To run V-Ray Swarm, you have to:



Overview

V-Ray Swarm allows all machines designated as computing resources for distributed rendering to connect with one another, forming what is known as the Swarm cluster or network. It ensures that each machine has the required version of V-Ray installed and automatically provides the correct version if it is not already available. Before beginning the rendering process, it's important to prepare the network of nodes that take part in the render job. This guide is to serve as a reference for setting up a V-Ray Swarm cluster.

V-Ray Swarm 2 has released a new version: 2.0.17. This update makes the setup process easier by removing the need for an Origin node. Download the latest V-Ray Swarm 2 version and see the Release Notes here.

V-Ray Swarm 2.0.17 is incompatible with the previously released 2.0.15, i.e. all Swarm instances in the cluster should be updated.




How to set up V-Ray Swarm Clusters


Install V-Ray Swarm

All cluster machines need to have V-Ray Swarn installed on them. This can be done through the SketchUp Installer, Rhino Installer, or the Swarm standalone installer.


Three machines with installed V-Ray Swarm. 

Origin Node Setup

Every cluster needs an Origin node. In a connected cluster of machines, only one machine can be marked as an Origin node.

The Origin node authorizes the whole cluster so that every node can download the required V-Ray builds during a rendering task.

It is recommended for the Origin node machine to be located within the main cluster and not behind a VPN. Additionally, it has to be powered on and logged in most of the time to minimize connectivity issues.

To mark your machine as the origin node, locate the origin file and open it as administrator.

Windows:

  1. Go to C:/Program Files/Chaos/V-Ray/Swarm 2/.
  2. Right-click on origin.bat > Run as administrator.


MacOs:

  1. Go to /usr/Chaos/V-Ray/Swarm2/.
  2. Double-click on stop-service.command.  - This step requires your admin rights password and permission to override com.chaos.vray.swarm.plist. Provide your password and enter yes to the override request to continue.
  3. Double-click on origin.command.


Linux:

  1. Go to /Applications/Chaos/V-Ray/Swarm2/. 
  2. Call origin.sh with sudo.


Go to http://localhost:1113/admin/account and check the status of the screen.

Hello, <Chaos account> – This message shows that the setup is complete.
Log in button – This means you are not logged in. Click on the button and follow the login steps.


After successfully completing these steps, a Hello, <Chaos account> message is displayed on Node B at http://localhost:1113/admin/account.

Make sure to keep the command line window open while using Swarm. Closing it may interrupt the connection and disrupt the rendering process.


Node B is set as the Origin Node of the cluster.

DR Mode Rendering

Once V-Ray Swarm is installed on all machines, the cluster is set up, and an origin node is configured with a valid Chaos account login, you are ready to initiate distributed rendering sessions from any node within the V-Ray Swarm network.

When V-Ray Swarm is successfully installed, all machines are visible in the Network tab with a green dot next to them.

Note that when distributed rendering is initiated for the first time, all render nodes need to download a compatible V-Ray build that matches the version installed on the machine used for the submission. This process takes a moment but only occurs once for each specific V-Ray version.



A working Swarm cluster setup.