Distributed Cache

DistributedCache distributes application-specific, large, read-only files efficiently. DistributedCache is a facility provided by the MapReduce framework to cache files (text, archives, jars and so on) needed by applications.

Applications specify the files to be cached via urls (hdfs://) in the JobConf. The DistributedCache assumes that the files specified via hdfs:// urls are already present on the FileSystem. The framework will copy the necessary files to the slave node before any tasks for the job are executed on that node. Its efficiency stems from the fact that the files are only copied once per job and the ability to cache archives which are un-archived on the slaves.

DistributedCache tracks the modification timestamps of the cached files. Clearly the cache files should not be modified by the application or externally while the job is executing. DistributedCache can be used to distribute simple, read-only data/text files and more complex types such as archives and jars. Archives (zip, tar, tgz and tar.gz files) are un-archived at the slave nodes. Files have execution permissions set.

The files/archives can be distributed by setting the property mapred.cache.{files|archives}. If more than one file/archive has to be distributed, they can be added as comma separated paths. The properties can also be set by APIs in Hadoop 1, DistributedCache.addCacheFile(URI,conf)/ DistributedCache.addCacheArchive(URI,conf) and DistributedCache.setCacheFiles(URIs,conf)/ DistributedCache.setCacheArchives(URIs,conf) where URI is of the form hdfs://host:port/absolute-path#link-name and in Hadoop 2 Job.addCacheFile(URI)/ Job.addCacheArchive(URI) and [Job.setCacheFiles(URI[])](../../api/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/Job.html)/ [Job.setCacheArchives(URI[])](../../api/org/apache/hadoop/mapreduce/Job.html). In Streaming, the files can be distributed through command line option -cacheFile/-cacheArchive.

Optionally in Hadoop 1, users can also direct the DistributedCache to symlink the cached file(s) into the current working directory of the task via the DistributedCache.createSymlink(Configuration) api. Or by setting the configuration property mapred.create.symlink as yes. The DistributedCache will use the fragment of the URI as the name of the symlink. For example, the URI hdfs://namenode:port/lib.so.1#lib.so will have the symlink name as lib.so in task’s cwd for the file lib.so.1 in distributed cache.

The DistributedCache can also be used as a rudimentary software distribution mechanism for use in the map and/or reduce tasks. It can be used to distribute both jars and native libraries. The DistributedCache.addArchiveToClassPath(Path, Configuration) or DistributedCache.addFileToClassPath(Path, Configuration) api can be used in Hadoop 1, and in Hadoop 2 Job.addArchiveToClassPath(Path) or Job.addFileToClassPath(Path) api can be used to cache files/jars and also add them to the classpath of child-jvm. The same can be done by setting the configuration properties mapred.job.classpath.{files|archives} in Hadoop 1 and mapreduce.job.classpath.{files |archives} in Hadoop 2. Similarly the cached files that are symlinked into the working directory of the task can be used to distribute native libraries and load them.

Private and Public DistributedCache Files – DistributedCache files can be private or public, that determines how they can be shared on the slave nodes.

• “Private” DistributedCache files are cached in a local directory private to the user whose jobs need these files. These files are shared by all tasks and jobs of the specific user only and cannot be accessed by jobs of other users on the slaves. A DistributedCache file becomes private by virtue of its permissions on the file system where the files are uploaded, typically HDFS. If the file has no world readable access, or if the directory path leading to the file has no world executable access for lookup, then the file becomes private.
• “Public” DistributedCache files are cached in a global directory and the file access is setup such that they are publicly visible to all users. These files can be shared by tasks and jobs of all users on the slaves. A DistributedCache file becomes public by virtue of its permissions on the file system where the files are uploaded, typically HDFS. If the file has world readable access, AND if the directory path leading to the file has world executable access for lookup, then the file becomes public. In other words, if the user intends to make a file publicly available to all users, the file permissions must be set to be world readable, and the directory permissions on the path leading to the file must be world executable.