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PROLOG | NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | OPTIONS | OPERANDS | STDIN | INPUT FILES | ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES | ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS | STDOUT | STDERR | OUTPUT FILES | EXTENDED DESCRIPTION | EXIT STATUS | CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS | APPLICATION USAGE | EXAMPLES | RATIONALE | FUTURE DIRECTIONS | SEE ALSO | COPYRIGHT |
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QALTER(1P) POSIX Programmer's Manual QALTER(1P)
This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. The
Linux implementation of this interface may differ (consult the
corresponding Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior), or
the interface may not be implemented on Linux.
qalter — alter batch job
qalter [-a date_time] [-A account_string] [-c interval] [-e path_name]
[-h hold_list] [-j join_list] [-k keep_list] [-l resource_list]
[-m mail_options] [-M mail_list] [-N name] [-o path_name]
[-p priority] [-r y|n] [-S path_name_list] [-u user_list]
job_identifier...
The attributes of a batch job are altered by a request to the
batch server that manages the batch job. The qalter utility is a
user-accessible batch client that requests the alteration of the
attributes of one or more batch jobs.
The qalter utility shall alter the attributes of those batch jobs,
and only those batch jobs, for which a batch job_identifier is
presented to the utility.
The qalter utility shall alter the attributes of batch jobs in the
order in which the batch job_identifiers are presented to the
utility.
If the qalter utility fails to process a batch job_identifier
successfully, the utility shall proceed to process the remaining
batch job_identifiers, if any.
For each batch job_identifier for which the qalter utility
succeeds, each attribute of the identified batch job shall be
altered as indicated by all the options presented to the utility.
For each identified batch job for which the qalter utility fails,
the utility shall not alter any attribute of the batch job.
For each batch job that the qalter utility processes, the utility
shall not modify any attribute other than those required by the
options and option-arguments presented to the utility.
The qalter utility shall alter batch jobs by sending a Modify Job
Request to the batch server that manages each batch job. At the
time the qalter utility exits, it shall have modified the batch
job corresponding to each successfully processed batch
job_identifier. An attempt to alter the attributes of a batch job
in the RUNNING state is implementation-defined.
The qalter utility shall conform to the Base Definitions volume of
POSIX.1‐2017, Section 12.2, Utility Syntax Guidelines.
The following options shall be supported by the implementation:
-a date_time
Redefine the time at which the batch job becomes
eligible for execution.
The date_time argument shall be in the same form and
represent the same time as for the touch utility. The
time so represented shall be set into the Execution_Time
attribute of the batch job. If the time specified is
earlier than the current time, the -a option shall have
no effect.
-A account_string
Redefine the account to which the resource consumption
of the batch job should be charged.
The syntax of the account_string option-argument is
unspecified.
The qalter utility shall set the Account_Name attribute
of the batch job to the value of the account_string
option-argument.
-c interval
Redefine whether the batch job should be checkpointed,
and if so, how often.
The qalter utility shall accept a value for the interval
option-argument that is one of the following:
n No checkpointing is to be performed on the
batch job (NO_CHECKPOINT).
s Checkpointing is to be performed only when the
batch server is shut down
(CHECKPOINT_AT_SHUTDOWN).
c Automatic periodic checkpointing is to be
performed at the Minimum_Cpu_Interval
attribute of the batch queue, in units of CPU
minutes (CHECKPOINT_AT_MIN_CPU_INTERVAL).
c=minutes Automatic periodic checkpointing is to be
performed every minutes of CPU time, or every
Minimum_Cpu_Interval minutes, whichever is
greater. The minutes argument shall conform to
the syntax for unsigned integers and shall be
greater than zero.
An implementation may define other checkpoint intervals.
The conformance document for an implementation shall
describe any alternative checkpoint intervals, how they
are specified, their internal behavior, and how they
affect the behavior of the utility.
The qalter utility shall set the Checkpoint attribute of
the batch job to the value of the interval option-
argument.
-e path_name
Redefine the path to be used for the standard error
stream of the batch job.
The qalter utility shall accept a path_name option-
argument that conforms to the syntax of the path_name
element defined in the System Interfaces volume of
POSIX.1‐2017, which can be preceded by a host name
element of the form hostname:.
