# Controlling Working Directory for JobComposer jobs?

**URL:** <https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/controlling-working-directory-for-jobcomposer-jobs/3420>\
**Category:** Get Help\
**Created:** [April 11, 2024, 2:38pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/controlling-working-directory-for-jobcomposer-jobs/3420 "2024-04-11T14:38:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 18\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![gshamov](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/gshamov/32/64_2.png) [@gshamov](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/gshamov)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2024, 2:38pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/controlling-working-directory-for-jobcomposer-jobs/3420/1 "2024-04-11T14:38:42Z")

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Hi,

A question came up. If I understand it correctly, all OOD SLURM jobs get submitted from under $HOME/ondemand/something?

Many if not most of HPC centres have a small /home partition they discourage running jobs off, and a large parallel filesystems like /scratch, /project they want users to use insead of /home.

With OOD, is there a way to control the SLURM working directory for JobComposer?  
Thanks!

Grigory Shamov  
University of Manitoba

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**Author:** ![jeff.ohrstrom](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/jeff.ohrstrom/32/136_2.png) [@jeff.ohrstrom](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/jeff.ohrstrom)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2024, 4:30pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/controlling-working-directory-for-jobcomposer-jobs/3420/2 "2024-05-17T16:30:39Z")

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Hi - sorry for not getting to this sooner!

Yes you can change the ‘dataroot’ by setting the environment variable `OOD_DATAROOT` to what you like in `/etc/ood/config/apps/myjobs/env` file.

Though you should note that this environment variable is the same for everyone, so you need something like `$USER` in it like `/some/other/path/$USER` so that everyone has their own directory.

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**Author:** ![serden85](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/serden85/32/2138_2.png) [@serden85](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/serden85)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 12:57pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/controlling-working-directory-for-jobcomposer-jobs/3420/3 "2024-07-23T12:57:27Z")

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Hello, Jeff.  
Hope you are well!

I’ll complicate the previous question a little.  
How to change the ondemand/other/paths/ directory that is created in /home/$USER/ upon first login to, for example, ood/other/paths/ ?

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**Author:** ![jeff.ohrstrom](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/jeff.ohrstrom/32/136_2.png) [@jeff.ohrstrom](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/jeff.ohrstrom)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 1:32pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/controlling-working-directory-for-jobcomposer-jobs/3420/4 "2024-07-23T13:32:08Z")

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Set the same environment variable, only this time in the dashboard’s env file - `/etc/ood/config/apps/dashboard/env`.

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**Author:** ![serden85](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/serden85/32/2138_2.png) [@serden85](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/serden85)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 8:37am UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/controlling-working-directory-for-jobcomposer-jobs/3420/5 "2024-07-24T08:37:14Z")

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Thank you, it almost works))

The situation is as follows.  
The following variables are set:  
in /etc/ood/config/apps/dashboard/env  
OOD\_DATAROOT=“/home/$USER/ood/dashboard/”  
in /etc/ood/config/apps/myjobs/env  
OOD\_DATAROOT=“/home/$USER/ood/myjobs/”

Upon successful login, the following directory tree is created automatically  
home/$USER/ood/dashboard/batch\_connect/cache

When I go to the “Job Composer” page the following directory and a file are created automatically  
home/$USER/ood/myjobs/production.sqlite3

But i get an error  
 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/osc/original/2X/8/836bc936687cbfdbf98c6db06bfa2e927ef7530a.png)

