opencue-cuenimby 1.19.1

CueNIMBY is a cross-platform system tray application for OpenCue NIMBY control. It allows workstation users to monitor their machine's rendering availability, toggle between available and disabled states, receive notifications when jobs start, and schedule automatic state changes based on time of day.

CueNIMBY - OpenCue NIMBY Control

CueNIMBY is a cross-platform system tray application that provides user control over OpenCue's NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) feature on workstations. Built with Qt6 for native look and feel across all platforms.

Features

• System Tray Icon with OpenCue Logo: Visual indication of current rendering state with professional icons

  • 🔄 Starting: Application is initializing
  • 🟢 Available (opencue-available.png): Host is idle and ready for rendering
  • 🔴 Working (opencue-working.png): Currently rendering frames (red dot in center)
  • 🔴 Disabled (opencue-disabled.png):
    • NIMBY locked (🔒 due to user activity)
    • Host locked (🔒 manually disabled)
    • Host down (❌ RQD is not running)
  • ❌ Error (opencue-error.png):
    • CueBot unreachable (❌ Cannot connect to server)
    • Machine not found on CueBot (❌ Check if RQD is running)
  • ⚠️ Warning (opencue-warning.png): Host ping above 60 seconds limit
  • 🔧 Repair (opencue-repair.png): Host is under repair, check with tech team
  • ❓ Unknown (opencue-unknown.png): Unknown status

• Enhanced User Controls:

  • Toggle workstation availability for rendering
  • Enable/disable desktop notifications
  • Enable/disable time-based scheduler
  • Launch CueGUI directly from the tray menu
  • Open Config File in your default editor
  • Intelligent menu states: Options appear disabled when action cannot be performed

• Improved Desktop Notifications:

  • Alert when a job starts rendering on your machine
  • Notify when NIMBY locks/unlocks your workstation
  • Notify when you manually change availability
  • Alert when CueBot is unreachable with helpful troubleshooting info
  • Alert when host is not registered with RQD status guidance
  • Warning when host is lagging (ping > 60 seconds)
  • Notification when host is under repair
  • Visual hints with emojis (🔒❌⚠️🔧) for quick status recognition

• Resilient Connection:

  • Tray starts even when CueBot is unreachable
  • Automatically reconnects when CueBot becomes available
  • Clear visual feedback about connection status

• Enhanced About Window:

  • Shows CueNIMBY version
  • Displays CueBot server address
  • Shows monitored hostname
  • Application description

• Time-based Scheduler:

  • Automatically disable rendering during work hours
  • Configure different schedules for each day of the week
  • Example: Disable rendering Mon-Fri 9AM-6PM, enable evenings and weekends

Installation

From Source

cd cuenimby
pip install .

With Development Dependencies

pip install -e ".[dev,test]"

Usage

Basic Usage

Start CueNIMBY with default settings:

cuenimby

Command Line Options

cuenimby --help

Options:
  --version              Show version and exit
  --config PATH          Path to config file (default: ~/.opencue/cuenimby.json)
  --cuebot-host HOST     Cuebot hostname (overrides config)
  --cuebot-port PORT     Cuebot port (overrides config)
  --hostname HOST        Host to monitor (default: local hostname)
  --no-notifications     Disable desktop notifications
  --verbose, -v          Enable verbose logging

Examples

Connect to a specific Cuebot server:

cuenimby --cuebot-host cuebot.example.com --cuebot-port 8443

Run with verbose logging:

cuenimby --verbose

Monitor a specific host:

cuenimby --hostname workstation-01

Configuration

CueNIMBY stores its configuration in ~/.opencue/cuenimby.json. The configuration file is automatically created on first run with default values.

