Server Metadata

Server nodes contain two XML metadata streams: info and schedule. Some stream elements are read-only, while others are writable. They can be obtained using the getMetaData method on the WiretapNodeHandle object for the server node, or using the wiretap_get_metadata command-line tool. They are set using the setMetaData method and wiretap_set_metadata command.

The following table summarizes the purpose of the server node metadata streams

Metadata Stream	Description
info	Basic information relating to server identification, available adapters/plug-ins, job processing activity, and others.
schedule	Get or set a schedule indicating when the node is available to process jobs.

Server info Metadata

The Server node info metadata stream allows you to retrieve basic server information including its state, available adapters/plug-ins, current job (if any), and so on. Most elements are read-only. The returned metadata is structured as follows:

<info>
  <name>hostname</name>
  <id>server ID</id>
  <state>server state</state>
  <currentJobId>job ID/currentJobId>
  <perfIndex>performance index</perfIndex>
  <description>description</description>
  <plugins>
    <plugin>
      <name>name</name>
      <version>version</version>
      <description>description</description>
    </plugin>
  </plugins>
</info>

The following table explains the elements in the info metadata stream:

Element	Type	Comments
<info>	complex	Container for the other elements
<name>	string	Server name (host name) Read-only.
<server ID>	integer	Node ID of the server Read-only.
<server state>	string	A token indicating the current activity of the server: absent: Server is no longer seen by the manager, possibly down. active: Server is currently working on a job. suspended: Server has been put on hold. idle: Server is inactive. error: Problem on the server Read-only.
<currentJobId>	integer	The job’s id as assigned by the Backburner Manager. Read-only.
<perfIndex>	decimal	A value in the range [0–1] indicating the performance level of the server, relative to the other servers on the same job. A score of 1 indicates this is the best-performing server. Read-only.
<description>	string	A short description of the server. Writable.
<plugins> <plugin>	complex	Containers for elements detailing the installed adapters/plug-ins.
<name>	string	The adapter/plug-in name, for example: Burn: The Burn renderer. Command Line Tool: The Backburner cmdjob command-line adapter allows you to submit batch, executable, or script files to Backburner as custom jobs. For more information, see the Autodesk Backburner User Guide. Wire: Installed with Stone and Wire. Can be used to import/export media, perform Wire transfers, and so on. Used by the Wiretap SDK’s background I/O tool, wiretap_bgio_tool. For more information see Wiretap Background I/O Tool. Read-only.
<version>	string	Adapter/plug-in version number. Read-only.
<description>	string	A short description of the adapter/plug-in. Read-only.

Example

The following use of the wiretap_get_metadata command returns the metadata for a server named slave1 on a host called rossendale:Backburner.

wiretap_get_metadata -h rossendale:Backburner -n slave1  -s info
 
<info>
  <name>slave1</name>
  <id>slave1</id>
  <state>absent</state>
  <currentJobId>1318676208</currentJobId>
  <perfIndex>1.0</perfIndex>
  <description>Burn Node #10</description>
  <plugins>
    <plugin>
      <name>burn</name>
      <version>2010.1</version>
      <description>description1</description>
    </plugin>
    <plugin>
      <name>Wire</name>
      <version>version1</version>
      <description>description1</description>
    </plugin>
  </plugins>
</info>

Server schedule Metadata

The Server node schedule metadata stream is a writable stream for viewing and setting server availability. The stream is formatted as follows:

<schedule>sun,mon,tue,...,sat</schedule>

The following table explains the elements in the schedule metadata stream:

Element	Type	Comments
<schedule>	integer	A comma-separated list, one entry for each day of the week indicating server availability. Each entry is the integer representation of a 24-bit binary value. There is one bit for each hour in the day. When the bit is on, the server is available for that hour. For example: 0 = 000000000000000000000000 = never available 16777215 = 111111111111111111111111 = always available Days begin at midnight. First day of the week is Sunday. This element is writable.

Element

Type

Comments

integer

A comma-separated list, one entry for each day of the week indicating server availability.

Each entry is the integer representation of a 24-bit binary value. There is one bit for each hour in the day. When the bit is on, the server is available for that hour.

For example:

0 = 000000000000000000000000 = never available
16777215 = 111111111111111111111111 = always available

Days begin at midnight. First day of the week is Sunday.

This element is writable.

Example

The following use of the wiretap_get_metadata command returns the schedule metadata for a server named slave1 on a host called rossendale:Backburner.

In this example, the server is scheduled for availability between Monday to Friday from 7 p.m to 7 a.m, and all of Saturday. It is unavailable on Sundays. This might be the case for a creative workstation used as a render node after-hours.

wiretap_get_metadata -h rossendale:Backburner -n slave1  -s schedule
 
<schedule>0,16711711,16711711,16711711,
          16711711,16711711,16777215</schedule>