Megatest

	  (if contour (setenv "MT_CONTOUR" contour))
	  
	  ;; immediated set some key variables from CMDINFO data, yes, these will be set again below ...
	  ;;
	  (setenv "MT_TESTSUITENAME" areaname)
	  (setenv "MT_RUN_AREA_HOME" top-path)
	  (set! *toppath* top-path)


	  ;; On NFS it can be slow and unreliable to get needed startup information.
	  ;;  i. Check if we are on the homehost, if so, proceed
	  ;; ii. Check if host and port passed in via CMDINFO are valid and if
	  ;;     possible use them.
	  (let ((bestadrs (server:get-best-guess-address (get-host-name)))
		(needcare #f))

	    (set-signal-handler! signal/term sighand)
	    ) ;; (set-signal-handler! signal/stop sighand)
	  
	  ;; Do not run the test if it is REMOVING, RUNNING, KILLREQ or REMOTEHOSTSTART,
	  ;; Mark the test as REMOTEHOSTSTART *IMMEDIATELY*
	  ;;
	  (let* ((test-info (rmt:get-test-info-by-id run-id test-id))
		 (tconfig   (tests:get-testconfig test-name item-path tconfigreg #t force-create: #t))
		 (test-host (db:test-get-host        test-info))
		 (test-pid  (db:test-get-process_id  test-info)))
	    ;; if work-area was pre-ordained, use it, else create and then use
	    (if (not (and work-area
                          (file-exists? work-area)
			  (file-is-directory? work-area)))
		;; (if (configf:var-is? *configdat* "setup" "early-setup" "yes")
		(let ((dat  (create-work-area run-id runname keyvals test-id testpath #f test-name itemdat tconfig: tconfig)))
		  (set! work-area (car dat))
		  ;; (set! toptest-work-area (cadr dat)) ;; not used
		  (debug:print-info 2 *default-log-port* "Using work area " work-area)))
	    
	    (setenv "MT_TEST_RUN_DIR"  work-area)
	    
	    (cond
	     ((member (db:test-get-state test-info) '("INCOMPLETE" "KILLED" "UNKNOWN" "KILLREQ" "STUCK")) ;; prior run of this test didn't complete, go ahead and try to rerun
	      (debug:print 0 *default-log-port* "INFO: test is INCOMPLETE or KILLED, treat this execute call as a rerun request")
	      ;; (tests:test-force-state-status! run-id test-id "REMOTEHOSTSTART" "n/a")
	      (rmt:test-set-state-status run-id test-id "REMOTEHOSTSTART" "n/a" #f)
	      ) ;; prime it for running
	     ((member (db:test-get-state test-info) '("RUNNING" "REMOTEHOSTSTART"))

;; 
;;  <linkdir> - <target> - <testname> [ - <itempath> ]
;; 
;; All log file links should be stored relative to the top of link path
;;  
;; <target> - <testname> [ - <itempath> ] 
;;
(define (create-work-area run-id run-info target test-id test-src-path disk-path-in testname itemdat #!key (tconfig #f)(remtries 2))
  (let* ((disk-path (if disk-path-in disk-path-in (get-best-disk *configdat* tconfig))) ;; NOTE: You'd better have tconfig defined!
	 (item-path (if (string? itemdat) itemdat (item-list->path itemdat))) ;; if pass in string - just use it
	 (runname   (if (string? run-info) ;; if we pass in a string as run-info use it as run-name.
			run-info
			(db:get-value-by-header (db:get-rows run-info)
						(db:get-header run-info)
						"runname")))
	 (contour   #f) ;; NOT READY FOR THIS (args:get-arg "-contour"))
	 ;; convert back to db: from rdb: - this is always run at server end
	 ;; (target   (string-intersperse (map cadr keyvals) "/"))

	 (not-iterated  (equal? "" item-path))

	 ;; all tests are found at <rundir>/test-base or <linkdir>/test-base
	 (testtop-base (conc target "/" runname "/" testname))
	 (test-base    (conc testtop-base (if not-iterated "" "/") item-path))

	    (if (not (eq? status 0))
		(debug:print 2 *default-log-port* "ERROR: problem with running \"" cmd "\"")))
	  (list lnkpathf lnkpath ))
	(if (and test-src-path (> remtries 0))
	    (begin
	      (debug:print-error 0 *default-log-port* "Failed to create work area at " test-path " with link at " lnktarget ", remaining attempts " remtries)
	      ;; 
	      (create-work-area run-id run-info target test-id test-src-path disk-path-in testname itemdat tconfig: tconfig remtries: (- remtries 1)))
	    (list #f #f)))))

;; 1. look though disks list for disk with most space
;; 2. create run dir on disk, path name is meaningful
;; 3. create link from run dir to megatest runs area 
;; 4. remotely run the test on allocated host
;;    - could be ssh to host from hosts table (update regularly with load)