If the path_name option-argument constitutes an absolute
pathname, the qalter utility shall set the Error_Path
attribute of the batch job to the value of the path_name
option-argument, including the host name element, if
present.
If the path_name option-argument constitutes a relative
pathname and no host name element is specified, the
qalter utility shall set the Error_Path attribute of the
batch job to the value of the absolute pathname derived
by expanding the path_name option-argument relative to
the current directory of the process that executes the
qalter utility.
If the path_name option-argument constitutes a relative
pathname and a host name element is specified, the
qalter utility shall set the Error_Path attribute of the
batch job to the value of the option-argument without
expansion.
If the path_name option-argument does not include a host
name element, the qalter utility shall prefix the
pathname in the Error_Path attribute with hostname:,
where hostname is the name of the host upon which the
qalter utility is being executed.
-h hold_list
Redefine the types of holds, if any, on the batch job.
The qalter -h option shall accept a value for the
hold_list option-argument that is a string of
alphanumeric characters in the portable character set.
The qalter utility shall accept a value for the
hold_list option-argument that is a string of one or
more of the characters 'u', 's', or 'o', or the single
character 'n'. For each unique character in the
hold_list option-argument, the qalter utility shall add
a value to the Hold_Types attribute of the batch job as
follows, each representing a different hold type:
u USER
s SYSTEM
o OPERATOR
If any of these characters are duplicated in the
hold_list option-argument, the duplicates shall be
ignored. An existing Hold_Types attribute can be cleared
by the hold type:
n NO_HOLD
The qalter utility shall consider it an error if any
hold type other than 'n' is combined with hold type 'n'.
Strictly conforming applications shall not repeat any of
the characters 'u', 's', 'o', or 'n' within the
hold_list option-argument. The qalter utility shall
permit the repetition of characters, but shall not
assign additional meaning to the repeated characters. An
implementation may define other hold types. The
conformance document for an implementation shall
describe any additional hold types, how they are
specified, their internal behavior, and how they affect
the behavior of the utility.
-j join_list
Redefine which streams of the batch job are to be
merged. The qalter -j option shall accept a value for
the join_list option-argument that is a string of
alphanumeric characters in the portable character set.
The qalter utility shall accept a join_list option-
argument that consists of one or more of the characters
'e' and 'o', or the single character 'n'.
All of the other batch job output streams specified
shall be merged into the output stream represented by
the character listed first in the join_list option-
argument.
For each unique character in the join_list option-
argument, the qalter utility shall add a value to the
Join_Path attribute of the batch job as follows, each
representing a different batch job stream to join:
e The standard error of the batch job
(JOIN_STD_ERROR).
o The standard output of the batch job
(JOIN_STD_OUTPUT).
An existing Join_Path attribute can be cleared by the
join type:
n NO_JOIN
If 'n' is specified, then no files are joined. The
qalter utility shall consider it an error if any join
type other than 'n' is combined with join type 'n'.
Strictly conforming applications shall not repeat any of
the characters 'e', 'o', or 'n' within the join_list
option-argument. The qalter utility shall permit the
repetition of characters, but shall not assign
additional meaning to the repeated characters.
An implementation may define other join types. The
conformance document for an implementation shall
describe any additional batch job streams, how they are
specified, their internal behavior, and how they affect
the behavior of the utility.
-k keep_list
Redefine which output of the batch job to retain on the
execution host.
The qalter -k option shall accept a value for the
keep_list option-argument that is a string of
alphanumeric characters in the portable character set.
The qalter utility shall accept a keep_list option-
argument that consists of one or more of the characters
'e' and 'o', or the single character 'n'.
For each unique character in the keep_list option-
argument, the qalter utility shall add a value to the
Keep_Files attribute of the batch job as follows, each
representing a different batch job stream to keep:
e The standard error of the batch job
(KEEP_STD_ERROR).
o The standard output of the batch job
(KEEP_STD_OUTPUT).
