Introduction
This article covers the installation steps with troubleshooting and tips for Intel® Parallel Studio XE on Amazon Web Services* (AWS). Note that some of the tools may have functional restrictions due to the cloud environment. For system requirements, please see Release Notes for details. For further Intel related support, visit our Support page.
Getting Started with AWS
This article assumes you are familiar with AWS environment. To learn more about working with AWS, see: Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud Documentation
Specifically, this article assumes:
- You have an AWS account
- You are familiar with creating instances within the AWS environment.
- To learn more about launching an instance see Getting Started with EC2 Windows and Launching an Instance
Creating an Instance
- Log in to your AWS account.
- Navigate to the EC2 dashboard.
- Click the Launch Instance button.
- Step 1 – Choose AMI: Select the AMI type to launch as instance.
Recommended AMI: Latest Microsoft Windows Server Base*. - Step 2 – Choose an Instance Type: Use the default t2.micro instant type.
Note, you can move to any step using the dashboard steps bar on top. - Step 3 – Configure Instance: Choose your desired VPC and a Subnet.
Click the Protect against accidental termination box. - Step 4 – Add Storage: Set the instance storage to a minimum of 80GB.
- Step 5 – Add Tags: Name the instance if you want to have a unique identifier (Example: Key = “Name”, Value = “Intel Parallel Studio XE”).
- Step 6 – Configure Security Group: You may use the default settings or restrict to match your security needs. Please see Installing with a Floating License for additional configuration.
Important: Make sure RDP, Port TCP 3389, is accessible. This Security Group will be modified later with the license manager port rules. - Step 7 – Review and Launch: Click on Launch to launch the instance.
- Create Key-Pair dialog: Use any existing key-pair or select the option ‘Create a new key pair’ and enter a key pair name. [Example: ‘Intel Parallel Studio XE’]. Click on the Download Key Pair. A key file [.pem] will be created. Save the file (IntelParallelStudioXE.pem).
Note: This is the only time you will be able to download the key.
- Click the Launch Instances button: The dashboard will display the Launch Status. Click on the Instance ID to return to the Instance Dashboard. This process may take a few minutes before the instance is running.
Adding the License Manager Ports to the Security Group (for floating licenses only)
The license manager runs two processes on ports that must be accessible to the remote clients. The default ports are 27009 [lmgrd port] and 28519 [Intel vendor daemon port]. In the next steps, the security group will be edited and these ports added.
- In the Instances screen, select the newly created instance. Scroll down the details pane and locate the Security Groups settings and click on the name. The Security Group listing will open.
- Copy the Group ID from the list to your clipboard.
- From the tabs below, click Inbound.
- Click the Edit button to open a dialog window with the current rule.
- Click the Add Rule button to create a new rule with a Custom TCP type.
- In Port Range, enter 27000-27009.
- Leaving the Source type as Custom, paste the Group ID into the text box to the right.
- Click Save.
- You can allow clients to connect to the license server by allowing the FlexLM ports and referencing your local clients’ Security Groups for inbound rules.
Note: Creating this security group ensures that only other instances with the same security group will have access to the license manager ports, including the license manager itself.
Changing Network Interface (ENI) Termination Behavior
Named-user licenses are tied to the MAC address of the Network Interface. To prevent the network interface from being deleted, you will need to change the default termination behavior of the ENI. This is in case the instance is accidentally or intentionally terminated.
- In the Instances screen, select the newly created instance. Scroll down the details pane and locate the Network settings and click on eth0. The network setting dialog will open.
- Click on the Interface ID to open the ENI configuration window.
- From the Actions dropdown menu select Change Termination Behavior. Uncheck the Delete on Termination box and click Save.
Note: See section ‘Installing with a Named-User License’ below for more insights on maintaining a consistent MAC address for your instance.
Retrieving the Instance Connection Password
From the Instances screen select your instance:
- Click the Connect button on the top.
- In the popup dialog click the Download Remote Desktop File to download the RDP connection file to your local Windows* system. Save the file for a later use.
- Click Get Password to generate the instance administrator password.
In the Get Password dialog, select Choose File and browse to the previously saved key PEM file to load the encryption key. - Once the key is loaded, click the Decrypt Password button to generate the actual password. Save the password for your records.
Connecting to the AWS Instance
- Double-click on the RDP file to connect to the instance.
Note: You are likely to encounter an Unknown Publisher warning message. Click Connect to continue with the connection. You will be prompted to enter your password.
- A security popup will alert you that the identity of the remote computer cannot be verified. Select Yes to continue.
- Once connected you will see the desktop of the Windows* instance you connected to.
- For more information see: Connecting to Your Windows* Instance.
