What is the correct way to kill MPI program on Windows?

[hsu__jim]

Hi:

I install Intel MPI 2019 update 7 on Windows 10 professional. Then I run IMB-MPI1.exe by the following command.

mpiexec -localonly -n 4 IMB-MPI1.exe

I know that using Ctrl+C in the same console window will kill all related processes (mpiexec.exe, hydra_pmi_proxy.exe, and four IMB-MPI1.exe).

But how to kill MPI program by other program ?

I have tried 2 ways but both of them can't kill MPI program clean.

1. taskkill /F /PID {process id of mpiexec.exe}   --> mpiexec.exe is killed and returned, but hydra_pmi_proxy.exe and IMB-MPI1.exe are still alive.

2. Send Ctrl+C event to mpiexec.exe by another program. I use the code from https://github.com/alirdn/windows-kill and send SIGINT to mpiexec.exe --> mpiexec.exe is killed and returned, but hydra_pmi_proxy.exe and IMB-MPI1.exe are still alive.

For Intel MPI 2018 on Windows, just kill mpiexec.exe and all related processes (mpiexec.exe, pmi_proxy.exe, IMB_MPI1.exe) are killed.

regards,

Jim

[PrasanthD_intel]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for reporting your observation.

We have also observed that killing the mpiexec.exe doesn't kill its related processes in IMPI 2019u7. However, in IMPI 2018u5  it kills all the related processes.

We will contact the engineering team regarding this change in behavior.

Meanwhile, you can try killing one of the executable processes of IMB-MPI1.exe using taskkill, which will kill all the related processes.

Regards

Prasanth 

[hsu__jim]

Hi Prasanth:

Thanks for the information. If there is any update of Intel MPI 2019, please let me know.

This issue is very important for us, since many of our customers have VPN issue (https://software.intel.com/en-us/forums/intel-clusters-and-hpc-technology/topic/852451#).

We want to upgrade to Intel MPI 2019 as soon as possible when this "clean kill" issue is resolved.

regards,

Jim

[PrasanthD_intel]

Hi Jim,

The Intel 2019u7 follows specifications of MPI and the specification doesn't define the behavior when the process manager is gets killed.

We are transferring your query to the concerned engineering team.

Regards

Prasanth

[hsu__jim]

Hi Prasanth:

Thanks for the information. 

If the release date of this update is determined, please let me know, thank you!

regards,

Jim

[Michael_Intel]

Hi Jim,

We have created an internal defect tracker to the problem, while there is a simple workaround to kill one of the target ranks instead of mpiexec.

Also, as Prasanth already pointed out, that behavior is not covered by the MPI Standard.

Best regards,

Michael

[Michael_Intel · Accepted solution]

The product fix is expected for Intel MPI 2019 update 9.

This issue has been resolved and we will no longer respond to this thread. If you require additional assistance from Intel, please start a new thread. Any further interaction in this thread will be considered community only