Vray Hqueue troubles - Network Rendering

[rorys]

Hi all, I am currently trying to set up a small renderfarm for my Studio but running into a dead end with getting Vray rend jobs to run.

The error messages showed in the Hqueue log is as follows:

 Accessing "C:\Program Files\Side Effects Software\Houdini 17.5.293\bin\hython" ...
Can't open dophints.cmd

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Program Files\Side Effects Software\Houdini 17.5.293\houdini\scripts\hqueue\hq_submit_renders.py", line 1, in <module>
    import hqlib
  File "C:\Program Files\Side Effects Software\Houdini 17.5.293\houdini\scripts\hqueue\hqlib.py", line 15, in <module>
    import hqrop
ImportError: No module named hqrop

I'm guessing that this error comes from the server, not one of the clients?

We both the original hqrop.py file as well as the edits shown in the hqueue documentation and it makes no difference. I really dont know where to go from here, anyone managed to solve this issue?

[Gosho.Genchev]

Hey there,

we recently published a guide for this here: https://docs.chaosgroup.com/display/...ueue+and+V-Ray

However, this seems like a Houdini-related error. Can you please first verify your setup is working with Mantra ?

All the best!

[rorys]

We followed the step by step guide during the initial setup but this issue persists. I can confirm that the hqueue works fine in mantra.

The only difference is your step by step is using Houdini version 17.5.327 whilst we are on 17.5.293 would this cause the issues we are seeing?

[Gosho.Genchev]

No, I don't think that would cause any problems. On the contrary, I was using a newer Houdini build while setting things up to check for problems anyway.

To be fair, I have no clue either so I'll try to reproduce it. Could you please provide me with the following info:
1. Operating systems of the client (slave) machines
2. Operating system of the server machine
3. Operating system of the machine hosting the Hqueue repository
4. Operating system of the artist/workstation machine submitting the jobs
5. Is Houdini installed individually for every slave or placed on the network ?
6. Is V-Ray copied over locally to the slave machines or somewhere on the network ?
7. A screenshot of the environment variables setup on the HQ ROP (like this one https://docs.chaosgroup.com/download...4757000&api=v2 )

Apologies for bombarding you with questions

All the best!

[rorys]

Not a Problem at all, thanks for the help!

1. Windows 10 1x(1903) 2x(1809)
2. Windows 10 (1809)
3. Windows server 2012 R2
4. Windows 10 (1809)
5. Individually
6. Network location
7. see attached

Inside the vray folder is the folder structure from the vray for houdini download.

Cheers!

[Gosho.Genchev]

I'm setting things up at the moment. Meanwhile, can you please try using forward ( / ) instead of backward slashes ( \ ) in the VFH_ROOT path ?

IIRC, python expects // for network paths, and the entire HQueue setup is based around Python.

[rorys]

Thanks for the help, but unfortunatley there were no Changes with using forward (/) slashes.

Even though its an error loading the hqrop.py file (a houdini specific fil) the exact same setup works fine using a mantra rop on the render farm.

[Gosho.Genchev]

I see.

It's definitely something in the environment variables setup breaking things. The guide uses a Linux Server/Client setup so when I get it working with Windows machines, I'll ping you and update the docs page as well. Hopefully in the next hour or two.

[Gosho.Genchev]

I love dealing with environment variables ...

Managed to get the same error when I copied the strings from the guide. As I was copying them, I realized a ' : ' is used to separate the individual paths. That's how Linux does it. Windows expects you to use ' ; '.

Can you please replace all colons with semicolons and try again ? Doing so resolved the problem on my end.

I've also attached a HIP file with HQueue Renderer setup here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QW_...ew?usp=sharing

Cheers!

[rorys]

Same Here!

We have success here! however we now have a new hurdle.

Can you try your setup with a frame range? our Vray ROP now looks the same but is throwing this error on hqueue:

 Accessing "C:\Program Files\Side Effects Software\Houdini 17.5.293\bin\hython" ... 
Loading .hip file \\XX.XXX.X.XX\Rendering/HQUEUE/HQRepository/projects/test 1/test 01.hip.
Warning: Could not determine frame range from '/out/vray' node. Using current frame instead.
PROGRESS: 0%PROGRESS: 100%

Cheers,
Rory

[Gosho.Genchev]

Ah, I never managed to track this warning down - it's something from the python submission scripts. Can you please confirm it's actually *not* rendering the entire frame range ? It works on my end, despite the warning.

[rorys]

it isn't rendering any frames at all. I'm also getting intermittent errors relating to the following:

 Accessing "C:\Program Files\Side Effects Software\Houdini 17.5.293\bin\hython" ... 
No licenses could be found to run this application.
    Please check for a valid license server host

but I think thats a firewall issue

[Gosho.Genchev]

Hmm, right, so regarding the windows setup, there are a couple of things you may need to do to get HQueue running. I did not include this in the guide (firewall setup and service configuration) because it would be specific to your facility, and I'm absolutely not qualified to recommend setups that may cause security issues.

Before continuing, can you please check if renders from the Mantra ROP are actually successfully executed and images are saved in the repository ? I know I already asked but please double-check


With that said, here's what I did to get things running here:

The firewall ports 5000 and 5001 are opened on the HQueue Server machine. I used this guide: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/ho...-10,36451.html

Furthermore, Houdini Clients run under a service called HQueueClient - you can find it in "Windows+R -> services.msc".
By default, it's running under NT_AUTHORITY. You can do one of 2 things:
1. either give NT_AUTHORITY permission to access files, folders and execute programs or
2. run the service under a user with administrator privilege

I got it running with (1) after dozens of tweaks and searching on the web, and I have no clue which one of those actually resolved the problem. I believe I had to tweak something in the Security section of the windows Group policy (search for Edit Group Policy in windows start menu) but for the life of me I can't recall what it was.

I'm currently running with (2) - I went to Services -> HQueueClient->Properties->Log On->This account and I gave it my user name and password. The process is described here: https://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini/...ccount_windows

[Gosho.Genchev]

Warning: Could not determine frame range from '/out/vray' node. Using current frame instead.

I managed to reproduce this after removing the V-Ray for Houdini folder from the repository. Looks like this happens when V-Ray is not loaded - the V-Ray Renderer ROP is converted to a Merge which has none of the options.

Can you please double-check that the VFH_ROOT variable is pointing to the correct folder ?

Cheers!

[rorys]

The whole thing works for Mantra render Jobs, all render elements are present and all clients are working. We already have the service setup with administrator rights for all clients and the server.

As soon as we export a vray render job we just get errors about no licenses available.

 Accessing "C:\Program Files\Side Effects Software\Houdini 17.5.293\bin\hython" ... 
No licenses could be found to run this application.
    Please check for a valid license server host

Just to check what licenses are required for this to work? Is this error relating to Houdini licenses or vray?