IE Security Settings
Security settings in your IE browser may interfere with product download and installation. To ensure they are turned off do the following:
- Close any IE browser you may have open.
- Run Server Manager.
- Click on Local Server.
- Click on the link next to the IE Enhanced Security Configuration.
- In the popup dialog select the Off option for both Administrators and Users and click OK.
- Launch IE and click Don’t use recommended settings.
Note: Best practices suggest reverting to more secure settings after completing setup and installation.
Installing Intel® Software Development Products
Once your AWS instance is up and running you can proceed with the product installation.
If you received an Intel email for the software product you acquired, follow the instructions in the email to register your Serial Number and create an Intel Registration Center account (if you don’t already have one).
Installing Microsoft* Visual Studio
Intel® Parallel Studio XE requires an existing installation of Microsoft* Visual Studio (MSVS). If you have a license for a full MSVS product please install it at this time. If you don’t have a license, you may get the latest MSVS community license and install it in the instance prior to the installation of the Intel Product.
Important: MSVS must be installed prior to the installation of Intel Parallel Studio XE to enable integration. Make sure MSVS is preinstalled on the instance where Intel Parallel Studio XE will be installed.
Intel® VTune™ Profiler
You will only be able to use Intel® VTune™ Profiler in basic hotspots and Locks & Waits. This is due to running the tool in a virtual environment. For more information see the Intel® VTune™ Profiler User Guide.
Downloading
To download the product:
- Open the registration email and click on the Download link.
- OR go to Intel Registration Center and log into your account. In the product tab locate your software product and download it.
When downloading you have a choice between using the online installer and an offline package.
- Online Installer – You can choose to customize and install the product now, OR
You can choose to create and download a customized package for a later installation. - Offline Package – This package includes all the components in the product and as such is larger than the customized package.
Installing with a Named-User License
During installation it is recommended to use the serial number to install the product. For alternative activation methods see the Installation Guide and the Product Licensing FAQ.
A named-user license is limited to n simultaneous activations as defined in our Software EULA.
Installing with a Floating License
Floating license installation has two parts: License Server installation and Product installation.
License Server Installation
- Get the instance host information.
- Run getmac /v to get the MAC Address of the instance; It will be used as Host ID.
- From the AWS EC2 dashboard, identify the Private DNS of the instance; It will be used as Host Name.
- Generate a license file for your installation.
- Log into Intel Registration Center.
- In the Serial Numbers tab locate your serial number and click it.
- In the Manage License page add the host information [Host ID = MAC address; Host Name = Private DNS].
- Click the Activate Serial Number to generate the license file.
- Download the license file or email it to yourself. Place the license file in your instance.
- Using a text editor such as notepad, modify the second line of the license file to read VENDOR INTEL port=28519 to set the secondary port. Take care not to make any other changes or to add additional formatting. Save the file.
- Download the License Manager.
- On the Manage License page scroll down and locate the license manager.
- Click on the Download button.
Note: The Intel Software License Manager can run on either Windows or Linux* and can serve licenses to either a Windows or Linux clients.
- Install the License Manager.
- When installing the License Manager select ‘I have a license file’. Browse to the file location and select it.
- If a message is displayed titled Activation – Choose Alternative Activation, click Next.
- In the Set Firewall dialog, select Local Subnet Only.
- Once the License Manager had been installed it should start automatically. If you have to start it manually:
- On the host system desktop, locate and run the Configure Intel® Software License Manager application.
- Click the Browse button and navigate to the ‘C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Intel\License\’ folder.
- Select the installed license file and click Start to start the license manager.
- Click Exit to exit the application.
Important: Make sure that the instance you install the License Manager on is protected against termination and is accessible from other instances.
Note: License server can serve both Windows and Linux OS however the license type should match the client OS. Please see Product Licensing FAQ for more information.
Product Installation
- Use the link in the registration email or log into Intel Registration Center to download the product. See detailed information about downloading options in the Download section above.
- In the activation screen,, choose the ‘I have a serial number and I want to activate my product’ option. Enter the serial number for your floating license and proceed with the installation. For information on using Intel Parallel Studio XE please refer to the Getting Started with Intel® MPI Library for Windows* OS.
Troubleshooting and Tips
Verifying Floating Licenses Checkout
On the client set the environment variable INTEL_LMD_DEBUG to 1 and run a tool such as the compiler. At the bottom of the output you should see where the license came from.
For floating license server you should see a note about successful checkout.
Connecting to an Instance with no auto-assigned Public IP
If an instance was created without an auto-assigned Public IP, an Elastic IP address will need to be added. For more information on adding an Elastic IP, see Elastic IP Address Basics.