From 0272458ba677cbbdbb8e7c0d55d39f8c7a60bd4d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: George McCabe <23407799+georgemccabe@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2022 13:19:18 -0600
Subject: [PATCH 1/3] set RUN_ID config variable with a unique 8 character hash
 to easily discern multiple METplus runs that may have the same timestamp

---
 metplus/util/config_metplus.py | 4 ++++
 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+)

diff --git a/metplus/util/config_metplus.py b/metplus/util/config_metplus.py
index 316a8c5349..3056aaccb3 100644
--- a/metplus/util/config_metplus.py
+++ b/metplus/util/config_metplus.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 import shutil
 from configparser import ConfigParser, NoOptionError
 from pathlib import Path
+import uuid
 
 from produtil.config import ProdConfig
 
@@ -238,6 +239,9 @@ def launch(config_list):
     # save list of user configuration files in a variable
     config.set('config', 'CONFIG_INPUT', ','.join(config_format_list))
 
+    # save unique identifier for the METplus run
+    config.set('config', 'RUN_ID', str(uuid.uuid4())[0:8])
+
     # get OUTPUT_BASE to make sure it is set correctly so the first error
     # that is logged relates to OUTPUT_BASE, not LOG_DIR, which is likely
     # only set incorrectly because OUTPUT_BASE is set incorrectly

From 43e129cecfb194e9007d5695e81e48fcf7efcc5a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: George McCabe <23407799+georgemccabe@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2022 13:20:52 -0600
Subject: [PATCH 2/3] moved list of runtime configs to constants file and added
 RUN_ID and FILE_LISTS_DIR

---
 metplus/util/config_metplus.py | 18 +-----------------
 metplus/util/constants.py      | 25 +++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 26 insertions(+), 17 deletions(-)

diff --git a/metplus/util/config_metplus.py b/metplus/util/config_metplus.py
index 3056aaccb3..33bb2d8fd4 100644
--- a/metplus/util/config_metplus.py
+++ b/metplus/util/config_metplus.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 
 from produtil.config import ProdConfig
 
+from .constants import RUNTIME_CONFS
 from . import met_util as util
 from .string_template_substitution import get_tags, do_string_sub
 from .met_util import is_python_script, format_var_items
@@ -519,23 +520,6 @@ def move_runtime_configs(self):
         """
         from_section = 'config'
         to_section = 'runtime'
-        RUNTIME_CONFS = [
-            'CLOCK_TIME',
-            'METPLUS_VERSION',
-            'MET_INSTALL_DIR',
-            'CONFIG_INPUT',
-            'METPLUS_CONF',
-            'TMP_DIR',
-            'STAGING_DIR',
-            'CONVERT',
-            'GEMPAKTOCF_JAR',
-            'GFDL_TRACKER_EXEC',
-            'INPUT_MUST_EXIST',
-            'USER_SHELL',
-            'DO_NOT_RUN_EXE',
-            'SCRUB_STAGING_DIR',
-            'MET_BIN_DIR',
-        ]
         more_run_confs = [item for item in self.keys(from_section)
                           if item.startswith('LOG') or item.endswith('BASE')]
 
diff --git a/metplus/util/constants.py b/metplus/util/constants.py
index 7e7d9cd9f0..76f5b6966c 100644
--- a/metplus/util/constants.py
+++ b/metplus/util/constants.py
@@ -35,3 +35,28 @@
     'Example',
     'CyclonePlotter',
 )
+
+# configuration variables that are specific to a given run
+# these are copied from [config] to [runtime] at the
+# end of the run so they will not be read if the final
+# config file is passed back into METplus but they will
+# still be available to review
+RUNTIME_CONFS = [
+    'RUN_ID',
+    'CLOCK_TIME',
+    'METPLUS_VERSION',
+    'MET_INSTALL_DIR',
+    'CONFIG_INPUT',
+    'METPLUS_CONF',
+    'TMP_DIR',
+    'STAGING_DIR',
+    'FILE_LISTS_DIR',
+    'CONVERT',
+    'GEMPAKTOCF_JAR',
+    'GFDL_TRACKER_EXEC',
+    'INPUT_MUST_EXIST',
+    'USER_SHELL',
+    'DO_NOT_RUN_EXE',
+    'SCRUB_STAGING_DIR',
+    'MET_BIN_DIR',
+]

From 11ca5e4cb1751d4da385a5fcd5eebc6c8a2d7663 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: George McCabe <23407799+georgemccabe@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2022 13:27:35 -0600
Subject: [PATCH 3/3] added glossary entry for new RUN_ID config variable

---
 docs/Users_Guide/glossary.rst | 13 +++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 13 insertions(+)

diff --git a/docs/Users_Guide/glossary.rst b/docs/Users_Guide/glossary.rst
index b2a4501c91..490576fdaa 100644
--- a/docs/Users_Guide/glossary.rst
+++ b/docs/Users_Guide/glossary.rst
@@ -9937,3 +9937,16 @@ METplus Configuration Glossary
      See :ref:`Overriding Unsupported MET config file settings<met-config-overrides>` for more information
 
      | *Used by:* PlotPointObs
+
+   RUN_ID
+     Eight character hash string unique to a given run of METplus.
+     Automatically set by METplus at the beginning of a run.
+     Can be referenced in other METplus config variables to distinguish
+     multiple METplus runs that may have started within the same second.
+     For example, it can be added to :term:`LOG_TIMESTAMP_TEMPLATE` to
+     create unique log files, final config files, etc.
+
+     Example:
+     LOG_TIMESTAMP_TEMPLATE = %Y%m%d%H%M%S.{RUN_ID}
+
+     | *Used by:*  All