Backburner

Backburner is a queue manager for background processing and distributed network processing. It allows multiple jobs, such as I/O operations, grading, composites, and animation scenes, to be processed by many computers on the same network.

Backburner Server and Backburner Manager are installed and are set to run automatically when the workstation starts. By default, the Backburner Server installed on the workstation communicates with the locally-installed Backburner Manager, but a centralized Manager installed on another system in the network can be used. Only one Backburner Manager should run on the network at once.

If a workstation is using a remote Backburner, then disable the local version on the workstation:

chkconfig backburner_manager off
/etc/init.d/backburner_manager stop

Once the local Backburner Manager is stopped, open /usr/discreet/backburner/cfg/manager.host, delete localhost, and enter the hostname of the system where Backburner Manager is installed.

Backburner Manager must be stopped before making any changes to the backburner.xml configuration file. Otherwise these changes will be overwritten by the running instance of Backburner Manager. Normally there is no need to configure the Backburner Manager. The most common changes, such as specifying the default mail server through which Backburner sends job-related email specifications, can also be made via the Backburner Web Monitor.

Configure Backburner services

To configure Backburner services:

1. Ensure Backburner Server is set to run automatically on the workstation: chkconfig –-list | grep -i backburner_server. If backburner_server is not set to “on” for run levels 3, 4, and 5, enable it:
   1. chkconfig backburner_server on
   2. /etc/init.d/backburner_server restart
2. Check the keywords in /usr/discreet/<product_home>/cfg/init.cfg:
   • BackburnerManagerHostname <hostname>: Set <hostname> to the hostname or IP address of the workstation running Backburner Manager. This hostname or IP address must match the one in /usr/discreet/backburner/cfg/manager.host file. If it does not, background Wire transfers will fail.
   • BackburnerManagerPriority <priority>: Set <priority> to a value from 0 to 100. The default is 50.
   • BackburnerManagerGroup <groupname>: Set <groupname> to the name of a group of computers on a Burn rendering network. For example, if the name of the group is “renderfarm1”, this keyword would be set to BackburnerManagerGroup renderfarm.

Start or restart Backburner Manager and Backburner Server

Backburner Manager and Backburner Server must be running for jobs to be submitted. They start automatically so you do not need to manually start them. If you are having problems with Backburner Manager and Backburner Server, restart them.

Log files are at /usr/discreet/backburner/Network/.

In OS X: run the Service Monitor: Applications/Autodesk/Smoke Common Utilities. If Backburner Manager is not running, click Start. To view details on the Manager’s status, run the Console application from Applications/Utilities, and look for entries containing com.autodesk.backburner_manager.

In Windows: from the Start Menu, select Programs > Autodesk > Backburner > Manager. Backburner Manager starts and its application window appears. The message “Starting Network Manager” as well as server connection messages are displayed in the window. To view details on the status of Backburner Manager, leave its application window open or view the log files.