				      ((mtest)     "../megatest")
				      ((dashboard) "megatest")
				      (else exe)))))
	   (launcher        (common:get-launcher *configdat* test-name item-path)) ;; (config-lookup *configdat* "jobtools"     "launcher"))
	   (test-sig        (conc (common:get-testsuite-name) ":" test-name ":" item-path)) ;; (item-list->path itemdat))) ;; test-path is the full path including the item-path
	   (work-area       #f)
	   (toptest-work-area #f) ;; for iterated tests the top test contains data relevant for all

	   (cmdparms   #f)
	   (fullcmd    #f) ;; (define a (with-output-to-string (lambda ()(write x))))
	   (mt-bindir-path #f)
	   (testinfo   (rmt:get-test-info-by-id run-id test-id))
	   (mt_target  (string-intersperse (map cadr keyvals) "/"))
	   (debug-param (append (if (args:get-arg "-debug")  (list "-debug" (args:get-arg "-debug")) '())
				(if (args:get-arg "-logging")(list "-logging") '()))))

      
      ;; prevent overlapping actions - set to LAUNCHED as early as possible
      ;;
      ;; the following call handles waiver propogation. cannot yet condense into roll-up-pass-fail
      (tests:test-set-status! run-id test-id "LAUNCHED" "n/a" #f #f) ;; (if launch-results launch-results "FAILED"))
      (rmt:set-state-status-and-roll-up-items run-id test-name item-path #f "LAUNCHED" #f)
      ;; (pp (hash-table->alist tconfig))
      (if (configf:var-is? *configdat* "setup" "early-setup" "yes")

	  (let ((dat  (create-work-area run-id run-info keyvals test-id test-path #f test-name itemdat tconfig: tconfig)))
	    (set! work-area (car dat))
	    (set! toptest-work-area (cadr dat))
	    (debug:print-info 2 *default-log-port* "Using work area " work-area)))




      (set! cmdparms (base64:base64-encode 
		      (z3:encode-buffer 
		       (with-output-to-string
			 (lambda () ;; (list 'hosts     hosts)
			   (write (list (list 'testpath  test-path)
					;; (list 'transport (conc *transport-type*))
					;; (list 'serverinf *server-info*)

					(list 'set-vars  (if params (hash-table-ref/default params "-setvars" #f)))
					(list 'runname   runname)
					(list 'mt-bindir-path mt-bindir-path))))))))
      
      ;; clean out step records from previous run if they exist
      ;; (rmt:delete-test-step-records run-id test-id)
      ;; if the dir does not exist we may have a itempath where individual variables are a path, launch anyway
      (if (and work-area (file-exists? work-area))
	  (change-directory work-area)) ;; so that log files from the launch process don't clutter the test dir
      (cond
       ;; ((and launcher hosts) ;; must be using ssh hostname
       ;;    (set! fullcmd (append launcher (car hosts)(list remote-megatest "-m" test-sig "-execute" cmdparms) debug-param)))
       ;; (set! fullcmd (append launcher (car hosts)(list remote-megatest test-sig "-execute" cmdparms))))
       (launcher
	(set! fullcmd (append launcher (list remote-megatest "-m" test-sig "-execute" cmdparms) debug-param)))
       ;; (set! fullcmd (append launcher (list remote-megatest test-sig "-execute" cmdparms))))
       (else
	(if (not useshell)(debug:print 0 *default-log-port* "WARNING: internal launching will not work well without \"useshell yes\" in your [jobtools] section"))
	(set! fullcmd (append (list remote-megatest "-m" test-sig "-execute" cmdparms) debug-param (list (if useshell "&" ""))))))
      ;; (set! fullcmd (list remote-megatest test-sig "-execute" cmdparms (if useshell "&" "")))))
      (if (args:get-arg "-xterm")(set! fullcmd (append fullcmd (list "-xterm"))))
      (debug:print 1 *default-log-port* "Launching " work-area)
      ;; set pre-launch-env-vars before launching, keep the vars in prevvals and put the envionment back when done
      (debug:print 4 *default-log-port* "fullcmd: " fullcmd)
      (set! *last-launch* (current-seconds)) ;; all that junk above takes time, set this as late as possible.
      (let* ((commonprevvals (alist->env-vars
			      (hash-table-ref/default *configdat* "env-override" '())))
	     (miscprevvals   (alist->env-vars ;; consolidate this code with the code in megatest.scm for "-execute"
			      (append (list (list "MT_TEST_RUN_DIR" (if work-area work-area "no-test-run-area-set-yet"))
					    (list "MT_TEST_NAME" test-name)
					    (list "MT_ITEM_INFO" (conc itemdat)) ;; GET RID OF THIS ONE
					    (list "MT_RUNNAME"   runname)
					    (list "MT_TARGET"    mt_target)
					    (list "MT_ITEMPATH"  item-path)
					    )
				      itemdat)))
	     (testprevvals   (alist->env-vars
			      (hash-table-ref/default tconfig "pre-launch-env-overrides" '())))