Setting the Execution Host in a SoftBench Tool

SoftBench Builder and SoftBench Debugger allow you to specify an Execution Host for subprocesses started by that tool. For example in SoftBench Builder, you can specify that the build program (such as make) be executed on another system by setting the compile host to that system name. SoftBench Builder is run on the same system as SoftBench, but make would run on the specified compile host.

Before you can set the execution host in a SoftBench tool, you need to set up the following:

SoftBench should be installed on both systems.
Both systems need write access to a common directory for SoftBench Subprocess Control (SPC) validation. The default location is /var/tmp on the remote system. During authentication, the SPC process creates a temporary file in that directory to verify the user's identity on both systems.
Refer to “The SPC Authentication Directory ” for more information about this directory.
Data required by the tool must be mounted or automountable on both systems. This may include:
- data directories to be accessed by SoftBench
- users' home directories
- the SPC authentication directory
- system include directories
See “Using SoftBench with Remote Data ” for more information.
User and group ID numbers must match on all systems involved.
Depending on the tool, special configuration may be required. See the sections that follow for tool-specific requirements.

See “Customizing Subprocess Control ” for more information on how SoftBench sets up a remote process.

Compile Host Requirements for SoftBench Builder

In addition to the general requirements in “Setting the Execution Host in a SoftBench Tool ”, you need to set up the following before you can use a remote compile host from SoftBench Builder:

The directory where SoftBench was installed on the remote compile host needs to be accessible through NFS from the host where SoftBench is running.
Include directories on the remote system need to be NFS-mounted or automountable (for error browsing).
To set the SoftBench Builder remote compile host in a network of heterogeneous systems, make sure your login shell's PATH is defined to contain a mixture of the PATH variables required on the types of systems you want to access.

Execution Host Requirements for SoftBench Debugger

You can use the "Options:Debug Host..." menu to specify that DDE and the program being debugged should run on a different execution host than the one running the "softdebug" program.

The current working directory should be a directory path that works on both systems. For example, if your home directory is under /home on one system and under /users on the other, you may need to change your local workspace root in the project.

If the executable that you are debugging resides on a remote NFS file system (with respect to the execution host), the file system must be mounted with the "nointr" option set. See mount(1M) for details on this option.

Be careful when debugging across heterogeneous systems and architectures. Object files and executables may not be compatible in this case.

See “Setting the Execution Host in a SoftBench Tool ” for general requirements for setting the debug host.

Setting the Execution Host in a SoftBench Tool

Technical documentation

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Compile Host Requirements for SoftBench Builder

Execution Host Requirements for SoftBench Debugger