LS-PrePost is an advanced pre and post-processor that is delivered free with LS-DYNA. The user interface is designed to be both efficient and intuitive. LS-PrePost runs on Windows, Linux, and Unix utilizing OpenGL graphics to achieve fast rendering and XY plotting. The latest builds can be downloaded from LSTC's FTP Site.
The prefered way of accessing LS-Prepost is through OnDemand's Glenn desktop application. This gives you a preconfigured enviornment with GPU acceleration enabled.
LS-PrePost is available on both Glenn and Oakley clusters. A module was created for LS-Prepost 4.0 on Oakley, and can be loaded with 'module load lspp'. All other versions can be loaded with the corresponding dyna modules.
| Version | Glenn | Oakley |
|---|---|---|
| v2.3 | X | |
| v3.0 | X | |
| v3.2 | X | |
| v4.0 | X |
Below are instructions on running LS-PrePost on Oakley through Glenn's OnDemand desktop interface with GPU acceleration enabled. To run LS-PrePost with a slower X-tunneling procedure, see the specified instructions below.
1) Log in to OnDemand with your HPC username and password.
2) Launch the Glenn Desktop from "Apps" menu.
3) Open a Terminal window (Applications > Accessories > Terminal)
4) Type the following command to connect to oakley:
ssh -X username@oakley.osc.edu
* Where "username" is your username.
5) Once logged in to Oakley, submit an interactive job with the following command:
qsub -X -I -l nodes=1:ppn=12:gpus=2:vis -l walltime=hh:mm:ss
* pick a walltime that is close to the amount of time you will need to for working in the GUI application.
6) Once your job starts, make a note of the hostname for the compute node your job is running on. You can find this information by typing the following command:
hostname
7) Open another Terminal window, and type the following commands:
module load VirtualGL
vglconnect username@job-hostname
* job-hostname is the information you found in step 6; your command might look something like this, for example:
vglconnect ahahn@n0656.ten.osc.edu
You'll be asked a password to connect, which should be your HPC password.
8) Now, you should be connected to your running job's GPU node. Run the following commands to launch LS-PrePost version 4.0:
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/MATLAB/R2013a/sys/opengl/lib/glnxa64
/usr/local/lstc/ls-prepost/lsprepost4.0_centos6/lspp4
At startup LS-PrePost displays a graphical interface for model generation and results post-processing.
The following procedure will result in a much slower and GUI interface, but may be useful if the above instructions are not working. It can be done completely from the command line, with no need for logging into OnDemand. You may need to edit your terminal settings to enabled x11 forwarding.
1) Login to Oakley or Glenn with X11 forwarding enabled
ssh -X username@oakley.osc.edu
or
ssh -X username@glenn.osc.edu
2) Submit a Interactive job
qsub -I -X -l nodes=1:ppn=12 -l walltime=hh:mm:ss
and wait for it to start. Use ppn=8 for Glenn.
3) Load the LS-Dyna module and start up LS-PrePost application
module load ls-dyna lspp3
For LS-Prepost 4.0 on Oakley, use the following commands instead:
module load lspp lspp4
A x11 window should pop up. If you get a error along the lines of:
Error: Unable to initialize gtk, is DISPLAY set properly?
Double check that you:
1) logged in with x11 forwarding enabled
2) have configured your x11 settings for your terminal
3) included the -X with the qsub command
4) have a x11 client running on your computer (Xming, Xorg, XQuarts, etc.).
Documentation for LS-PrePost may be obtained at: http://www.lstc.com/lspp/