And the appache log has the following entry:

```auto
[Wed Jul 24 11:34:06.492539 2024] [lua:info] [pid 13924:tid 140649684747840] [client 172.17.2.38:59998] req_hostname="web-hpc.frccsc.ru" req_filename="proxy:http://localhost/pun/sys/myjobs" req_is_https="true" log_hook="ood" res_content_type="text/html; charset=utf-8" req_origin="" log_time="2024-07-24T08:34:06.492434.0Z" req_accept="text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,image/avif,image/webp,image/apng,*/*;q=0.8,application/signed-exchange;v=b3;q=0.7" req_is_websocket="false" res_content_language="" remote_user="sdenisov" req_accept_charset="" res_content_length="1266" req_accept_encoding="gzip, deflate, br, zstd" req_handler="proxy-server" req_user_ip="172.17.2.38" req_referer="https://web-hpc.frccsc.ru/pun/sys/dashboard/" req_status="500" req_user_agent="Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/126.0.0.0 Safari/537.36" req_port="443" req_cache_control="" res_content_disp="" allowed_hosts="web-hpc.frccsc.ru" time_proxy="5.378" res_location="" req_method="GET" res_content_encoding="" req_protocol="HTTP/1.1" req_content_type="" local_user="sdenisov" res_content_location="" req_accept_language="ru-ru,ru;q=0.9,en-us;q=0.8,en;q=0.7" time_user_map="0.002" req_uri="/pun/sys/myjobs" req_server_name="web-hpc.frccsc.ru", referer: https://web-hpc.frccsc.ru/pun/sys/dashboard/

```

Is there a way to fix this?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jeff.ohrstrom](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/jeff.ohrstrom/32/136_2.png) [@jeff.ohrstrom](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/jeff.ohrstrom)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 1:19pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/controlling-working-directory-for-jobcomposer-jobs/3420/6 "2024-07-24T13:19:29Z")

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You’ll have to check `/var/log/ondemand-nginx/$USER/error.log` or retrieve the /tmp html file it generated to see what the issue may be.

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**Author:** ![serden85](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/serden85/32/2138_2.png) [@serden85](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/serden85)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 2:26pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/controlling-working-directory-for-jobcomposer-jobs/3420/7 "2024-07-24T14:26:37Z")

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after getting an error /var/log/ondemand-nginx/$USER/error.log says

```auto
App 20875 output: [2024-07-24 17:23:28 +0300] INFO "[b2499400-7237-4b5e-acd0-5c908643310c] method=GET path=/pun/sys/myjobs/ format=html controller=WorkflowsController action=index status=500 error='ActiveRecord::StatementInvalid: Could not find table 'jobs'' allocations=375 duration=1.86 view=0.00 db=0.96"
App 20875 output: [2024-07-24 17:23:28 +0300] FATAL "[b2499400-7237-4b5e-acd0-5c908643310c] \n[b2499400-7237-4b5e-acd0-5c908643310c] ActiveRecord::StatementInvalid (Could not find table 'jobs'):\n[b2499400-7237-4b5e-acd0-5c908643310c] \n[b2499400-7237-4b5e-acd0-5c908643310c] app/models/workflow.rb:16:in `block in <class:Workflow>'\n[b2499400-7237-4b5e-acd0-5c908643310c] app/controllers/workflows_controller.rb:225:in `update_jobs'"

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jeff.ohrstrom](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/jeff.ohrstrom/32/136_2.png) [@jeff.ohrstrom](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/jeff.ohrstrom)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 2:32pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/controlling-working-directory-for-jobcomposer-jobs/3420/8 "2024-07-24T14:32:56Z")

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What you need to do is remove the `production.sqlite3` file then navigate to the job composer through the navigation bar. That is, do not go to the URL directly, click on the link in the navigation bar.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jeff.ohrstrom](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/jeff.ohrstrom/32/136_2.png) [@jeff.ohrstrom](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/jeff.ohrstrom)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 2:33pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/controlling-working-directory-for-jobcomposer-jobs/3420/9 "2024-07-24T14:33:25Z")

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Oh and `restart the webserver` in the Help menu after you remove the file.

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**Author:** ![serden85](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/serden85/32/2138_2.png) [@serden85](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/serden85)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 2:56pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/controlling-working-directory-for-jobcomposer-jobs/3420/10 "2024-07-24T14:56:17Z")

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Did as you wrote

- deleted production.sqlite3
- restarted the webserver through the Help menu
- navigated to the job composer through the link in the navigation bar

Unfortunately it didn’t help. There is the same error in the log.

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**Author:** ![jeff.ohrstrom](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/jeff.ohrstrom/32/136_2.png) [@jeff.ohrstrom](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/jeff.ohrstrom)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 3:00pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/controlling-working-directory-for-jobcomposer-jobs/3420/11 "2024-07-24T15:00:55Z")

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OK there could be an issue with using different dataroots for the different applications. Can they both use the same `OOD_DATAROOT` environment variable?

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**Author:** ![serden85](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/serden85/32/2138_2.png) [@serden85](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/serden85)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 3:28pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/controlling-working-directory-for-jobcomposer-jobs/3420/12 "2024-07-24T15:28:13Z")

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if you meant to use for example OOD\_DATAROOT=“/home/$USER/ood/” both in /etc/ood/config/apps/dashboard/env and /etc/ood/config/apps/myjobs/env  
it doesn’t work, errors in the log are the same

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**Author:** ![jeff.ohrstrom](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/jeff.ohrstrom/32/136_2.png) [@jeff.ohrstrom](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/jeff.ohrstrom)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 3:41pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/controlling-working-directory-for-jobcomposer-jobs/3420/13 "2024-07-24T15:41:56Z")

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You have to be careful with the order of operations here. This error happens when you navigate to the URL directly without going through the dashboards link, so you have to be careful there.

You should also be restarting the webserver everytime you want the apps to pick up the new configurations. Lastly every time it fails you need to be removing the sqlite3 file.

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**Author:** ![serden85](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/serden85/32/2138_2.png) [@serden85](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/serden85)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 11:01am UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/controlling-working-directory-for-jobcomposer-jobs/3420/14 "2024-07-25T11:01:06Z")

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Sorry, I didn’t pay enough attention to your words “This error happens when you navigate to the URL directly without going through the dashboards link”.

The fact is that I did the navigation bar configuration via \*.yml file in /etc/ood/config/ondemand.d/  
There were lines:

