diff --git a/colossalai/cli/launcher/__init__.py b/colossalai/cli/launcher/__init__.py
index c63008af7659..4ada68b4b68f 100644
--- a/colossalai/cli/launcher/__init__.py
+++ b/colossalai/cli/launcher/__init__.py
@@ -5,27 +5,34 @@
 
 @click.command(help="Launch distributed training on a single node or multiple nodes",
                context_settings=dict(ignore_unknown_options=True))
-@click.option("-H", "-host", "--host", type=str, default=None, help="the list of machines to launch")
-@click.option("--hostfile",
+@click.option("-H",
+              "-host",
+              "--host",
               type=str,
               default=None,
-              help="Hostfile path that defines the device pool available to the job (e.g. worker-name:number of slots)")
+              help="the list of hostnames to launch in the format <host1>,<host2>")
 @click.option(
-    "--include",
+    "--hostfile",
     type=str,
     default=None,
-    help=
-    "Specify computing devices to use during execution. String format is NODE_SPEC@NODE_SPEC where NODE_SPEC=<worker-name>:<list-of-slots>"
-)
+    help="Hostfile path that defines the device pool available to the job, each line in the file is a hostname")
+@click.option("--include",
+              type=str,
+              default=None,
+              help="Specify computing devices to use during execution. String format is <host1>,<host2>,"
+              " only effective when used with --hostfile.")
 @click.option(
     "--exclude",
     type=str,
     default=None,
     help=
-    "Specify computing devices to NOT use during execution. Mutually exclusive with --include. Formatting is the same as --include."
-)
-@click.option("--num_nodes", type=int, default=-1, help="Total number of worker nodes to use.")
-@click.option("--nproc_per_node", type=int, default=-1, help="Number of GPUs to use on each node.")
+    "Specify computing devices to NOT use during execution. Mutually exclusive with --include. Formatting is the same as --includ,"
+    " only effective when used with --hostfile.")
+@click.option("--num_nodes",
+              type=int,
+              default=-1,
+              help="Total number of worker nodes to use, only effective when used with --hostfile.")
+@click.option("--nproc_per_node", type=int, default=None, help="Number of GPUs to use on each node.")
 @click.option("--master_port",
               type=int,
               default=29500,
@@ -35,34 +42,43 @@
               default="127.0.0.1",
               help="(optional) IP address of node 0, will be inferred via 'hostname -I' if not specified.")
 @click.option(
-    "--launcher",
-    type=click.Choice(['torch', 'openmpi', 'slurm'], case_sensitive=False),
-    default="torch",
-    help="(optional) choose launcher backend for multi-node training. Options currently include PDSH, OpenMPI, SLURM.")
-@click.option("--launcher_args",
-              type=str,
-              default=None,
-              help="(optional) pass launcher specific arguments as a single quoted argument.")
+    "--extra_launch_args",
+    type=str,
+    default=None,
+    help=
+    "Set additional torch distributed launcher arguments such as --standalone. The format is --extra_launch_args arg1=1,arg2=2. "
+    "This will be converted to --arg1=1 --arg2=2 during execution")
+@click.option("--ssh-port", type=int, default=None, help="(optional) the port used for ssh connection")
 @click.argument("user_script", type=str)
 @click.argument('user_args', nargs=-1)
 def run(host: str, hostfile: str, num_nodes: int, nproc_per_node: int, include: str, exclude: str, master_addr: str,
-        master_port: int, launcher: str, launcher_args: str, user_script: str, user_args: str):
+        master_port: int, extra_launch_args: str, ssh_port: int, user_script: str, user_args: str) -> None:
     """
     To launch multiple processes on a single node or multiple nodes via command line.
 
     Usage::
-        # run on the current node with all available GPUs
-        colossalai run train.py
+        # run with 4 GPUs on the current node use default port 29500
+        colossalai run --nprocs_per_node 4 train.py
 
-        # run with only 2 GPUs on the current node
-        colossalai run --nprocs_per_node 2 train.py
+        # run with 2 GPUs on the current node at port 29550
+        colossalai run --nprocs_per_node 4 --master_port 29550 train.py
 
         # run on two nodes
-        colossalai run --host <host1>,<host2> train.py
+        colossalai run --host <host1>,<host2> --master_addr host1  --nprocs_per_node 4 train.py
 
