Using the Batch Launch Plugin with the Container Service
The Batch Launch Plugin includes the capacity to launch and monitor multiple containers across a set of subjects, sessions, or scans. Launching container processing on project data requires that an appropriate Container Service command be installed and enabled on the project of interest.
Access batch launch functionality under the Actions → Processing Dashboard menu on a project page. Select the parent XNAT datatype you wish to process, here "MR Sessions".
On the Processing Dashboard page, MR Session data are listed along with enabled Container Service commands.
As of XNAT 1.8.10 and Container Service 3.4.3, resource files from shared experiments can now be mounted into containers. However, project permissions issues still dictate whether containers can be run or data can be stored back to these shared data objects. See: Understanding Data Sharing in XNAT's Security Structure
Choose an appropriate container command from the Select job menu and select sessions using select-all or individual checkboxes.
After an appropriate command and sessions are selected, choose Launch job to start the container launch process.
The container launch window shows resolved command parameters and user-settable inputs. User-settable inputs will be identical for all batch-launched containers. Select Run Container(s) to add containers to the queue and launch when resources are available.
A container launch report window is shown, detailing all container inputs as well as any input resolution and launch errors.
After container launch, processing history is available on the All processing history tab.
Processing history is also accessible on the User Dashboard via the top menu bar.
The Processing history table lists XNAT workflow jobs, including container processing jobs. Action icons associated with each container history item open the container's build directory and history detail page.
A container's history page shows resolved launch parameters as well as processing status and output logs.
\Once container processing has finished on an XNAT object, the Processing Dashboard lists the outcome as a sortable column.
Additional container status properties can be added to the table using the Columns dropdown.
Using these properties, items that require processing or additional inspection can be identified and optionally selected for a new batch container launch.