Configuration File Format

{
  "cuebot_host": "localhost",
  "cuebot_port": 8443,
  "hostname": null,
  "poll_interval": 5,
  "show_notifications": true,
  "notification_duration": 5,
  "scheduler_enabled": false,
  "schedule": {
    "monday": {
      "start": "09:00",
      "end": "18:00",
      "state": "disabled"
    },
    "tuesday": {
      "start": "09:00",
      "end": "18:00",
      "state": "disabled"
    }
  }
}

Configuration Options

• cuebot_host: Hostname of the Cuebot server
• cuebot_port: Port number for Cuebot gRPC
• hostname: Host to monitor (null = auto-detect local hostname)
• poll_interval: How often to check state (seconds)
• show_notifications: Enable/disable desktop notifications
• notification_duration: How long notifications stay visible (seconds)
• scheduler_enabled: Enable/disable time-based scheduler
• schedule: Weekly schedule configuration

Schedule Configuration

Each day can have a schedule entry with:

• start: Start time in HH:MM format (24-hour)
• end: End time in HH:MM format (24-hour)
• state: Desired state during this time period ("disabled" or "available")

During the configured time period, the host will be set to the specified state. Outside the period, the opposite state applies.

System Tray Menu

Right-click the tray icon to access:

• Available (checkbox): Toggle rendering availability
  • Disabled when host is not found or CueBot is unreachable
• Notifications (checkbox): Enable/disable notifications
• Scheduler (checkbox): Enable/disable time-based scheduler
• Launch CueGUI: Open CueGUI application directly
  • Disabled when CueGUI is not available
• Open Config File: Open the configuration file in your default editor
• About: Show application info including CueBot address and monitored host
• Quit: Exit CueNIMBY

Platform-Specific Notes

macOS

CueNIMBY uses the native macOS notification system. For best results:

• Grant notification permissions when prompted
• Install terminal-notifier for most reliable notifications (recommended):

  brew install terminal-notifier
  

• Alternative: Install optional pync package for enhanced notifications:

  pip install pync
  

• Built-in fallback uses osascript (no additional install required)

Windows

CueNIMBY uses Windows 10+ toast notifications:

• Notifications require Windows 10 or later
• Install optional win10toast package:

  pip install win10toast
  

Linux

CueNIMBY uses the freedesktop notification system:

• Requires a notification daemon (usually pre-installed)
• Install optional notify2 package:

  pip install notify2
  

• Fallback to notify-send command if package unavailable

Understanding NIMBY and Desktop Rendering

What Does "Locked" Mean?

When a host is locked (either manually or via NIMBY), it becomes unavailable for rendering jobs in OpenCue:

• Disabled (Manual Lock): User manually disabled rendering via CueNIMBY
• NIMBY Locked: RQD automatically locked the host due to user activity (mouse/keyboard)

In both cases, the host will not accept new rendering jobs. Any currently running jobs will continue until completion, but no new work will be dispatched to the host.

Desktop Rendering Control

Desktop workstations in OpenCue are typically configured under a special allocation called local.desktop. This allows administrators to control rendering on user workstations separately from dedicated render farm machines.

How Desktop Rendering Works:

1. Allocations: Desktop hosts are assigned to the local.desktop allocation
2. Show Subscriptions: Shows are configured with subscriptions to allocations, including local.desktop
3. Controlling Rendering: To enable rendering on desktops for a specific show:
   • Increase the subscription size for the local.desktop allocation
   • Adjust the burst value to control how many jobs can run
   • Setting size/burst to zero effectively disables desktop rendering for that show

Example:

• Default: Show has local.desktop subscription with size=0, burst=0 (no desktop rendering)
• Enable: Set local.desktop subscription to size=10, burst=20 (allow up to 10 cores, burst to 20)

This gives production teams fine-grained control over when and how much desktop resources are used for rendering.

For more detailed information about desktop rendering control, allocations, and subscriptions, see the Desktop rendering control guide in the official documentation.

