The most common reasons, in a Linux or Windows system, that a Render Node appears unavailable are that the workstation is offline, the Backburner Server is not running or is hung, the Server is not using the correct IP address for the Manager, or the Manager cannot communicate with the Server.
To resolve an unavailable Render Node problem:
Verify that the Render Node workstation is online.
If you are not at the Render Node, use the ping command to see this workstation is online. For help with the ping command, see Verifying Communication Between Two Hosts.
If the workstation is not online, restart the Render Node, and then see if it appears in the Distributed Queueing System.
If this does not resolve the problem, continue to the next step.
Check if the Render Node is scheduled to be offline using the Windows-based Backburner Monitor. See Setting the Availability for Rendering Nodes.
If the Render Node is scheduled to be offline and it should be online at this time, change the schedule for the Render Node.
If this does not resolve the problem, continue to the next step.
Verify the Backburner Server is running.
If it is not running or is hung, start the Server. See Starting Backburner Server.
Note: If you are running Backburner Server as a Windows Service, display the Services control panel, and verify that the Server service is running. If the service is not running, highlight it and click Start.
If this does not fix the problem, continue to the next step.
For Windows systems only, verify that the Render Node can communicate with the correct Manager.
Connect the Render Node directly to the Backburner Manager workstation by doing the following:
Disable any Backburner Server settings or preferences that automatically connect to the Backburner Manager.
Verify that the HOSTS file located in the winnt\system32\drivers\etc\ directory includes the IP address and corresponding machine name for each Render Node and the Backburner Manager workstation on the network. This file maps machine names to IP addresses.
If restarting the Server after this step does not fix the problem, continue to the next step.
If a firewall is running on Distributed Queueing System components, review the firewall settings for each network component to ensure the following:
Verify that the Manager can ping the Render Node. See Verifying Communication Between Two Hosts.
If the Manager can successfully ping the Render Node, continue to the next step.
Configure the log files to report detailed information about TCP/IP packets, as follows.
Enable the Log Debug and Log Debug Extended options in the preferences for the Backburner Manager and the Backburner Server workstations, and then restart the Backburner Manager and Backburner Server applications.
Examine the TCP/IP information in the log files to determine why the Render Node and Backburner Manager are not communicating.