qmsg(1B)

💌 NAME 💌

qmsg — write message string into one or more job output files.

Okay so this is the qmsg(1B) manual page from PBS Professional, and it’s literally the “send a little note into your job’s output” command. Bestie, it’s giving messenger girl for your jobs, and I’m kind of obsessed. 💖

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

qmsg [-E] [-O] <message string> <job ID> [<job ID> ...]
qmsg --version

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

So qmsg writes a message string into one or more output files of the job. Typically this is done to leave an informative message in the output of the job. Also called “sending a message to a job” — yes, that’s the whole nickname vibe. 💌

Here’s the important mechanic, no cap: the qmsg command writes messages into the files of jobs by sending a Message Job batch request to the batch server that owns the job. The qmsg command does not directly write the message into the files of the job. It’s the middlewoman, not the file-writer. 🫶

The qmsg command can be used on jobs and subjobs, but not on job arrays or ranges of subjobs.

🚨 Caveat check, bestie: jobs and subjobs? slay. Job arrays or ranges of subjobs? absolutely not, not today. 🚫💅

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

• -E — The message is written to the standard error of each job.
• -O — The message is written to the standard output of each job.
• --version — The qmsg command returns its PBS version information and exits. This option can only be used alone.
• (no options) — The message is written to the standard error of each job.

🦋 OPERANDS 🦋

• message string — The message to be written. String. First operand. If the string contains blanks, the string must be quoted. If the final character of the string is not a newline, a newline character is added when written to the job’s file.
• job ID — The job(s) to receive the message string. This operand follows the message string operand. Can be a job or subjob. Cannot be a job array or range of subjobs. The qmsg command accepts one or more job ID operands.

Format for job:

<sequence number>[.<server name>][@<server name>]

Format for subjob. Note that a subjob has square brackets around its index number:

<sequence number>[<index>][.<server name>][@<server name>]

🩹 STANDARD ERROR 🩹

The qmsg command writes a diagnostic message to standard error for each error occurrence. One error occurrence, one diagnostic message — that’s the rule. 😭✨

🔥 EXIT STATUS 🔥

• Zero — Upon success.
• Greater than zero — Upon failure.

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

• qsub(1B)
• pbs_msgjob(3B)

PBS Professional — Local manual, dated 6 May 2020 — qmsg(1B) signing off. mwah 💋✨