The tmpdir Setting in the Hosts File

The tmpdir setting specifies the scratch directory, where temporary files can be written. Examples are /scr or /temp. The file system on which this directory is mounted should be large enough for the largest temporary files, should be mounted locally, and should be writable by the user. The actual directory created for scratch files (the job directory) is tmpdir/username/uniquename, where tmpdir is the directory defined here and username is the user name.

If you do not specify tmpdir for a host, the tmpdir setting from the localhost entry is used, if there is one. Otherwise, the scratch directory is set to $HOME/.schrodinger/tmp on Linux and Mac OS X, and to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Schrodinger\tmp on Windows. The use of the home file system for large temporary files is discouraged in most places, so you should always ensure that tmpdir is defined for the hosts you run jobs on, if the job requires temporary storage.

You can override the tmpdir setting in the schrodinger.hosts file by setting the SCHRODINGER_TMPDIR environment variable or using the -TMPDIR command-line option—see Running Jobs From the Command Line for more information. For example, if the directory designated by tmpdir becomes full with files that you don’t have permission to delete, you can set SCHRODINGER_TMPDIR to a different directory and continue to run jobs.