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### 5.3 Windows Step-by-Step Guide

This section outlines the steps necessary on most Windows systems to set up Dynare for parallel execution.

1. Write a configuration file containing the options you want. A mimimum working example setting up a cluster consisting of two local CPU cores that allows for e.g. running two Monte Carlo Markov Chains in parallel is shown below.
2. Save the configuration file somwhere. The name and file ending do not matter if you are providing it with the `conffile` command line option. The only restrictions are that the path must be a valid filename, not contain non-alpha-numeric characters, and not contain any whitespaces. For the configuration file to be accessible without providing an explicit path at the command line, you must save it under the name `dynare.ini` into your user account’s `Application Data` folder.
3. Install the `PSTools` from https://technet.microsoft.com/sysinternals/pstools.aspx to your system, e.g. into `C:\PSTools`.
4. Set the Windows System Path to the `PSTools`-folder (e.g. using something along the line of pressing Windows Key+Pause to open the System Configuration, then go to Advanced -> Environment Variables -> Path, see also https://technet.microsoft.com/sysinternals/pstools.aspx).
5. Restart your computer to make the path change effective.
6. Open Matlab and type into the command window

   `!psexec`

   This executes the `psexec.exe` of the `PSTools` on your system and shows whether Dynare will be able to locate it. If Matlab complains at this stage, you did not correctly set your Windows system path for the `PSTools`-folder.

7. If `psexec.exe` was located in the previous step, a popup will show up, asking for confirmation of the license agreement. Confirm this copyright notice of `psexec` (this needs to be done only once). After this, Dynare should be ready for parallel execution.
8. Call Dynare on your mod-file invoking the `parallel` option and providing the path to your configuration file with the `conffile`-option (if you did not save it as `%APPDATA%\dynare.ini` in step 2 where it should be detected automatically)

           dynare ls2003 parallel conffile='C:\Users\Dynare~1\parallel\conf_file.ini'

   Please keep in mind that no whitespaces or names longer than 8 characters are allowed in the `conffile`-path. The 8 character restriction can be circumvented by using the tilde Windows path notation as in the above example.

Example

    #cluster needs to always be defined first
    [cluster]
    #Provide a name for the cluster
    Name=Local
    #declare the nodes being member of the cluster
    Members=n1

    #declare nodes (they need not all be part of a cluster)
    [node]
    #name of the node
    Name=n1
    #name of the computer (localhost for the current machine)
    ComputerName=localhost
    #cores to be included from this node
    CPUnbr=[1:2]
    #path to matlab.exe; on Windows, Matlab's bin folder is in the system path
    #so we only need to provide the name of the exe file
    MatlabOctavePath=matlab
    #Dynare path you are using
    DynarePath=C:\dynare\2016-05-10\matlab

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