If both 'e' and 'o' are specified, then both files are
retained. An existing Keep_Files attribute can be
cleared by the keep type:
n NO_KEEP
If 'n' is specified, then no files are retained. The
qalter utility shall consider it an error if any keep
type other than 'n' is combined with keep type 'n'.
Strictly conforming applications shall not repeat any of
the characters 'e', 'o', or 'n' within the keep_list
option-argument. The qalter utility shall permit the
repetition of characters, but shall not assign
additional meaning to the repeated characters. An
implementation may define other keep types. The
conformance document for an implementation shall
describe any additional keep types, how they are
specified, their internal behavior, and how they affect
the behavior of the utility.
-l resource_list
Redefine the resources that are allowed or required by
the batch job.
The qalter utility shall accept a resource_list option-
argument that conforms to the following syntax:
resource=value[,,resource=value,,...]
The qalter utility shall set one entry in the value of
the Resource_List attribute of the batch job for each
resource listed in the resource_list option-argument.
Because the list of supported resource names might vary
by batch server, the qalter utility shall rely on the
batch server to validate the resource names and
associated values. See Section 3.3.3, Multiple Keyword-
Value Pairs for a means of removing keyword=value (and
value@keyword) pairs and other general rules for list-
oriented batch job attributes.
-m mail_options
Redefine the points in the execution of the batch job at
which the batch server is to send mail about a change in
the state of the batch job.
The qalter -m option shall accept a value for the
mail_options option-argument that is a string of
alphanumeric characters in the portable character set.
The qalter utility shall accept a value for the
mail_options option-argument that is a string of one or
more of the characters 'e', 'b', and 'a', or the single
character 'n'. For each unique character in the
mail_options option-argument, the qalter utility shall
add a value to the Mail_Users attribute of the batch job
as follows, each representing a different time during
the life of a batch job at which to send mail:
e MAIL_AT_EXIT
b MAIL_AT_BEGINNING
a MAIL_AT_ABORT
If any of these characters are duplicated in the
mail_options option-argument, the duplicates shall be
ignored.
An existing Mail_Points attribute can be cleared by the
mail type:
n NO_MAIL
If 'n' is specified, then mail is not sent. The qalter
utility shall consider it an error if any mail type
other than 'n' is combined with mail type 'n'. Strictly
conforming applications shall not repeat any of the
characters 'e', 'b', 'a', or 'n' within the mail_options
option-argument. The qalter utility shall permit the
repetition of characters but shall not assign additional
meaning to the repeated characters.
An implementation may define other mail types. The
conformance document for an implementation shall
describe any additional mail types, how they are
specified, their internal behavior, and how they affect
the behavior of the utility.
-M mail_list
Redefine the list of users to which the batch server
that executes the batch job is to send mail, if the
batch server sends mail about the batch job.
The syntax of the mail_list option-argument is
unspecified. If the implementation of the qalter utility
uses a name service to locate users, the utility shall
accept the syntax used by the name service.
If the implementation of the qalter utility does not use
a name service to locate users, the implementation shall
accept the following syntax for user names:
mail_address[,,mail_address,,...]
The interpretation of mail_address is implementation-
defined.
The qalter utility shall set the Mail_Users attribute of
the batch job to the value of the mail_list option-
argument.
-N name Redefine the name of the batch job.
The qalter -N option shall accept a value for the name
option-argument that is a string of up to 15
alphanumeric characters in the portable character set
where the first character is alphabetic.
The syntax of the name option-argument is unspecified.
The qalter utility shall set the Job_Name attribute of
the batch job to the value of the name option-argument.
-o path_name
Redefine the path for the standard output of the batch
job.
The qalter utility shall accept a path_name option-
argument that conforms to the syntax of the path_name
element defined in the System Interfaces volume of
POSIX.1‐2017, which can be preceded by a host name
element of the form hostname:.
If the path_name option-argument constitutes an absolute
pathname, the qalter utility shall set the Output_Path
attribute of the batch job to the value of the path_name
option-argument.
If the path_name option-argument constitutes a relative
pathname and no host name element is specified, the
qalter utility shall set the Output_Path attribute of
the batch job to the absolute pathname derived by
expanding the path_name option-argument relative to the
current directory of the process that executes the
qalter utility.
