Add interactive partition with sinteractive defaults

Configure new interactive partition (compute03-04, 06-07) with 8-hour
default / 1-day max wall time and 3-job-per-user QOS limit. Update
sinteractive to default to the interactive partition with 2 CPUs and
8G memory. Document partition setup in admin guide.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: jayhesselberth

docs/admin.md

@@ -49,3 +49,44 @@ scontrol update NodeName=ALL State=RESUME
 ```
 
 The reservation approach is preferred because it gives users visibility and lets the scheduler handle everything automatically.
+
+## Interactive partition
+
+The `interactive` partition provides a dedicated queue for interactive work with shorter time limits and a per-user job cap to prevent monopolization.
+
+### slurm.conf
+
+Add the following line to `/etc/slurm/slurm.conf`:
+
+```conf
+PartitionName=interactive Nodes=compute[03-04],compute[06-07] Default=NO MaxTime=1-00:00:00 DefaultTime=08:00:00 State=UP AllowQOS=interactive QOS=interactive
+```
+
+| Parameter | Value | Purpose |
+|---|---|---|
+| `Nodes` | `compute[03-04],compute[06-07]` | Shared with `normal` partition |
+| `Default` | `NO` | Users must request this partition explicitly |
+| `MaxTime` | `1-00:00:00` | 1-day maximum wall time |
+| `DefaultTime` | `08:00:00` | 8-hour default (matches `sinteractive` default) |
+| `AllowQOS` | `interactive` | Only the `interactive` QOS can submit here |
+| `QOS` | `interactive` | All jobs use this QOS automatically |
+
+### Per-user job limit (QOS)
+
+`MaxJobsPerUser` is not a valid `slurm.conf` partition parameter — enforce it via a QOS instead:
+
+```bash
+# Create the QOS with a 3-job-per-user limit
+sacctmgr add qos interactive set MaxJobsPerUser=3
+
+# Allow all accounts to use it
+sacctmgr modify account where account=root withsubaccounts set qos+=interactive
+```
+
+### Apply and verify
+
+```bash
+scontrol reconfigure
+scontrol show partition interactive
+sacctmgr show qos interactive format=Name,MaxJobsPerUser
+```

docs/pain-points.md

@@ -219,6 +219,7 @@ squeue -j $SLURM_JOB_ID -h -o "%L"
 | Partition | Max wall time | Default wall time | Nodes | Access | Notes |
 |---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | `normal` | 3 days | not set | compute01–04, 06–07, 14 | All accounts | Default partition |
+| `interactive` | 1 day | 8 hours | compute03–04, 06–07 | All accounts | Max 3 jobs/user |
 | `rna` | 3 days | not set | compute07–09, 15–20 | `rbi` | Falls back to `normal` |
 | `jones` | 3 days | not set | compute04–05, 10–12 | `jones` | |
 | `genome` | 3 days | not set | compute06–09 | `genome` | Falls back to `normal` |

docs/sinteractive.md

@@ -39,8 +39,10 @@ sinteractive [OPTIONS] [SBATCH_ARGS...]
 | Option | Description | Default |
 |---|---|---|
 | `--node NODE` | Request a specific compute node | any available |
-| `--partition PART` | SLURM partition | `normal` |
+| `--partition PART` | SLURM partition | `interactive` |
 | `--time TIME` | Wall time limit | `08:00:00` |
+| `--cpus-per-task N` | Number of CPUs | `2` |
+| `--mem SIZE` | Memory | `8G` |
 | `--attach JOBID` | Reattach to a running session | |
 | `--list` | List running sinteractive sessions | |
 | `-h`, `--help` | Show help message | |
@@ -50,7 +52,7 @@ All other arguments are passed directly to `sbatch`, so you can use any `sbatch`
 ### Examples
 
 ```bash
-# Default: 8-hour session on the normal partition
+# Default: 8-hour session, 2 CPUs, 8G memory
 sinteractive
 
 # Run on a specific node
@@ -59,11 +61,14 @@ sinteractive --node compute01
 # 2-hour session on the rna partition
 sinteractive --time=2:00:00 --partition=rna
 
-# Request extra memory and CPUs
+# Override default memory and CPUs
 sinteractive --mem=16G --cpus-per-task=4
 
 # GPU session
 sinteractive --partition=gpu --gpus=1 --mem=16G
+
+# Longer session on the normal partition (up to 3 days)
+sinteractive --time=1-12:00:00 --partition=normal
 ```
 
 ## How it works
@@ -124,4 +129,7 @@ scancel <JOBID>
 ```
 
 !!! warning "Wall time"
-    The default wall time is **8 hours**. If you need more, pass `--time` explicitly. The `normal` partition allows up to 7 days.
+    The default wall time is **8 hours** on the `interactive` partition, with a maximum of **1 day**. For longer sessions, switch to the `normal` partition (up to 3 days): `sinteractive --partition=normal --time=2-00:00:00`.
+
+!!! info "Job limit"
+    The `interactive` partition limits each user to **3 concurrent jobs**. If you need more simultaneous sessions, use the `normal` partition.

scripts/sinteractive

@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ Start an interactive tmux session on a compute node via Slurm.
 
 Options:
   --node NODE       Request a specific compute node (e.g., compute01)
-  --partition PART  Slurm partition (default: normal)
+  --partition PART  Slurm partition (default: interactive)
   --time TIME       Wall time limit (default: 08:00:00)
                     Supports shorthand: 8h, 30m, 2d, 1d12h, 1h30m
   --attach JOBID    Reattach to a running sinteractive session
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ Options:
 
 All other options are passed directly to sbatch. Examples:
 
-  sinteractive                          # 8h session, default resources
+  sinteractive                          # 8h session, 2 CPUs, 8G memory
   sinteractive --node compute01         # run on a specific node
   sinteractive --time=2h -p rna          # 2h session on rna partition
   sinteractive --mem=16G --cpus-per-task=4
@@ -173,9 +173,19 @@ function main {
         set -- --time=08:00:00 "$@"
     fi
 
-    # Default to normal partition if no --partition/-p specified
+    # Default to interactive partition if no --partition/-p specified
     if ! printf '%s\n' "$@" | grep -qE '^(--partition|-p)'; then
-        set -- --partition=normal "$@"
+        set -- --partition=interactive "$@"
+    fi
+
+    # Default to 2 CPUs if no --cpus-per-task/-c specified
+    if ! printf '%s\n' "$@" | grep -qE '^(--cpus-per-task|-c)'; then
+        set -- --cpus-per-task=2 "$@"
+    fi
+
+    # Default to 8G memory if no --mem specified
+    if ! printf '%s\n' "$@" | grep -qE '^--mem'; then
+        set -- --mem=8G "$@"
     fi
 
     # Send warning signal 10 minutes before time limit