Tools For Testing Network Connectivity

This page covers some useful tools for detecting Distributed Rendering connectivity issues.

More information on troubleshooting some common issues with Distributed Rendering can be found
on the Distributed Rendering Troubleshooting Guide.

 

DR check tool

The DR check tool comes with the V-Ray installation and can be accessed from a link in Start
Menu - "Start Menu\Programs\V-Ray Next for 3ds Max 20xx\Tools\DR check tool", or it can be
started directly in CMD/Powershell from the executable location.


In the following examples host corresponds to the IP address of the Render Slave machine, port is the (default) port used for CPU distributed rendering and Connected returns the IP address of the Workstation machine that submits the render job.

 

Example 1: A Spawner running on 172.16.0.2 cannot be accessed

C:\Program Files\Chaos Group\V-Ray\3ds Max 2020\bin>vraydr_check.exe -host=172.16.0.2 -port=20204
Failed to connect to server 172.16.0.2:20204

 

Example 2: A Spawner running on 172.16.0.2 is accessible and ready to receive render jobs

C:\Program Files\Chaos Group\V-Ray\3ds Max 2020\bin>vraydr_check.exe -host=172.16.0.2 -port=20204
Status: ready
Num processors: 12
V-Ray core version: 4.10.03
V-Ray revision info: Hash cca08366 Mar 25 2019 18:52:31

 

Example 3: A Spawner running on 172.16.0.2 is currently busy with a job

C:\Program Files\Chaos Group\V-Ray\3ds Max 2020\bin>vraydr_check.exe -host=172.16.0.2 -port=20204
Status: busy
Connected: 10.0.2.69
Num processors: 12
V-Ray core version: 4.10.03
V-Ray revision info: Hash cca08366 Mar 25 2019 18:52:31

 

Ping

The Ping command checks connectivity between computers. It uses the ICMP protocol - if you use
ping make sure that ICMP is not blocked by a firewall on your machines.

 

Example 1: There is a connection between the machines

C:\>ping 172.16.0.2

Pinging 172.16.0.2 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 10.0.0.107: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 10.0.0.107: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 10.0.0.107: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 10.0.0.107: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 172.16.0.2:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

 

Example 2: There is no connection or the connection over ICMP is blocked

C:\>ping 172.16.0.2

Pinging 172.16.0.2 with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 172.16.0.2:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss)

 

 

Telnet

The Telnet command can be used to test connectivity on a certain port.

Telnet is not enabled by default. To install it on Windows, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Control Panel

  2. Go to Programs and Features
  3. Select the “Turn Windows features on or off” option

  4. Check the “Telnet Client” box

    Alternatively, you can use the following command in a Windows command prompt (CMD)

    pkgmgr /iu:"TelnetClient

 

Example 1: There is a connection to the remote machine on port 20204

C:\>telnet 172.16.0.2 20204

 

To exit the connection use Ctrl+] and type “quit”

 

Telnet 172.16.0.2
Welcome to Microsoft Telnet Client

Escape Character is 'CTRL+]'

Microsoft Telnet>quit

 

Example 2: There is no connection on port 20204

 

C:\>telnet 172.16.0.2 20204
Connecting To 172.16.0.2..Could not open connection to the host, on port 20204: Connect failed

 

NetStat

The Netstat command can be used to check if a process is running on a certain port

 

Example 1: Port 20204 is busy

A process with PID 14952 is occupying port 20204.

C:\>netstat -ano | findstr 20204
TCP 0.0.0.0:20204 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING 14952

 

 The tasklist command shows that process 14952 is a 3dsmax.exe instance started by the V-Ray DR Spawner and waiting for a render job.

C:\>tasklist | findstr 14952
3dsmax.exe 14952 Console 1 913,456 K

 

 

Example 2: Port 20204 is free

A Spawner is not started or it’s running on another port.

C:\>netstat -ano | findstr 20204
C:\>
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