Setting up InstaLOD Grid as Server

About this document

The core of an InstaLOD Grid network is the Server. It receives tasks from client nodes and distributes them across available workers. At the same time, the InstaLOD Grid Server provides a  web application that enables its user to leverage InstaLOD without installing any software. Setting up a Server can be done with just a few clicks using the command line through InstaLOD Pipeline or InstaLOD Studio.

Running a server via command line

Set the working directory to the InstaLOD Pipeline location using cd (change directory). To start an InstaLOD Grid Server, InstaLOD Pipeline needs to be executed with the -master argument:

InstaLODCmd -master -bind <host-ip:port>

The host-ip:port argument requires an IP address of a local network interface that the Server will be bound to. The host-ip is typically the local IP address of the machine and the port can be chosen arbitrarily.

In order to allow web users to execute mesh operations on the Server, a valid profile needs to be loaded. Profiles can be loaded by specifying the -profile argument followed by a filename:

-profile <filename>

The -profile command is identical to setting up profiles in InstaLOD Pipeline. Please consult the InstaLOD Pipeline user manual for more information.

The following command sets up a server using port 8080 and loads two profiles:

InstaLODCmd -master -bind 192.168.123.45:8080 -profile Profiles/Optimize.json -profile Profiles/Remesh.json 

 

Adding server users

The configuration of an InstaLOD Grid server is stored in a JSON file. InstaLOD Pipeline ships with a demo configuration file "server.json". To create a new server user, an entry in the 'Users' section of the configuration must be added:

"Users" : [
{
     "MachineKey" : "*",
     "Password" : "12345678",
     "Username" : "user1"
},
{
     "MachineKey" : "*",
     "Password" : "87654321",
     "Username" : "user2"
}]

For additional authentication security, the InstaLOD machine key can be used. If specified, a user can connect to the server only from a specific machine. To allow users to connect to the master server through the InstaLOD Grid web application, the wildcard * should be used as MachineKey.

Setting up a server via InstaLOD Studio

InstaLOD Studio can be used to configure a Server by being run in an alternative application mode. Open the 'Preferences' window, and in the 'Application' tab, switch the 'Application Mode' to 'Master'. After restarting InstaLOD Studio, the application will be run with a Server configuration window.

 

 

Configure the server by locating the InstaLOD Pipeline folder directory and choose the IP address and port that the server should be bound to. Select 'Add user...' to create a user in the InstaLOD Grid network.

• Name - login username
• Password - login password
• Machine Key - Enter a machine key, or use '*' to allow access to the account from any machine within the network. 

Profiles must be added, so they're available for processing via the web interface. Select 'Add profile...' and choose the preferred JSON profiles. When done, select 'Start' to run the server.