Icon States Reference

All icons feature the OpenCue logo for professional appearance:

Icon File	State	Emoji	Description
opencue-starting.png	Starting	🔄	Application is initializing
opencue-available.png	Available	🟢	Host is idle and ready for rendering
opencue-working.png	Working	🔴	Currently rendering frames (red dot in center)
opencue-disabled.png	Disabled/Locked/Down	🔴	NIMBY locked, Host locked, or Host down
opencue-error.png	Error/Unreachable	❌	CueBot unreachable or host not found
opencue-warning.png	Warning/Lagging	⚠️	Host ping above 60 second limit
opencue-repair.png	Under Repair	🔧	Host is under repair
opencue-unknown.png	Unknown	❓	Unknown status
opencue-default.png	Default	⚪	Fallback icon

Icon Gallery

Here are all the CueNIMBY icons with the OpenCue logo:

Icon	Name	Description
	opencue-available.png	Green icon - Host ready for rendering
	opencue-working.png	Icon with red dot in center - Currently rendering
	opencue-disabled.png	Red icon - Host locked/disabled
	opencue-error.png	Red X icon - Connection error
	opencue-warning.png	Yellow icon - Warning state
	opencue-repair.png	Orange icon - Under repair
	opencue-starting.png	Gray icon - Initializing
	opencue-unknown.png	Gray ? icon - Unknown state
	opencue-default.png	Default fallback icon

Integration with RQD

CueNIMBY works alongside RQD's built-in NIMBY feature:

1. RQD NIMBY: Automatically detects user activity (mouse/keyboard) and locks the host
2. CueNIMBY: Provides user control and visual feedback via system tray

Both can run simultaneously:

• RQD handles automatic locking based on activity detection
• CueNIMBY allows manual control and shows visual notifications
• When RQD locks the host due to user activity, CueNIMBY reflects this with the NIMBY_LOCKED state (🔒 NIMBY locked icon)
• Users can manually lock/unlock via CueNIMBY regardless of RQD's automatic behavior
• CueNIMBY starts even when CueBot is unreachable and will catch up when connection is restored

Troubleshooting

Can't connect to CueBot

CueNIMBY will now start even when CueBot is unreachable and display a clear error status (❌).

Ensure:

• CueBot is running and accessible
• Hostname and port are correct in ~/.opencue/cuenimby.json
• Network allows gRPC traffic on the specified port (default 8443)
• Environment variables are set if needed:

  export CUEBOT_HOST=cuebot.example.com
  export CUEBOT_PORT=8443
  

Check the tray icon:

• ❌ Red error icon = CueBot unreachable
• Hover over icon to see connection status message
• CueNIMBY will automatically reconnect when CueBot becomes available

Host not found on CueBot

If you see "❌ Machine not found on CueBot, check if RQD is running":

Verify:

• RQD is running on your machine: ps aux | grep rqd (macOS/Linux) or Task Manager (Windows)
• The hostname matches exactly (case-sensitive)
• The host is registered with CueBot (check in CueGUI > Monitor Hosts)
• Use --hostname flag to specify exact hostname if needed
• RQD has successfully connected to CueBot (check RQD logs)

Host ping is lagging

If you see "⚠️ Host ping above limit" warning:

This indicates RQD hasn't reported to CueBot in over 60 seconds. Check:

• RQD is still running
• Network connection is stable
• RQD logs for connection errors
• Consider restarting RQD if issue persists

Host is under repair

If you see "🔧 Under Repair" status:

• Your host has been marked for maintenance by an administrator
• Contact your technical team for more information
• No rendering will occur on this host until repair state is cleared

Notifications not working

Check:

• Notification permissions are granted (especially on macOS)
• Install platform-specific notification package (see Platform-Specific Notes)
• Enable notifications in configuration or tray menu
• Check system notification settings

Icon not appearing

Some desktop environments require:

• Qt6 support (installed as dependency)
• System tray enabled in desktop settings
• Restart of the application after desktop environment changes
• On Linux: Ensure tray icon support is enabled in your desktop environment

Development

Running Tests

pytest

Code Formatting

black cuenimby/

Linting

pylint cuenimby/