How to Prevent Spark Executors from Getting Lost in Yarn Client Mode?

In an Apache Spark YARN (Yet Another Resource Negotiator) client mode, maintaining executors and preventing them from getting lost is crucial for ensuring the smooth running of your Spark application. Executors might get lost due to various reasons such as resource contention, node failures, network issues, or configuration problems. Below, we’ll explore various strategies and configurations to prevent executors from getting lost in YARN client mode.

Configuration Tuning

Properly configuring the Spark and YARN environment helps mitigate executor losses. Key configurations include:

spark.yarn.executor.memoryOverhead

This configuration specifies the amount of off-heap memory to be allocated per executor. Off-heap memory is essential for tasks such as JVM overhead and native code allocations. Ensure that you allocate sufficient memory overhead to prevent out-of-memory (OOM) issues and potential executor loss.


spark.conf.set("spark.yarn.executor.memoryOverhead", "4096")

spark.executor.heartbeatInterval

Executors communicate their status to the Spark driver via heartbeats. If the heartbeats are not sent frequently enough, the driver might consider the executor to be dead. Adjust the heartbeat interval to ensure timely communication.


spark.conf.set("spark.executor.heartbeatInterval", "10s")

spark.network.timeout

This configuration determines the network timeout for communication between the Spark driver and executors. If the executors do not respond within this timeout, they might be marked as lost. Increase this timeout to accommodate network latencies.


spark.conf.set("spark.network.timeout", "600s")

Resource Management

Efficient resource management within the YARN cluster can prevent executor losses due to resource contention or node failures.

Dynamic Resource Allocation

Enable dynamic resource allocation to adjust the number of executors based on the workload dynamically. This approach reduces the load on the cluster and minimizes the chances of resource contention.


spark.conf.set("spark.dynamicAllocation.enabled", "true")
spark.conf.set("spark.dynamicAllocation.minExecutors", "1")
spark.conf.set("spark.dynamicAllocation.maxExecutors", "10")

YARN Node Labels

Use YARN node labels to allocate resources on specific nodes within the cluster, ensuring that critical executors run on more reliable nodes.


spark.conf.set("spark.yarn.am.nodeLabelExpression", "high-memory-node")

Error Resilience

Implementing strategies for error resilience can significantly contribute to preventing executor losses. Here are some practices:

Retry Policies

Set retry policies for your Spark tasks to handle transient failures more gracefully. This includes retrying failed tasks within a certain timeout and retry limit.


spark.conf.set("spark.task.maxFailures", "4")
spark.conf.set("spark.yarn.maxAppAttempts", "3")

Monitoring and Alerts

Implement monitoring and alerting mechanisms to detect issues with executors in real-time. Tools like Ganglia, Prometheus, and Grafana can be used for this purpose.


import org.apache.spark.SparkContext
import org.apache.spark.SparkConf

val conf = new SparkConf().setAppName("ExecutorMonitoringExample")
val sc = new SparkContext(conf)

// Code to integrate with monitoring tools

Example: PySpark Application with Enhanced Configuration

Below is an example PySpark application that includes some of the discussed configurations to prevent executor loss:


from pyspark.sql import SparkSession

spark = SparkSession.builder \
    .appName("PreventExecutorLossExample") \
    .config("spark.yarn.executor.memoryOverhead", "4096") \
    .config("spark.executor.heartbeatInterval", "10s") \
    .config("spark.network.timeout", "600s") \
    .config("spark.dynamicAllocation.enabled", "true") \
    .config("spark.dynamicAllocation.minExecutors", "1") \
    .config("spark.dynamicAllocation.maxExecutors", "10") \
    .config("spark.yarn.am.nodeLabelExpression", "high-memory-node") \
    .config("spark.task.maxFailures", "4") \
    .config("spark.yarn.maxAppAttempts", "3") \
    .getOrCreate()

# Sample task to trigger Spark executors
data = [("John", 28), ("Jane", 23), ("Doe", 34)]
df = spark.createDataFrame(data, ["Name", "Age"])

df.show()

+----+---+
|Name|Age|
+----+---+
|John| 28|
|Jane| 23|
| Doe| 34|
+----+---+

By implementing these strategies and best practices, you can effectively minimize the chances of executors getting lost in YARN client mode, thereby improving the reliability and efficiency of your Spark applications.

About Editorial Team

Our Editorial Team is made up of tech enthusiasts deeply skilled in Apache Spark, PySpark, and Machine Learning, alongside proficiency in Pandas, R, Hive, PostgreSQL, Snowflake, and Databricks. They're not just experts; they're passionate educators, dedicated to demystifying complex data concepts through engaging and easy-to-understand tutorials.

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