# Get Queue Waiting Time
**URL:** https://community.openpbs.org/t/get-queue-waiting-time/2954
**Category:** Users/Site Administrators
**Created:** [February 2, 2022, 10:48am UTC](https://community.openpbs.org/t/get-queue-waiting-time/2954 "2022-02-02T10:48:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@punithm.iisc](https://community.openpbs.org/u/punithm.iisc)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2022, 10:48am UTC](https://community.openpbs.org/t/get-queue-waiting-time/2954/1 "2022-02-02T10:48:39Z")
I need to get the Queue waiting time of a job, for this which attribute I have to enable and how to extract from the report. Pls anyone suggest.
---
### Author:  [@adarsh](https://community.openpbs.org/u/adarsh)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2022, 11:05am UTC](https://community.openpbs.org/t/get-queue-waiting-time/2954/2 "2022-02-02T11:05:35Z")
The queue time is collected by default.
qstat -fx | grep -i time
e.g.,
qstat -fx 582 | grep -i time
---
### Author:  [@punithm.iisc](https://community.openpbs.org/u/punithm.iisc)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2022, 11:41am UTC](https://community.openpbs.org/t/get-queue-waiting-time/2954/3 "2022-02-02T11:41:46Z")
I got the following result for the command u have given
[root@rnarasimha ~]# qstat -fx 9029 | grep time
resources\_used.walltime = 06:02:36
ctime = Sat Jan 22 17:39:43 2022
mtime = Sat Jan 22 23:44:36 2022
qtime = Sat Jan 22 17:39:43 2022
Resource\_List.walltime = 24:00:00
stime = Sat Jan 22 17:41:56 2022
etime = Sat Jan 22 17:41:33 2022
history\_timestamp = 1642875276
here in this result, what is **mtime** , ctime, qtime, stime, etime.
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### Author:  [@adarsh](https://community.openpbs.org/u/adarsh)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2022, 11:57am UTC](https://community.openpbs.org/t/get-queue-waiting-time/2954/4 "2022-02-02T11:57:21Z")
mtime - time that the job was last modified, changed state or changed locations.
Please go throught he reference guide : [https://www.altair.com/pdfs/pbsworks/PBSReferenceGuide2021.1.pdf](https://www.altair.com/pdfs/pbsworks/PBSReferenceGuide2021.1.pdf)
---
### Author:  [@bhroam](https://community.openpbs.org/u/bhroam)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2022, 10:06pm UTC](https://community.openpbs.org/t/get-queue-waiting-time/2954/5 "2022-02-04T22:06:32Z")
Another option is to set ‘eligible\_time\_enable’ on the server. This is a “smart” wait time. It only counts time when you are not getting in your own way (like hitting one of your own limits). You will see eligible time set on jobs after that.
Bhroam
---
### Author:  [@dtalcott](https://community.openpbs.org/u/dtalcott)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2022, 8:21pm UTC](https://community.openpbs.org/t/get-queue-waiting-time/2954/6 "2022-02-07T20:21:24Z")
It would be overkill if all you want is the queue waiting time, but I have a python version of qstat that allows you to display only the values you want and to customize how they are displayed. For example,
```auto
./nas_qstat -x -W o=jobid,queue,jobname,s,lifetime,eligtime,eligstart
Life Elig Eligible
JobID Queue Jobname S time time start
------------- ----- ------- - ----- ----- --------------
13819.server2 workq STDIN F 00:51 00:44 22-02-07/10:10
13820.server2 workq job2 F 00:27 00:26 22-02-07/10:34
```
Here we display the job lifetime (how long from when it was queued until it exited), the eligible time as mentioned by Bhroam, and when it was first eligible to be scheduled.
