PBS fails to start: pbs_sched startup failed, all PBS components not running

Users/Site Administrators
1

System Details:

  • OS: Ubuntu 25.04
  • OpenPBS Version: 23.06.06
  • Installation: compiled from source
  • Setup: Single node, hostname snf-877899

Issue:
When starting pbs.service with sudo systemctl start pbs.service on a machine that will become the head node, it fails with:

pbs_sched startup failed, exit 1 aborting.

Additionally, sudo /etc/init.d/pbs status shows:

pbs_server is not running
pbs_sched is not running
pbs_comm is not running

Despite earlier logs indicating pbs_comm started briefly (/opt/pbs/sbin/pbs_comm ready).

Logs:

  • systemctl status pbs.service:

× pbs.service - Portable Batch System
Loaded: loaded (/opt/pbs/libexec/pbs_init.d; enabled; preset: enabled)
Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Tue 2025-05-27 16:36:46 EEST; 5s ago
Invocation: dcd37f4eb2c745429b519612753f3e50
Docs: man:pbs(8)
Process: 3225087 ExecStart=/opt/pbs/libexec/pbs_init.d start (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
Mem peak: 5.7M
CPU: 681ms

May 27 16:36:46 snf-877899 pbs_init.d[3225087]: pbs_sched startup failed, exit 1 aborting.
May 27 16:36:46 snf-877899 systemd[1]: pbs.service: Failed with result ‘exit-code’.

  • journalctl -xeu pbs.service (partial):

May 27 16:36:45 snf-877899 systemd[1]: Starting pbs.service - Portable Batch System…
May 27 16:36:46 snf-877899 pbs_init.d[3225151]: /opt/pbs/sbin/pbs_comm ready (pid=3225151), Proxy Name:snf-877899:17001
May 27 16:36:46 snf-877899 pbs_init.d[3225087]: pbs_sched startup failed, exit 1 aborting.
text

Configuration:

  • /opt/pbs/etc/pbs.conf:

PBS_SERVER=snf-877899
PBS_START_SERVER=1
PBS_START_SCHED=1
PBS_START_COMM=1
PBS_START_MOM=0
PBS_HOME=/opt/pbs

Steps Taken:

  • Checked permissions: /opt/pbs and subdirectories owned by pbsuser with 755 permissions.
  • Ran sudo /opt/pbs/sbin/pbs_server and sudo /opt/pbs/sbin/pbs_sched manually; both exit with code 1, no additional output.
  • Verified hostname (snf-877899) resolves correctly.
  • Noticed pbs_comm starts briefly but stops when pbs.service fails.

Questions:

  • Any tricks to debug the failure of pbs_sched with exit code 1, and how can I get more detailed error messages?
  • Are there specific settings in sched_config or license files I should verify?

Any guidance on starting pbs would be greatly appreciated!

2

Did you try re-installing the pbs server component ?

Please share the output of

  • cat /etc/hosts
  • qmgr -c ‘p sched’
  • Make sure ports 15001 to 15007 , 17001 are opened (allowed to pass through firewall)
  • selinux disabled
  • anything in the $PBS_HOME/comm_logs/ that might flag the issue.