IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR ALL USERS:
By using this software you accept responsibility for all charges that are incurred with your cloud provider(s).
Please read the following thread for important information regarding VMX:
viewtopic.php?f=189&t=10267
This Alpha of the VMX extension for Deadline is compatible with Deadline 6.2.0.18 (Beta 4) and later. Please read the following threads for important information regarding Deadline 6.2:
viewtopic.php?f=85&t=11423
viewtopic.php?f=85&t=11422
Installation
- First make sure you have installed Deadline 6.2.0.18 (Beta 4) or later.
- Download the .zip file attached below and extract it.
The .zip file contains the Alpha build folder that has all the files necessary to run the VMX Balancer and specialized Deadline Monitor that exposes the VMX settings. The recommended location for the Alpha build folder is in the “C:\Program Files\Thinkbox” folder. For example, right-click the .zip file and choose “Extract All…” and then browse to the “C:\Program Files\Thinkbox” folder. DO NOT extract these files on top of your “Deadline6” folder. Inside the Thinkbox folder you should see the “Deadline6” folder (where Deadline 6.2.0.18 (Beta 4) or later was already installed) and also the “VMX 6.2.c9f17 (Alpha 4)” folder. The Balancer can be run by double-clicking the deadlinebalancer.exe file inside the bin folder.
Cloud-related Plugins Installation
Additionally, the Alpha zip file contains a folder named BalancerPlugins. The contents of this folder should replace the contents of the [repository root]/balancer folder of your Deadline repository. Similarly the Alpha zip file contains a folder named CloudPlugins. The contents of this folder should replace the contents of the [repository root]/cloud folder of your Deadline repository. If you have any questions about this process, please e-mail us, or post a question to the VMX Alpha board.
What’s New in VMX 6.2.c9f17 (Alpha 4)
General
- Added Google Cloud plugin for Deadline.
- Minor improvements to other cloud plugins.
- Bug Fix: Slave name truncation issue fixed.
Monitor
- Added ability to assign pools to VM instances via the Group Mappings.
- Added ability to customize the VM instance names for a Cloud Region. Within a given Cloud Region’s configuration, Provider Configuration tab, in the Customization group. Note that VMX adds “-XXXXXX” hex values to the end of instance names to make them unique.
- UI: Various fixes to Configure Cloud Providers dialog.
Balancer
- Default Balancer Algorithm plugin is now exposed. Use it as-is or use it as a template for your own Balancer algorithm.
- Tweaked the Default Balancer Algorithm to avoid oscillations when the demand for multiple groups is nearly identical.
- UI: Fix to ctrl-f Find so that the log scrolls to the highlighted line.
Just a heads-up to those that may be testing Google cloud setups. We’ve discovered a couple small gotchas to watch out for:
First, be sure to replace the Google plugin folder in the [Repository]/cloud folder with the one found under [VMX Alpha]/CloudPlugins to ensure you have the latest version of the plugin.
The Google plugin uses OAuth, which is a web-based authentication system. This currently requires port 8080 to work properly. Make sure your firewall is permitting traffic on 8080. Also, make sure that no other services are using port 8080. TeamViewer, Skype, and other services often use port 8080. In the future, we will either change the port used by Google Plugin OAuth or make it a configuration option.
If you have any trouble getting the Google plugin-in to work, please post on the Alpha forum or contact Thinkbox Support directly.
Actually it’s a good idea to replace all of the plugins whenever we release a need build. Things change in the plugins all the time and you might not have the most up to date features and bug fixes if you don’t replace the old plugins.