```auto
- title: "Custom-1"
    links:
      - title: "Custom-2"
        url: "/pun/sys/dashboard/activejobs"
      - title: "Custom-3"
        url: "/pun/sys/myjobs"
        new_tab: true

```

As soon as I returned to the standard menu using “- jobs” everything worked as it should.

Moreover, the OOD\_DATAROOT variables work with different path values:  
in /etc/ood/config/apps/dashboard/env  
OOD\_DATAROOT=“/home/$USER/ood/dashboard/”  
in /etc/ood/config/apps/myjobs/env  
OOD\_DATAROOT=“/home/$USER/ood/myjobs/”

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jeff.ohrstrom](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/jeff.ohrstrom/32/136_2.png) [@jeff.ohrstrom](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/jeff.ohrstrom)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 1:14pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/controlling-working-directory-for-jobcomposer-jobs/3420/15 "2024-07-25T13:14:19Z")

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> [@serden85](#):
>
> As soon as I returned to the standard menu using “- jobs” everything worked as it should.

Thanks for the reply! I was worried for a second something may be up, but that makes sense. If you do wish to use a custom navigation bar for the job composer - this is the URL you should use (it’s the same URL as the default navigation bar link).

```yaml
url: '/pun/sys/dashboard/apps/show/myjobs'

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![serden85](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/serden85/32/2138_2.png) [@serden85](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/serden85)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 1:43pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/controlling-working-directory-for-jobcomposer-jobs/3420/16 "2024-07-25T13:43:49Z")

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I put this link, everything works. Thank you!

We discussed this topic in great detail, I have only one last question - is “Restart the webserver” in the Help menu equals to “systemctl restart apache2” ?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jeff.ohrstrom](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/jeff.ohrstrom/32/136_2.png) [@jeff.ohrstrom](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/jeff.ohrstrom)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 2:34pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/controlling-working-directory-for-jobcomposer-jobs/3420/17 "2024-07-25T14:34:52Z")

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> [@serden85](#):
>
> is “Restart the webserver” in the Help menu equals to “systemctl restart apache2” ?

No. Everyone has their own Per-User-Nginx (PUN) behind apache. You’re bouncing your own nginx instance when you ‘restart the webserver’. So you’re not affecting other users PUNs or affecting other users by bouncing apache2.

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/osc/original/2X/b/bae70bd0ed39a3ae769c2108155f4cb3e9da8385.png) [@system](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2025, 2:35pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/controlling-working-directory-for-jobcomposer-jobs/3420/18 "2025-01-21T14:35:28Z")

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Closed on January 21, 2025, 2:35pm UTC

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