PBS Environment Variables

PBS sets multiple environment variables at submission time. The following PBS variables are commonly used in batch scripts:

  • PBS_O_WORKDIR

    • PBS sets the environment variable PBS_O_WORKDIR to the directory where the batch job was submitted.

    • By default, a job starts in your home directory.

    • Include the following command in your script if you want it to start in the submission directory:

cd $PBS_O_WORKDIR

  • PBS_JOBID

    • PBS sets the environment variable PBS_JOBID to the job’s ID.

    • A common use for PBS_JOBID is to append the job’s ID to the standard output and error file(s), such as the following:

#PBS -o scriptname.o$PBS_JOBID
  • PBS_NNODES
    • PBS sets the environment variable PBS_NNODES to the number of nodes requested.