[b]Important[/b]
Due to ongoing changes in the installers and the way we do auto-upgrades of Deadline, you must reinstall the Repository and Clients again. You DO NOT need to reinstall the MongoDB database.
If you have installed beta 6 or earlier, you MUST uninstall it first to remove the Deadline 6 bin folder from your PATH environment variable. After uninstalling, you should also manually remove the system deadline.ini file if it still exists. These are the locations of this file:
- Windows: %PROGRAMDATA%\Thinkbox\Deadline6\deadline.ini
- Linux: /var/lib/Thinkbox/Deadline6/deadline.ini
- Mac OSX: /Users/Shared/Thinkbox/Deadline6/deadline.ini
The need to uninstall the client first is necessary in this case because of changes we’ve made to allow different major versions of Deadline to run at the same time. This process should not be required for future 6.0 beta releases.
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What’s New In Deadline 6.0.49513 (Beta 7)
This release makes some significant changes, while also fixing bugs and adding more missing features. Here are the highlighted changes.
Deadline Bin Folder No Longer In PATH Environment Variable
Starting with beta 7, the Deadline bin folder will no longer be in the PATH environment variable. This is to avoid conflicts, particularily with the Qt libraries. Instead, the Deadline bin folder will be set in the new DEADLINE_PATH environment variable on Linux and Windows. On OSX, it will be stored in a DEADLINE_PATH file in /Users/Shared/Thinkbox.
In order to remove the existing Deadline bin folder from the PATH, you must uninstall the beta 6 clients first before installing the beta 7 clients. The beta 6 repository does NOT need to be uninstalled first.
All the integraged Deadline 6 submission scripts have been updated to use this new environment varaible, so you must reinstall them on your workstations. They have also been renamed to remove the “-” from their names. Having the “-” in the name didn’t work very well when trying to import the python-based submission scripts.
Running Different Deadline Versions at the Same Time
We have made some additional changes to allow Deadline 6 and Deadline 5 to run at the same time:
- The Deadline Launcher service name now contains the major version number.
- The default ports are now calculated based on the major version number.
- The default for the MongoDB name now contains the major version number.
These changes should also allow future Deadline versions to run concurrently (ie: 6 & 7).
Note that in order to reset the defalut ports, you may need to delete the current system deadline.ini file on your machine (even after an uninstall). These are the locations of this file:
- Windows: %PROGRAMDATA%\Thinkbox\Deadline6\deadline.ini
- Linux: /var/lib/Thinkbox/Deadline6/deadline.ini
- Mac OSX: /Users/Shared/Thinkbox/Deadline6/deadline.ini
New User Group System
You can now manage the Deadline user groups from the Tools menu in the Monitor while in super user mode. Just select Tools -> Manage User Groups. Here, you can create new groups and set their permissions, and then add users to them. You can also edit the built in Everyone group to set the base permissions for all users.
Users can be a member of more than one group, and they will always take the most “open” permissions among the groups they belong to.
Layout and Filter Pinning System
In the Monitor, you can now “pin” monitor layouts from the View menu or the toolbar, making it easier to switch between layouts. Layouts can still be saved to disk and loaded in later as well.
In addition, filters for each panel type (jobs, tasks, etc) can be pinned using the filter dropdown button. If you pin a filter for one panel, all panels with the same type will have immediate access to those filters.
Deprecated Plugin System
Deadline 5 Python.NET plugins will now be compatible with Deadline 6, but the following must be added to the plugin’s dlint file:
DeprecatedMode=True
When DeprecatedMode is enabled, plugins will have access to the deprecated global functions, and the main function for pre/post job and task scripts will not be passed any parameters.
When DeprecatedMode is disabled, which is the default, the following changes will be in place:
- No global functions will be available, but they will all have equivalent DeadlinePlugin member functions or static *Utils functions.
- The main function for pre/post job and task scripts will now accept an instance of the DeadlinePlugin object as a parameter.
- A new PluginPreLoad.py script will run before the plugin script or any of the job pre/post task scripts in the same scope. This will allow it to set the environment for those scripts.
In addition, the PreLoad.py script name is now deprecated, and has been replaced with JobPreLoad.py.
There are no immediate plans to drop support for the deprecated version, but we won’t be maintaining it going forward. That means that any new API functions we add will only be added to the new version. This will allow clients to transition as necessary, without forcing it on them on day 1.
Finally, all plugins that are shipped with beta 7 have been updated to not run in DeprecatedMode.
Change Log
General Improvements
- Added a more flexible user group and permission system.
- All dialog boxes in all Deadline applications now use Qt’s button box, which orders the buttons as necessary based on the operating system.
- Job failure detection is now hooked up again.
- Python “print” statements in scripts now show up in the application logs.
- The “SocketOptionName” console warnings that appear on Linux and OSX for all Deadline applications is gone.
- Added option to Deadline’s Drive Mapping system to only map the drive if it is disconnected.
- Local user settings ini file (ie: for the cached Monitor layout) now have the major Deadline version number in their name.
Installer Improvements
- The installer no longer adds the Deadline bin folder to the PATH environment variable.
