## Tracking Interactive Idle Time

> This note explains how to set up Grid Engine to track interactive idle time for desktop workstations. This is useful if you want to use desktop workstations only when the owner is not using it. If the owner returns and moves the mouse, the queue on this host is suspended along with the jobs currently running. When the system is again idle for 5 minutes (or any other amount of time), the jobs on the host will be resumed.
> It is necessary to first add the attribute to the host complex:

       iidle  ii   DOUBLE infinity   <=   NO   NO   0

> If you need more information on how to do this, see the appnote Attaching A Resource To A Host in Grid Engine.
> Then, you need to have a script (load sensor) to keep track of the current idle time on each host. A sample script is included below.
> Finally, in the main qmon window, click on "Cluster Configuration". Highlight either "global", or only certain hosts for this to run on, then click on "Modify". On the "General Settings" tab, add the path and name of the load sensor program to the load sensor box. Once OK is pressed, the load sensor will be automatically started on each host. This may take several minutes.

    #!/bin/sh

    # (c) 2000 Sun Microsystems, Inc
    #
    # idle.sh
    #
    # report interactive inactivity in seconds for SOLARIS 2.X
    #

    # invariant values
    myhost=`hostname`
    ARC=`$SGE_ROOT/util/arch`

    end=false
    while [ $end = false ]; do

       # ----------------------------------------
       # wait for an input
       #
       read input
       if [ $? != 0 ]; then
          end=true
          break
       fi

       if [ "$input" = "quit" ]; then
          end=true
          break
       fi

       # "filestat -atime" returns time of last access of given file
       # in seconds since 1/1/1970
       #
       kbdtime=`$SGE_ROOT/utilbin/$ARC/filestat -atime /dev/kbd`
       mousetime=`$SGE_ROOT/utilbin/$ARC/filestat -atime /dev/mouse`

       # "now" returns current time in seconds since 1/1/1970
       #
       now=`$SGE_ROOT/utilbin/$ARC/now`

       if [ "$kbdtime" -gt "$mousetime" ]; then
          idletime=`expr "$now" - "$kbdtime"`
       else
          idletime=`expr "$now" - "$mousetime"`
       fi

       echo "begin"
       echo "$myhost:iidle:$idletime"
       echo "end"
    done