If the path_name option-argument constitutes a relative
pathname and a host name element is specified, the
qalter utility shall set the Output_Path attribute of
the batch job to the value of the path_name option-
argument without any expansion of the pathname.
If the path_name option-argument does not include a host
name element, the qalter utility shall prefix the
pathname in the Output_Path attribute with hostname:,
where hostname is the name of the host upon which the
qalter utility is being executed.
-p priority
Redefine the priority of the batch job.
The qalter utility shall accept a value for the priority
option-argument that conforms to the syntax for signed
decimal integers, and which is not less than -1024 and
not greater than 1023.
The qalter utility shall set the Priority attribute of
the batch job to the value of the priority option-
argument.
-r y|n Redefine whether the batch job is rerunnable.
If the value of the option-argument is 'y', the qalter
utility shall set the Rerunable attribute of the batch
job to TRUE.
If the value of the option-argument is 'n', the qalter
utility shall set the Rerunable attribute of the batch
job to FALSE.
The qalter utility shall consider it an error if any
character other than 'y' or 'n' is specified in the
option-argument.
-S path_name_list
Redefine the shell that interprets the script at the
destination system.
The qalter utility shall accept a path_name_list option-
argument that conforms to the following syntax:
pathname[@host][,pathname[@host],...]
The qalter utility shall accept only one pathname that
is missing a corresponding host name. The qalter utility
shall allow only one pathname per named host.
The qalter utility shall add a value to the
Shell_Path_List attribute of the batch job for each
entry in the path_name_list option-argument. See Section
3.3.3, Multiple Keyword-Value Pairs for a means of
removing keyword=value (and value@keyword) pairs and
other general rules for list-oriented batch job
attributes.
-u user_list
Redefine the user name under which the batch job is to
run at the destination system.
The qalter utility shall accept a user_list option-
argument that conforms to the following syntax:
username[@host][,,username[@host],,...]
The qalter utility shall accept only one user name that
is missing a corresponding host name. The qalter utility
shall accept only one user name per named host.
The qalter utility shall add a value to the User_List
attribute of the batch job for each entry in the
user_list option-argument. See Section 3.3.3, Multiple
Keyword-Value Pairs for a means of removing
keyword=value (and value@keyword) pairs and other
general rules for list-oriented batch job attributes.
The qalter utility shall accept one or more operands that conform
to the syntax for a batch job_identifier (see Section 3.3.1, Batch
Job Identifier).
Not used.
None.
The following environment variables shall affect the execution of
qalter:
LANG Provide a default value for the internationalization
variables that are unset or null. (See the Base
Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2017, Section 8.2,
Internationalization Variables the precedence of
internationalization variables used to determine the
values of locale categories.)
LC_ALL If set to a non-empty string value, override the values
of all the other internationalization variables.
LC_CTYPE Determine the locale for the interpretation of sequences
of bytes of text data as characters (for example,
single-byte as opposed to multi-byte characters in
arguments).
LC_MESSAGES
Determine the locale that should be used to affect the
format and contents of diagnostic messages written to
standard error.
LOGNAME Determine the login name of the user.
TZ Determine the timezone used to interpret the date-time
option-argument. If TZ is unset or null, an unspecified
default timezone shall be used.
Default.
None.
The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.
None.
None.
The following exit values shall be returned:
0 Successful completion.
>0 An error occurred.
In addition to the default behavior, the qalter utility shall not
be required to write a diagnostic message to standard error when
the error reply received from a batch server indicates that the
batch job_identifier does not exist on the server. Whether or not
the qalter utility attempts to locate the batch job on other batch
servers is implementation-defined.
The following sections are informative.
None.
None.
The qalter utility allows users to change the attributes of a
batch job.
As a means of altering a queued job, the qalter utility is
superior to deleting and requeuing the batch job insofar as an
altered job retains its place in the queue with some traditional
selection algorithms. In addition, the qalter utility is both
shorter and simpler than a sequence of qdel and qsub utilities.
The result of an attempt on the part of a user to alter a batch
job in a RUNNING state is implementation-defined because a batch
job in the RUNNING state will already have opened its output files
and otherwise performed any actions indicated by the options in
effect at the time the batch job began execution.