Now, if you want to know how long the job sat in the queue, that would be the time from when it was queued (qtime) until the time it started (stime). You can grab those values using nas\_qstat and feed them to awk to compute the difference:
```auto
./nas_qstat -x -W noheader -W o=jobid,A_qtime,A_stime | awk '{print $1, $3 - $2 }'
13819.server2 2981
13820.server2 1538
```
If you’re going to want this waiting time often, you can define a new field using a $HOME/.qstat\_userexits file like so:
```auto
if args.B:
pass
elif args.Q:
pass
else:
def my_add_fields(gbl, lcl):
def fmt_qwait(fi, info):
from nas_field_format import safeint, secstoclock
qtime = safeint(info.get('qtime', '--'))
stime = safeint(info.get('stime', '--'))
if qtime == 0 or stime == 0:
return '--'
return secstoclock(stime - qtime)
setattr(nas_field_format, 'fmt_qwait', fmt_qwait)
fmtr = lcl.get('fmtr')
t = gen_field('qwait', 'QWait', {'rj':'r'}, 'fmt_qwait', 'qtime stime')
fmtr.known_fields.append(t)
userexit_add_fields = stack_userexit(userexit_add_fields, my_add_fields)
```
Then, display that value via:
```auto
./nas_qstat -x -W o=jobid,queue,jobname,s,qwait
JobID Queue Jobname S QWait
------------- ----- ------- - -----
13819.server2 workq STDIN F 00:50
13820.server2 workq job2 F 00:26
```
(The fmt\_qwait function should be more complicated to take into account jobs that are still queued or were deleted before they started.)
For more information, see the github site: [https://github.com/drtoss/pyqs](https://github.com/drtoss/pyqs)
---
### Author:  [@punithm.iisc](https://community.openpbs.org/u/punithm.iisc)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2022, 4:49am UTC](https://community.openpbs.org/t/get-queue-waiting-time/2954/7 "2022-02-08T04:49:27Z")
Hi Bhroam,
I’ve enabled ‘eligible\_time\_enable’ and soon after enabling the jobs submitted are running but they are not generating any output or error files, before enabling ‘eligible\_time\_enable’ it was running fine. Request to help me to rectify this.
---
### Author:  [@punithm.iisc](https://community.openpbs.org/u/punithm.iisc)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2022, 4:54am UTC](https://community.openpbs.org/t/get-queue-waiting-time/2954/8 "2022-02-08T04:54:31Z")
This error is not for one job, happening for all jobs which are submitted.
---
### Author:  [@dtalcott](https://community.openpbs.org/u/dtalcott)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2022, 6:53pm UTC](https://community.openpbs.org/t/get-queue-waiting-time/2954/9 "2022-02-08T18:53:45Z")
The MoM log in /var/spool/pbs/mom\_logs/ on the execution host should give you more information about why you aren’t getting output.
When the job finishes you should see messages like:
```auto
02/07/2022 12:01:01;0008;pbs_mom;Job;13820.server2;no active tasks
02/07/2022 12:01:01;0100;pbs_mom;Job;13820.server2;Obit sent
02/07/2022 12:01:02;0080;pbs_mom;Job;13820.server2;copy file request received
02/07/2022 12:01:02;0100;pbs_mom;Job;13820.server2;Staged 1/1 items out over 0:00:00
02/07/2022 12:01:02;0008;pbs_mom;Job;13820.server2;no active tasks
02/07/2022 12:01:02;0080;pbs_mom;Job;13820.server2;delete job request received
02/07/2022 12:01:02;0008;pbs_mom;Job;13820.server2;no active tasks
```
If something is wrong, you should see explanatory messages after the “copy file request received” line.
---
### Author:  [@bhroam](https://community.openpbs.org/u/bhroam)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2022, 9:23pm UTC](https://community.openpbs.org/t/get-queue-waiting-time/2954/10 "2022-02-11T21:23:37Z")
When you turn on eligible\_time\_enable, it just turns on the counting of eligible\_time. It’s just another number held by the job. By default, it does nothing other than be reported in qstat -f. If you want it to be used in scheduling, consider looking at the job\_sort\_formula. You can add eligible\_time as a factor to your formula and have jobs that have waited longer have higher priority than jobs more recently submitted.