--- title: "Introduction to Slurm" description: "Slurm basics on CARC clusters: partitions, interactive jobs, and your first batch script." type: Guide tags: - Slurm - Jobs - New users generated: by: "claude/fable-5" at: "2026-08-29T00:00:00Z" sources: - id: quickbytes resource: "https://github.com/UNM-CARC/QuickBytes/blob/master/Intro_to_slurm.md" title: "UNM-CARC QuickBytes: Intro_to_slurm.md" author: "team:unm-carc" last_modified: "2026-07-06T13:37:22-06:00" --- # Introduction to Slurm ## Getting Started For a general introduction to Slurm — including an overview of its architecture, key commands (`sinfo`, `squeue`, `srun`, `sbatch`, `scancel`, `scontrol`), and basic job submission examples — refer to the **[official Slurm Quick Start User Guide](https://slurm.schedmd.com/quickstart.html){target=_blank}**. The guide is well-maintained and covers the core concepts you need to get up and running. The sections below supplement that guide with information specific to CARC Easley at the University of New Mexico. --- ## CARC Easley Partitions When you run `sinfo` on Easley, you will see output similar to the following: ```bash [username@easley ~]$ sinfo ``` ``` PARTITION AVAIL TIMELIMIT NODES STATE NODELIST general* up 2-00:00:00 1 comp easley002 general* up 2-00:00:00 4 mix- easley[008,015,018,044] general* up 2-00:00:00 8 mix easley[003-004,012-014,016,020,023] general* up 2-00:00:00 34 alloc easley[001,005-007,009-011,017,019,021-022,024-043,046-048] general* up 2-00:00:00 1 down easley045 bigmem up 2-00:00:00 1 mix easley050 bigmem up 2-00:00:00 1 alloc easley049 h100 up 2-00:00:00 1 mix- easley051 h100 up 2-00:00:00 1 plnd easley054 h100 up 2-00:00:00 2 alloc easley[052-053] l40s up 2-00:00:00 1 mix easley055 l40s up 2-00:00:00 2 alloc easley[056-057] interactive up 4:00:00 1 comp easley002 interactive up 4:00:00 5 mix- easley[008,015,018,044,051] interactive up 4:00:00 1 plnd easley054 interactive up 4:00:00 10 mix easley[003-004,012-014,016,020,023,050,055] interactive up 4:00:00 39 alloc easley[001,005-007,009-011,017,019,021-022,024-043,046-049,052-053,056-057] interactive up 4:00:00 1 down easley045 debug up 1:00:00 1 comp easley002 debug up 1:00:00 5 mix- easley[008,015,018,044,051] debug up 1:00:00 1 plnd easley054 debug up 1:00:00 10 mix easley[003-004,012-014,016,020,023,050,055] debug up 1:00:00 39 alloc easley[001,005-007,009-011,017,019,021-022,024-043,046-049,052-053,056-057] debug up 1:00:00 1 down easley045 scavenger up 2-00:00:00 1 comp easley002 scavenger up 2-00:00:00 9 mix- easley[008,015,018,044,051,060-063] scavenger up 2-00:00:00 1 plnd easley054 scavenger up 2-00:00:00 10 mix easley[003-004,012-014,016,020,023,050,055] scavenger up 2-00:00:00 41 alloc easley[001,005-007,009-011,017,019,021-022,024-043,046-049,052-053,056-059] scavenger up 2-00:00:00 1 down easley045 ``` Key partitions you may have access to: - **general** — The default community partition. Maximum wall time of 2 days. Use this if you are not a member of a specific condo group. - **debug** — Short jobs only (4-hour limit). Useful for testing scripts before submitting long runs. - **condo** — Purchased nodes available to specific research groups. If you are a member of a condo group, you likely already know your partition name. Check with your PI if you are unsure. - **scavenger** - Whenever a purchased/reserved node is not in use, this partition grabs them and allows them to be used by the public, but be warned you will be kicked off if the owner begins a job on it. To see detailed node information including CPU count, memory, and disk: ```bash sinfo -N -l ``` If you omit `--partition` (or `-p`) from your job submission, your job will be submitted to the `general` partition by default. --- ## Useful `squeue` Flags The official guide covers `squeue` basics. A few flags that are especially handy on a shared cluster: ```bash squeue --me # Show only your jobs squeue -p general # Show only jobs in the general partition squeue -u # Show jobs for a specific user ``` --- ## Canceling Jobs ```bash scancel # Cancel a specific job scancel --me # Cancel all of your jobs ``` --- ## Notes on Resource Requests - The more constraints you add to a job (e.g., requiring all tasks on the same node with `--ntasks-per-node`), the longer your queue time may be. Requesting resources spread across nodes often results in faster scheduling. - Memory is specified per CPU with `--mem-per-cpu` (in MB) or for the whole job with `--mem`. - Time limits use the format `D-HH:MM:SS` (e.g., `1-12:00:00` for 1 day and 12 hours) or `MM:SS` / `HH:MM:SS` for shorter jobs. --- ## Additional Resources - [Official Slurm Quick Start Guide](https://slurm.schedmd.com/quickstart.html){target=_blank} - [CARC at UNM Documentation](https://carc.unm.edu){target=_blank} - For help, contact the CARC support team or visit the CARC user portal. *This quickbyte was validated on 6/22/2026.* ## Video walkthrough **Slurm Job Scheduler** — from the [CARC video tutorials](../training/videos.md):

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