- On Linux and Windows, a DEADLINE_PATH environment variable is now created that stores the Deadline bin folder path.
- On OSX, a DEADLINE_PATH file is placed in /Users/Shared/Thinkbox that contains the Deadline bin folder path.
- The Repository installer’s default MongoDB database name is now deadline#db, where # is Deadline major version.
- The Client installer’s defaults for the Launcher and Auto-Config ports are now based off the Deadline major version.
- The Deadline Launcher service name (the internal and display name) has been changed to store the Deadline major version.
Monitor Improvements
- When tabifying panels, new panels are added to the end of the tab bar instead of the beginning.
- Filters can now be “pinned” so that they can be easily selected from the new Pinned Filter menu in a list’s filter dropdown menu.
- Monitory layouts can now be “pinned” so that they can easily be sleected form the new Pinned Layouts menu in the View menu, or in the toolbar.
- Right-click menu items now show their status in the Monitor’s status bar (some specific items still need a status message)
- Added options to the job, slave, and task right-click menus to view the reports.
- Added option to job right-click menu to fail a job.
- Added options to task right-click menu to fail a task, resume a failed task, and view output.
- Added Task ID column to job reports list.
- The job reports list indicated if a log is an event log or a render log.
- The Tools -> Options settings are now be hooked up.
- The Tools -> Manage Users settings are now hooked up.
- Fixed index errors that could occur when deleting a job from the job list.
- Sticky settings in submission scripts are now working again.
- Fixed traceback errors in the SlaveReportListWidget.
- Fixed an error when submitting from the Monitor that would occur if Python search paths were specified in the repository options.
- Fixed bugs in the Manage Groups dialog.
- Task and Job Report list filters are now maintained between job selections.
- The User Login dialog that can appear when the Monitor starts up now sorts the existing user names.
- The Monitor settings file is now purged of settings from old panels that have been closed.
- The dates for reports are now localized.
- Task normalized render time column is no longer blank if the render time is 0.
- Width of list box in repository options and other dialogs now grows to fit its contents as necessary.
- Changing the repository while in super user mode now disables super user mode.
- Fixed the defunct process issue when launching the Connect To Slave Log app from the slave list.
- Added Options toolbar button.
- The Monitor now updates a job properly if its properties are changed from another Monitor.
Launcher Improvements
- Since the Deadline bin folder is no longer in the PATH, the Launcher shouldn’t be trying to link to the wrong Qt libraries during an auto upgrade. If this is still a problem though, let us know!
- Fixed the defunct process issue when launching the Deadline apps through the Launcher.
- Fixed a threading issue.
- Made some improvements to the deadlinelauncherservice log on Linux.
Slave Improvements
- The render plugin is now reloaded if the .dlinit or .py file changes in the repository. This means a new job doesn’t have to be loaded before the changes are recognized.
- Fixed issues with resizing the Slave interface on OSX.
- Fixed issues with resizing the “Connect To Slave Log” interface on OSX.
- Listener thread only prints out errors to the log now when verbose logging is disabled.
Pulse Improvements
- Listener thread only prints out errors to the log now when verbose logging is disabled.
Command Improvements
- Python RuntimeWarnings that occurred when submitting a job with event plugins enabled have been fixed.
- Submission now fails if two auxiliary files have the same file name but are in different folders.
- The -selectlimitgroups and -selectmachinelist commands now work properly, so the integrated submission scripts that use them will allow you to select these values again.
Script API Improvements
- For render plugins, a PluginPreLoad.py script can be dropped into a plugin’s folder. This script will run before the main plugin script or any of the job pre/post task scripts in the same scope. This will allow it to set the Python environment for those scripts.
- For event plugins, a PreLoad.py script can be dropped into a plugin’s folder. This script will run before the main event plugin script in the same scope. This will allow it to set the Python environment for this script.
- For render plugins, the PreLoad.py script is now deprecated, and has been replaced with the JobPreLoad.py script.
- For render and event plugins, all global functions have been deprecated, and can ONLY be used if “DeprecatedMode=true” is set in the plugin’s dlinit file.
- The main function for pre/post job and task scripts will now accept an instance of the DeadlinePlugin object as a parameter. If “DeprecatedMode=true” is set in the plugin’s dlinit file, no parameters are passed to main.
- The Limit and Machine List controls in the ScriptDialog now work properly, so the Monitor submission scripts that use them will allow you to select these values again.
After Effects Improvements
- Fixed a stdout handler bug that would cause After Effects renders to fail.
Arnold Improvements
- Updated for Deadline 6.
Draft
- Draft 1.0 is now shipped with the Repository installer.
- The Draft event plugin should now be working again.
- Added basic progress handling.
Houdini
- Updated for Deadline 6.
Shotgun Improvements
- The Shotgun connection interface and event plugin should now be working again.
Mental Ray Standalone Improvements
- Updated for Deadline 6.
Softimage Improvements
- Added render executable entry for Softimage 2014.
VRay Standalone Improvements
- Updated for Deadline 6.
Vrimg2Exr Improvements
- Updated for Deadline 6.