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# Cluster Manager

The Cluster Manager is the central application used to control and monitor your Gurobi compute cluster. With the Cluster Manager, you can process two types of client/server optimization tasks:

- Interactive optimization tasks to create an optimization session controlled remotely.

- Non-interactive optimization tasks to submit and optimize a model automatically as specified in a batch.

## Interactive Optimization

With an interactive optimization task, the client creates a session and all operations are controlled remotely. The client must stay connected until the session is released. The execution of an interactive task follows these steps:

- A client creates a Gurobi environment and triggers the allocation of an interactive job in the cluster. The client will be able to proceed only when the job has been successfully allocated and started. If the cluster is busy, the job may be added to the job queue until a slot becomes available in the cluster.

- Once the Gurobi environment is connected to the remote job, the client stays in control. The client uses the API to build the optimization model, set parameters, start the optimization, and retrieve the results. The client can also change the model and restart the optimization. It can also interrupt the optimization. All communication between the client and server happens behind the scenes.

- Finally, when the client has completed its work, it can release the environment. This will also release the job process running in the cluster. Note that, if the client has an issue or does not close the environment properly, the server will eventually detect that situation and automatically terminate the remote job.

Interactive tasks are best when you need precise control over the optimization process. It is also used by the command line tool `gurobi_cl` to execute and immediately report the engine log and get results.

## Non-Interactive Optimization

With a non-interactive optimization task, the client submits a batch specification and can also immediately disconnect. It can later query the status of the execution and retrieve the solution when the task is complete. The execution of a non-interactive task follows these steps:

- A client creates a batch Gurobi environment and builds an optimization model locally. Variables in the model must be tagged (with user-specified strings), to allow the solution to be interpreted later on.

- Once the model is built and optimization is started, the model and some additional information are uploaded to the Cluster Manager. A batch ID is returned, that allows the client to refer to that batch later (to check on status, retrieve the solution, etc.).

- The Cluster Manager is then in charge of creating a batch job that will be provisioned in the cluster to execute the optimization. The job process will get the model data from the Cluster Manager. It will then perform the optimization and finally store the results back into the Cluster Manager.

- The client (or another application) can use the batch ID to monitor the progress of that batch. The client does not need to maintain a connection with the server.

- Once the batch is complete, the client can retrieve the solution. The solution is exported as a JSON document which contains solution information for all of the tagged variables.

Non-interactive tasks are useful when the client program can simply build a model and later retrieve the solution, without the need for iteration. Non-interactive tasks are also recommended when the connection between the client and the server is not stable, or if the client is likely to disconnect before the optimization run completes. A batch can also be submitted using the command line tool `grbcluster` or by using a simple drag-and-drop interface of the Cluster Manager. In this case, a batch defines all the input files and all the result files that are required.

## Accounts

In order to access the Cluster Manager, clients need to be authenticated and an account must have been created. There are four user roles:

- Standard user

  A Remote Services client submits jobs or batches to the cluster. This is done through a user application or through the Gurobi command-line tool gurobi_cl or `grbcluster`, or using the Cluster Manager Web UI (drag-and-drop interface). Standard users can monitor the optimization tasks by listing jobs and batches, accessing the history, displaying the log of a job, etc.

- Administrator

  An administrator monitors and manages the flow of jobs through a Remote Services cluster. Examples of administrator commands include aborting jobs, changing cluster parameters and checking licenses.

- System administrator

  The system administrator installs and manages the Gurobi Remote Services cluster and the different components. The system administrator will need to configure and start services on one or more machine as necessary. The system administrator is also in charge of managing the user accounts. An administrator is able to abort and discard any jobs or batches.

- Read-only user

  Read-only users can only monitor the optimization tasks by listing jobs and batches, accessing the history, displaying the log of a job, etc. They are not allowed to submit jobs or batches to the cluster neither can they abort jobs of other users.

- Dashboard
- Cluster Jobs
- Batches
- Clusters
- Accounts
- Settings
- User Menu

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