The options processed by the qalter utility are identical to those
of the qsub utility, with a few exceptions: -V, -v, and -q. The
-V and -v are inappropriate for the qalter utility, since they
capture potentially transient environment information from the
submitting process. The -q option would specify a new queue, which
would largely negate the previously stated advantage of using
qalter; furthermore, the qmove utility provides a superior means
of moving jobs.
Each of the following paragraphs provides the rationale for a
qalter option.
Additional rationale concerning these options can be found in the
rationale for the qsub utility.
The -a option allows users to alter the date and time at which a
batch job becomes eligible to run.
The -A option allows users to change the account that will be
charged for the resources consumed by the batch job. Support for
the -A option is mandatory for conforming implementations of
qalter, even though support of accounting is optional for servers.
Whether or not to support accounting is left to the implementor of
the server, but mandatory support of the -A option assures users
of a consistent interface and allows them to control accounting on
servers that support accounting.
The -c option allows users to alter the checkpointing interval of
a batch job. A checkpointing system, which is not defined by
POSIX.1‐2008, allows recovery of a batch job at the most recent
checkpoint in the event of a crash. Checkpointing is typically
used for jobs that consume expensive computing time or must meet a
critical schedule. Users should be allowed to make the tradeoff
between the overhead of checkpointing and the risk to the timely
completion of the batch job; therefore, this volume of
POSIX.1‐2017 provides the checkpointing interval option. Support
for checkpointing is optional for servers.
The -e option allows users to alter the name and location of the
standard error stream written by a batch job. However, the path of
the standard error stream is meaningless if the value of the
Join_Path attribute of the batch job is TRUE.
The -h option allows users to set the hold type in the Hold_Types
attribute of a batch job. The qhold and qrls utilities add or
remove hold types to the Hold_Types attribute, respectively. The
-h option has been modified to allow for implementation-defined
hold types.
The -j option allows users to alter the decision to join (merge)
the standard error stream of the batch job with the standard
output stream of the batch job.
The -l option allows users to change the resource limits imposed
on a batch job.
The -m option allows users to modify the list of points in the
life of a batch job at which the designated users will receive
mail notification.
The -M option allows users to alter the list of users who will
receive notification about events in the life of a batch job.
The -N option allows users to change the name of a batch job.
The -o option allows users to alter the name and path to which the
standard output stream of the batch job will be written.
The -P option allows users to modify the priority of a batch job.
Support for priority is optional for batch servers.
The -r option allows users to alter the rerunability status of a
batch job.
The -S option allows users to change the name and location of the
shell image that will be invoked to interpret the script of the
batch job. This option has been modified to allow a list of shell
name and locations associated with different hosts.
The -u option allows users to change the user identifier under
which the batch job will execute.
The job_identifier operand syntax is provided so that the user can
differentiate between the originating and destination (or
executing) batch server. These may or may not be the same. The
.server_name portion identifies the originating batch server,
while the @server portion identifies the destination batch server.
Historically, the qalter utility has been a component of the
Network Queuing System (NQS), the existing practice from which
this utility has been derived.
The qalter utility may be removed in a future version.
Chapter 3, Batch Environment Services, qdel(1p), qhold(1p),
qmove(1p), qrls(1p), qsub(1p), touch(1p)
The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2017, Chapter 8,
Environment Variables, Section 12.2, Utility Syntax Guidelines
Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic
form from IEEE Std 1003.1-2017, Standard for Information
Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The
Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7, 2018 Edition, Copyright
(C) 2018 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers,
Inc and The Open Group. In the event of any discrepancy between
this version and the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard,
the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard is the referee
document. The original Standard can be obtained online at
http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
Any typographical or formatting errors that appear in this page
are most likely to have been introduced during the conversion of
the source files to man page format. To report such errors, see
https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .
IEEE/The Open Group 2017 QALTER(1P)
Pages that refer to this page: qmove(1p)
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HTML rendering created 2025-09-06 by Michael Kerrisk, author of The Linux Programming Interface. For details of in-depth Linux/UNIX system programming training courses that I teach, look here. Hosting by jambit GmbH. |
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