Watchdog Client:

Dogpound Server :: Configuration:

Initialization File:

All of the Dogpound configuration information is stored in the dogpound.ini file in the same folder as the dogpound.exe. This file will be automatically created after closing Dogpound. The only user editable line in the ini file is the communication port.

Port Settings :

By default the server launches using the port 8888. If you need to change this you can do so by shutting down the server, then editing the "#Set Communication Port" line in the dogpound.ini file.

Pool Manager:

The next step to setting up the Dogpound server is define pools for the render nodes. To do so launch the RenderDog Client on all of the render nodes that will be part of the system. Once those have been successfully launched and show in the Render Client window, then open the Pool Manager under Settings/Pool Manager... Right click in the window on the left labeled "Current Pools" and select "Add Pool". Type the name of the new pool and hit Enter. Select the Pool to add the render nodes to, then select the Nodes to be part of the pool and press the "<-- Add" button. The nodes should now be listed under the name of the pool. Click here for additional information on the Pool Manager.

Software Versions:

Under the Settings menu select the "Software Settings..." item. This will open the Software Versions and Locations dialog. Here the paths to the software locations are defined. To add a version type in the full path to the executable file that needs to be launched. This location should be the same on every RenderDog node (i.e. C:\Program Files\AliasWavefront\Maya5.0\bin\Render.exe). Type in the version name in the Version Name edit field. Lastly enter the number of launches this version is allowed to have in the Launch Limit field. This will restrict this version to however many number of launches are allowed. This is useful when a limited number of licenses are available. One all the information is entered, press the "Add Version" button and the new version should exist in the version list. Now press "OK" to close the dialog box and the version information will be propagated out to the clients. Click here for additional information on the Software Version and Locations dialog.

Log Settings:

Again under the settings menu select the "Log Settings..." item. This dialog allows you to define the directory where the log files will be kept, the maximum number of logs to keep, and the duration to keep the log files. Press the "Browse" button to select the directory that the logs should be created in. The most important aspect of this is that the Log Files Location needs to be recognized as the same path on all machines in the system including machines running Watchdog and Renderdog, as well as the Dogpound server. What this mean is that if the Dogpound server sees the Log Files Location as F:\ENG\Logs, then all machines in the system must recognize F:\ENG\Logs as the same directory. As the RenderDogs will be the clients writing the logs there is no benefit to having the log directory on the same machine as the Dogpound server. A possible location for the log directory is on the file server that the render nodes will be retrieving data from. Click here for additional information on the Log Settings dialog.

Helper Applications:

Lastly select the "Helper Applications..." item under the Settings menu. This dialog specifies the locations of applications such as fcheck and vnc which help to extend the functionality of the Watchdog system. Click here for additional information on the Helper Application dialog.