Tips for running long stata jobs, UNIX

Here are some tips for running large stata jobs in linux/Unix

1. Turn off the GUI and run the command on the command line

hit CTRL-F1
login
sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop  // this stops the GUI
stata -b do mydofile.do

2. Run one command after another

stata -b do firstfile.do ; stata -b do secondfile.do ; stata -b do third.do

3. Delay the start of the command

sleep 14400 ; stata -b do myfile.do
#NOTE: sleep takes seconds as argument, so that is 4 hours. Adjust to your needs.

Don’t forget top to check on your processes. Don’t allocate so much memory that you start paging to disk.

Your hints/advice are welcome!

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