Ansys Cloud Direct - Running a Job & Managing Files

July 11, 2023 Dan Dart

Example CFX Model running on ANSYS Cloud Direct
In this example, a CFX axial fan model with two design variations will be uploaded to the Cloud. The solve will complete on the Cloud and the results will be archived and downloaded to the local workstation. An In-browser interactive Cloud Desktop will be launched with 120 cores. This will result in freeing local resources for more than two days as well as retrieving and analyzing the results right away the next morning by launching the job at the end of the day and letting the job run over-night.

The first step is to prepare your model locally.
For this model, the file archive (Workbench>File>Archive…) will be uploaded from the local workstation. But prior to launching the Cloud Resources, Prepare your model locally and archive it for the most cost-effective workflow. Open the model and check the Setup and Solution Status.

You may want to rename the file, in this case the revision was updated and a “c” was appended to the name to indicate it is a file that will be transferred to the Cloud.

By inspecting the Workbench Project Schematic, you can see the model is not quite ready to upload and run as the Solution branches have the blue question marks in them. In this example, it is necessary to Right Click and choose reset on the Solution Cells for both A and B. If Solutions Controls are present in the CFX Preprocesor, enter CFX Pre and remove any existing Solution Controls. Right click on the Solution Cells of A and B and select Edit to launch the CFX Solver Controls. Select 120 Partitions and Intel Local Parallel for A and B. These models run in 2 hrs 24 minutes with Intel Local Parallel (The image shows Intel MPI Distributed Parallel). Note: this particular model ran faster with “Large Problem” turned on.

Once the model is set up with the appropriate configuration, a good practice is to check that units are consistent for command objects, all output settings to reduce data are as desired and all other checks are complete that might be done to avoid further editing on the Cloud. Once satisfied with the model, then Archive the file. Note the directory where you are saving the file.

You may wish to create a cloud_transfer directory on your local workstation. To reduce troubleshooting variables working with complex systems, I recommend avoiding spaces in your folder and file names.

Now, with your model archive saved…

First login with your credentials at Log in to https://cloud.ansys.com and then Choose Applications, then Cloud Desktop

The Hardware will be chosen with 120 Cores to match the settings in the Workbench Project file. The duration of the session set to 5.5 hours maximum because it is known the runs takes 4 hrs and 50 minutes and perhaps a bit of time needed for launch, setup and file uploads. I can stop the session once the solve completes to save costs if I am able at the time of completion. The Cloud will notify me when the run is complete via email. After you select files to upload, Click Start Session.

Clicking on Upload from your PC brings up a dialog box to select files. The archived file is selected for efficient upload to the cloud.

When you click on Start Session, the file will begin uploading and the hardware with the Ansys Version you choose will be prepared. Make sure to choose the version of Ansys you want to use as this cannot be changed unless you start a new Cloud session.

As the resources are being prepared, the Cloud portal will update progress. This can take several minutes, go get a cup of coffee, take a quick break, or multi-task on your current projects. In this example the 1.3 GB file was uploaded in 2 minutes and the system was ready for launch at 14 minutes.

When ready to launch using RDP or an Interactive browser session, the Icon for starting the Workbench session will appear as shown.

With an in-browser App, the file will automatically be moved to the Virtual Machine and the Desktop will appear as shown below.

Now, Workbench is opened and the file is saved as Rev003c to indicate it was run on the cloud. The CFX Solve Process settings have already been assigned in the Solution cell with 120 Partitions/Cores.
When you open the Archive file, navigate to the Cloud VM location which is the local F: Drive
 

 
For CFX, You can verify your settings by right clicking on Solution and Edit to run the CFX Solver Manger.
 
When the Solution cells show yellow lightening bolts, you can select update to run the entire Project, both A and B along with the Results CFD Post.
 

 
You can launch the CFX Solve Manager and monitor the results. One the runs are complete, notice all green check-marks will appear in the Solution and Results cells.


 
Solver runs complete
 

 
Save and archive your Workbench Project., You could also skip the archive step, instead selecting all results folders and the saved Workbench Project to download.
 
File Management:
Make sure to read through or at least skim the section on file management in the Ansys_Cloud_Guide.pdf
 
You can download this document from the Downloads section of the Cloud Portal.

Here is a snapshot of a key section of the Ansys Document:
Job Data is stored on the VM (Virtual Machine), you can move it to the Cloud Storage or vice-versa as shown below.
 
After the job solver run are complete and you’ve saved your work, make sure to retrieve your results, via results files, the project files and folders or use Ansys Workbench archives before deleting your job. Once the job is deleted, the files on the VM will not be available.

 
Note the Files Menu allows you to toggle between Jobs Data and Personal Data.
You can select files, copy them between Jobs and Personal Data and download to your local workstation.
When you select items to download, you can choose where on your local workstation to save files.

About the Author

Dan Dart

Senior Support Engineer

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