The manual that comes with PRman is probably complete, but the information is quite dispersed. I spend at least a day or two with sparse information available on the internet to set up a 2 computer renderfarm. I hope this information will be usefull.
Here the steps to set up a renderfarm with Pixar Renderman Pro Server.
-ProServer is designed to work on networks with static IP addresses (i.e. no DHCP!). Set all IP addresses in the network card properties by hand using a central list. Typically for home networks, you start with 192.168.1.1. for a given computer or router and then keep on numbering for other devices (192.168.1.2 etc.).
Note, IP addresses do not need to be sequential, nor does the last number indicate hiarchy. Just make sure all computers and devices have a unique IP address that is for instance in the typical home network range of 192.168.1.1 - 192.168.1.255.
The central list, linking IP address and computer name should kept be in the /WINNT/system32/drivers/etc/hosts of the main computer (probably the hosts file of all other computers should be edited as well, not sure, but is doesn't hurt). Edit this file in for instance Wordpad. It contains some guidlines, along with ast andard entry for 'localhost'.
This hosts file will be looked in is you try to connect to other computers in the network.
Set up your network (using a router) and check if computers in the farm are visible to each other 'ping' other computers by ping 'computer name' (if the target computer name is Pixion, type: ping pixion). You should get 3 replies from the computer you are pinging indicating it is visible. Refer to sites on setting up computer networks.
If pinging doesn't work, you may have to adjust your firewall to allow home networks. For any problems in getting your network up, please refer to appropriate channels.
-On the main (client) computer (the one that controls the farm) install RAT and Pro Server (RAT includes Alfred It which is used to send out and control jobs to the farm. Also It is handy to look at the final images that come back from the farm).
During RAT install, it will ask wheter and where to install Maitre-d (the component that keeps track of available rendering resources on the farm). It should be installed locally (check 'local', and leave 'localhost' as host name).
It is assumed that also the license server that comes along is installed together with the required license. If everything is in place, after a reboot, the license server should be up and you should be able to start for instance Alfred.
Note, if you are installin ProServer on an old computer (386 type), make sure you install the i386 version of the ProServer. Installing a P4 version on a 386 will give error messages right away.
-On the server computers, it is assumed just the render server will be installed if that computer is just acting as a rendernode. If you also want to use it as an Artist Workstation, you should install RAT as well, but do NOT install Maitre-d (it is a central resource tracker residing on the client computer).
Depending on whether you have nodelocked or floating licenses, install either the license server, or indicate during installation of the license server the name of the client computer where the central license resides.
After reboot the the license server should be up and installed software should be able to run. In case you installed RAT, you should be able to run Alfred, Slim etc. In case you just installed the Pro Server to act as rendernode, you should be able to run 'alfserver' by double clicking on it in: Pixar/RendermanProServer/bin. It should pop up as a dos screen and after 10 second indicate some messages. Dos screen should stay up, otherwise there is something wrong with the license (see elsewhere).
Now you have a client computer with RAT (incl. Maitre-d) and ProServer linked to at least another computer having ProServer (with or without RAT, but without Maitre-d). Both computers should able to see each other (check with 'ping'). If both computers will be used to render, 'alfserver' should be running on both. This works fine for small farms. For larger farms, the client computer typically only sends out and control render jobs, so its better to not have alfserver running on the client. Alfserver can be started manually (commandline, double click Pixar/rendermanproserver/bin/alfserver.exe) or using services. Go in Control Panel, Administrative tools, services and look for the Pixar Alfred Server and set it to start automatically on boot.
To check if Alfserver is up from on another computer, you can run the Telnet application: at the DOS prompt: telnet 'computername' 1501 (if the target computer was named Pixion type: telnet pixion 1501). 1501 is the port through which alfserver interacts with other computers on the net. You should get connected right away and see a multinumber alfserver key, indicating the alfserver on the other computer is running.
Also here, your firewall should be set to allow traffic through the 1502 port. I also believe the 9000 and 9002 ports need to be open as they are used by Maitre-d.
Lets assume you just have two computers and one acts as client. Both have alfserver running. On the client server, you can open Alfred and go to Sceduling ->Master Schedule. On the Network hosts (right side) your client and server computer should be listed with the names you indicated in the hosts file. You can inclde them in the Alfred server list on the left using the arrows include / exclude.
Then, click 'advanced' and make a new crew (Crews-> add new crew). Click Write Schedule. (help on crews can be found at other places. Not setting up crews can yield 'Huntgroup not found errors')
Now you should be able to run remote renderjobs, from Maya for instance. Open Maya, create a scene. Open Renderman->Renderman Globals and go to the Spool tab and then to the Job Setup tab. There are presets ('Common Settings') available for rendering a single frame on the farm ('NetRender Frame') or multiple frames ('Netrender Multiframe') etc. Chose the Netrender Frame and create a simple scene in Maya.
Now, when you with Renderman->Render, Alfred will get bussy and start a job that will be split between two computers, your server and the client (as it was assumed that on both Alfserver is running).
Depending on how you set up crews you may get some errormessages and or 'server bussy' messages. Answers to these can be found elsewhere.
