Image Artist: SImA_slurmd service fails to start after upgrading to Image Artist 1.5

Problem:

The SImA_slurmd.1 container fails to start when the Image Artist stack is deployed following the upgrade to ImA 1.5. Batch analysis will fail.

Error as shown in the SImA_slurmd service log:

2025-12-04T09:36:36+01:00 slurmd: error: Could not create scope directory /sys/fs/cgroup/docker_limit.slice/system.slice/slurmstepd.scope: No such file or directory

2025-12-04T09:36:36+01:00 slurmd: error: Couldn't load specified plugin name for cgroup/v2: Plugin init() callback failed

2025-12-04T09:36:36+01:00 slurmd: error: cannot create cgroup context for cgroup/v2

2025-12-04T09:36:36+01:00 slurmd: error: Unable to initialize cgroup plugin

2025-12-04T09:36:36+01:00 slurmd: error: slurmd initialization failed

Cause:

In Image Artist 1.5, only cgroup V2 is permitted. Setting Docker’s cgroup-parent to a systemd slice (e.g. "docker_limit.slice") can break Slurm’s cgroup/v2 plugin initialization if the node’s systemd/cgroup setup isn’t fully aligned with Slurm’s expectations. Assigning Docker to a custom slice changes where containers live under /sys/fs/cgroup, and if systemd is not delegating/initializing that slice correctly, Slurm will fail while trying to prepare its own scopes/slices.

Solution:

Confirm the contents of the /etc/docker/daemon.json file e.g.

$ cat /etc/docker/daemon.json

{
  "default-cgroupns-mode": "host",
  "cgroup-parent": "docker_limit.slice"
}

If present, remove the following line from the /etc/docker/daemon.json file :

"cgroup-parent": "docker_limit.slice"

• undeploy the ImA stack

   

• stop the docker service:

   $ systemctl stop docker.service

• start the docker service:
   
  $ systemctl start docker.service
• check the status of the docker service to make sure it's running:
   
  $ systemctl status docker.service
   
• deploy the ImA stack