Getting Help

1. Check the OpenRTE FAQ. We generally take the approach that if the same question comes up multiple times, we put it on the FAQ. So although the FAQ will likely be initially fairly empty, expect it to fill up over time.

2. Check the Open MPI FAQ. Many questions come up during use by our Open MPI cousins. Although we try to bring that wisdom over to our own site, you may find some additional answers here.

3. Check the mailing list archives. Use the "search" features to check old posts and see if others have asked the same question and had it answered. We don't have much there yet, but will soon.

4. Check the Open MPI mailing list archives. Again, we get and deal with many questions in that venue.

5. If you do not find a solution to your problem in the above resources, send the following information to the Open MPI user's mailing list (see the mailing lists page for more information) -- please compress the files before sending them! Note that the mailing lists have a 100kb limit on messages to prevent from sending enormous, uncompressed datatsets.

   • Remember: the more information you include in your report, the better. E-mails simply stating, "It doesn't work!" are not helpful; we need to know as much information about your environment as possible in order to provide meaningful assistance. The best way to get help is to provide a "recipie" for reproducing the problem. This will allow the Open MPI developers to see the error for themselves, and therefore be able to fix it.

   • For run-time problems:
     1. The config.log file from the top-level Open MPI directory, if available (please compress!).
     2. The output of the ompi_info command.
     3. A detailed description of what is failing. The more details that you provide, the better. E-mails saying "My application doesn't work!" will inevitably be answered with requests for more information about exactly what doesn't work; so please include as much detailed information in your initial e-mail as possible.

   • For compile problems:
     1. All output (both compilation output and run time output, including all error messages)
     2. Output from when you ran "./configure" to configure Open MPI (please compress!)
     3. The config.log file from the top-level Open MPI directory (please compress!)
     4. Output from when you ran "make" to build Open MPI (please compress!)
     5. Output from when you ran "make install" to install Open MPI (please compress!)

   To capture the output of the configure and make steps you can use the script command or the following technique if using a csh style shell:

   shell% ./configure {options} |& tee config.out shell% make all |& tee make.out shell% make install |& tee make-install.out

   or if using a Bourne style shell:

   shell$ ./configure {options} 2>&1 | tee config.out shell$ make all 2>&1 | tee make.out shell$ make install 2>&1 | tee make-install.out

   To compress all the files listed above, we recommend using the tar and gzip commands. For example (using a csh-style shell):

   shell% mkdir $HOME/ompi-output shell% cd /path/to/ompi- shell% ./configure |& tee $HOME/ompi-output/configure.out #...lots of output... shell% cp config.log share/include/ompi_config.h $HOME/ompi-output shell% make all |& tee $HOME/ompi-output/make.out #...lots of output... shell% make install |& tee $HOME/ompi-output/make-install.out #...lots of output... shell% cd $HOME shell% tar cvf ompi-output.tar ompi-output #...lots of output... shell% gzip ompi-output.tar

   Then send the resulting ompi-output.tar.gz file to the mailing list.

   If you are using an sh-style shell:

   shell$ mkdir $HOME/ompi-output shell$ cd /path/to/ompi- shell$ ./configure 2>&1 | tee $HOME/ompi-output/configure.out #...lots of output... shell$ cp config.log share/include/ompi_config.h $HOME/ompi-output shell$ make all 2>&1 | tee $HOME/ompi-output/make.out #...lots of output... shell$ make install 2>&1 | tee $HOME/ompi-output/make-install.out #...lots of output... shell$ cd $HOME shell$ tar cvf ompi-output.tar ompi-output #...lots of output... shell$ gzip ompi-output.tar

   Then send the resulting ompi-output.tar.gz file to the mailing list.

Make today an Open MPI day!