based on the Oucapo code) is released. Another proof of concept is demonstrated by integrating with a 32 nodes cluster in Total's premises in Pau, France.

January 2004

Icatis company is launched and aims at developing and supporting ComputeMode.

Year 2003

A diskless prototype 'Oucapo' is developed as a proof-of-concept within the ID-IMAG Laboratory. This first version (0.1) is deployed inside Total's intranet and is based on Total's customized version of Mandrake Linux 9.0. Workstations can now provide extra-computing power. The job manager used then, is Sun Grid Engine. A sismic analysis application is tested successfully and takes advantage of the power increase and reactivity provided by our prototype.
The next version (0.3) is released and deployed at the Grenoble Observatory. Computing nodes are integrated in a cluster thanks to OAR.
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