There was a problem with using BAT to trigger KNIME to run the workflow

Hello KNIME User,
The Task Scheduler is used to control the BAT to trigger KNIME workflow, but has been reporting errors since the upgrade to 5.2V. According to my observation, as long as two BATs are executed at the same time, an error will be reported, but I am not sure if this is the reason. Please help to see what the specific reasons are and whether there is a solution.
Thank you in advance!

BRs
Banksy

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Is there anyone who can help me?

@Banksy the same installation of knime cannot run twice at the same time.

Only option would be to have two installations with separate workspaces. If you have enough system resources.

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Hi @mlauber71
But I don’t have this problem with versions below 5.2, sometimes running two workflows at the same time.
And I couldn’t install two KNIEM software, so as soon as I opened the installation package, I was asked to uninstall the other one.

BRs
Banksy

There are two ways to install on the same computer: one is the normal installation method, and the other is to download compressed files and expand them into a folder.

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@Banksy you would not need to install anything. KNIME can just be installed by unzipping the package under windows or make a copy of the existing installation folder.

Not sure why it (seemed) to work until this version but generally only one instance of KNIME can run at the same time.

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@mlauber71 If I have multiple tasks, then I need to have two installations with separate workspaces to alternate tasks, right?

@Banksy question is could you put the workflows in a row an call them one by one, maybe thru a main workflow?

https://hub.knime.com/search?type=Workflow&tag=call,workflow&sort=best

@mlauber71 I have many tasks with Task Schedler to trigger BAT files to run KNIME workflow. Each task is executed at different time points, but some tasks are executed every half an hour or every hour, which inevitably conflicts with other tasks in time. In such cases, tasks will report errors. It will also affect the execution of subsequent tasks, which is a vicious circle, so I don’t quite understand what kind of task execution method you are talking about.
By the way, I couldn’t download the workflow you provided.

I couldn’t download the workflow you provided.

@tomljh I copied the entire KNIME installed folder to another path, but there were no installed nodes and no installed python.

@Banksy you can just start the knime.exe in the new folder and install everything you need. When you copied your original folder everything should be there. Having parallel versions of KNIME will involve some planning. Also you can download a new KNIME version as a ZIP file and just extract it to a new folder. You also will have to make sure the knime-workspace is a different one.

My idea with the sample workflow was to call one workflow from the other so as to make sure that the task is done. You can also build ins some controls or switches that make sure some data is already there.

The best way to deal with such things would be the KNIME Business Hub which is built for handling parallel jobs and cooperation.

@mlauber71 Do you mean to string all workflows together in one main workflow? Another problem is that I copied the installed KNIME file to another path, but why are all the installed nodes gone?

That would depend on your use case. But maybe bin together the ones which would run (nearly) in parallel. Such systems always involve planning and effort to make it robust. What happens when data is not there or something failed - how to recover?

Using KNIME with batch files is always some sort of hack and will require intensive planning.

Did you copy the whole installation folder?

@mlauber71

Each time I tried to restart a failed task by displaying a task error message on the screen.

I can’t open this link, I don’t know why.

Yes, I copied the entire KNIME folder from drive C

Me neither. Since you had problems with other links before maybe you have a proxy server or firewall? You could try a different browser maybe.

Concerning the other problem. Maybe you can provide a fresh logfile in debug mode. In the article about batch processes there also is a part how to set up a logging for the batch. Maybe this could help.

@mlauber71
Thank you for your help. I’ll try it.

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I was having similar problems with parallel workflow execution.
I also have workflows, which run several hours. This means parallel execution is bound to happen.
I wasn’t happy about the idea of running multiple installs and the business hub was too much of a financial stretch, unfortunately.

I am using the Nodepit Runner as scheduler now. If too much is going on at the same time it builds up a queue or you can add worker nodes to your environment. If you are able to spend 700$ a year for the license, this might be an option.

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@e2dboden
What is Nodepit Runner? I don’t know much about it. Could you tell me more about it, thank you

sorry about the late reply. Here´s a link to their webpage.
It´s basically a software that let´s you trigger knime workflows, similar to the Knime Team Plan.

Some advantages include API-triggers, Logging and On-Premise Availability (for when you need access to local databases).

@e2dboden
I can’t open the Docker and Docker Compose page