         # run with hostfile
-        colossalai run --hostfile <file_path> train.py
+        colossalai run --hostfile <file_path> --master_addr <host>  --nprocs_per_node 4 train.py
+
+        # run with hostfile with only included hosts
+        colossalai run --hostfile <file_path> --master_addr host1 --include host1,host2  --nprocs_per_node 4 train.py
+
+        # run with hostfile excluding the hosts selected
+        colossalai run --hostfile <file_path> --master_addr host1 --exclude host2  --nprocs_per_node 4 train.py
     """
+    if not user_script.endswith('.py'):
+        click.echo(f'Error: invalid Python file {user_script}. Did you use a wrong option? Try colossalai run --help')
+        exit()
+
     args_dict = locals()
     args = Config(args_dict)
     args.user_args = list(args.user_args)
diff --git a/colossalai/cli/launcher/hostinfo.py b/colossalai/cli/launcher/hostinfo.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..2f0830c5880d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/colossalai/cli/launcher/hostinfo.py
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+from typing import List
+import socket
+
+
+class HostInfo:
+    """
+    A data class to store host connection-related data.
+
+    Args:
+        hostname (str): name or IP address of the host
+        port (str): the port for ssh connection
+    """
+
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        hostname: str,
+        port: str = None,
+    ):
+        self.hostname = hostname
+        self.port = port
+        self.is_local_host = HostInfo.is_host_localhost(hostname, port)
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def is_host_localhost(hostname: str, port: str = None) -> None:
+        """
+        Check if the host refers to the local machine.
+
+        Args:
+            hostname (str): name or IP address of the host
+            port (str): the port for ssh connection
+
+        Returns:
+            bool: True if it is local, False otherwise
+        """
+
+        if port is None:
+            port = 22    # no port specified, lets just use the ssh port
+        hostname = socket.getfqdn(hostname)
+        if hostname in ("localhost", "127.0.0.1", "0.0.0.0"):
+            return True
+        localhost = socket.gethostname()
+        localaddrs = socket.getaddrinfo(localhost, port)
+        targetaddrs = socket.getaddrinfo(hostname, port)
+        for (family, socktype, proto, canonname, sockaddr) in localaddrs:
+            for (rfamily, rsocktype, rproto, rcanonname, rsockaddr) in targetaddrs:
+                if rsockaddr[0] == sockaddr[0]:
+                    return True
+        return False
+
+    def __str__(self):
+        return f'hostname: {self.hostname}, port: {self.port}'
+
+    def __repr__(self):
+        return self.__str__()
+
+
+class HostInfoList:
+    """
+    A data class to store a list of HostInfo objects.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.hostinfo_list = []
+
+    def append(self, hostinfo: HostInfo) -> None:
+        """
+        Add an HostInfo object to the list.
+
+        Args:
+            hostinfo (HostInfo): host information
+        """
+
+        self.hostinfo_list.append(hostinfo)
+
+    def remove(self, hostname: str) -> None:
+        """
+        Add an HostInfo object to the list.
+
+        Args:
+            hostname (str): the name of the host
+        """
+
+        hostinfo = self.get_hostinfo(hostname)
+        self.hostinfo_list.remove(hostinfo)
+
+    def get_hostinfo(self, hostname: str) -> HostInfo:
+        """
+        Return the HostInfo object which matches with the hostname.
+
+        Args:
+            hostname (str): the name of the host
+
+        Returns:
+            hostinfo (HostInfo): the HostInfo object which matches with the hostname
+        """
+
+        for hostinfo in self.hostinfo_list:
+            if hostinfo.hostname == hostname:
+                return hostinfo
+
+        raise Exception(f"Hostname {hostname} is not found")
+
+    def has(self, hostname: str) -> bool:
+        """
+        Check if the hostname has been added.
+
+        Args:
+            hostname (str): the name of the host
+
+        Returns:
+            bool: True if added, False otherwise
+        """
+        for hostinfo in self.hostinfo_list:
+            if hostinfo.hostname == hostname:
+                return True
+        return False
+
+    def __iter__(self):
+        return iter(self.hostinfo_list)
+
+    def __len__(self):
+        return len(self.hostinfo_list)
diff --git a/colossalai/cli/launcher/multinode_runner.py b/colossalai/cli/launcher/multinode_runner.py
index 9a80cc2954d9..b3cabcbf2ae5 100644
--- a/colossalai/cli/launcher/multinode_runner.py
+++ b/colossalai/cli/launcher/multinode_runner.py
@@ -1,69 +1,120 @@
-import os
-import sys
-import shutil
-from shlex import quote
-from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
-
-from colossalai.logging import get_dist_logger
-
-
-class MultiNodeRunner(ABC):
-
-    def __init__(self, args):
-        self.args = args
-        self.user_arguments = self.args.user_args
-        self.user_script = args.user_script
-        self.exports = {}
-
-    @abstractmethod
-    def backend_exists(self):
-        """Return whether the corresponding backend exists"""
-
-    @abstractmethod
-    def get_cmd(self, environment, active_devices):
-        """Return the command to execute on node"""
-
-    def add_export(self, key, var):
-        self.exports[key.strip()] = var.strip()
-
-    @property
-    def name(self):
-        """Return the name of the backend"""
-        return self.__class__.__name__
-
-
-class PDSHRunner(MultiNodeRunner):
-
-    def __init__(self, args):
-        super().__init__(args)
-
-    def backend_exists(self):
-        return shutil.which('pdsh')
-
-    @property
-    def name(self):
-        return "pdsh"
-
-    def parse_user_args(self):
-        return list(map(lambda x: x if x.startswith("-") else f"'{x}'", self.args.user_args))
-
-    def get_cmd(self, environment, active_devices, args):
-        environment['PDSH_RCMD_TYPE'] = 'ssh'
-
-        active_workers = ",".join(active_devices.keys())
-        print("Running on the following workers: %s" % active_workers)
-
-        pdsh_cmd_args = ['pdsh', '-f', str(1024), '-w', active_workers]
-
-        exports = ""
-        for key, val in self.exports.items():
-            exports += f"export {key}={quote(val)}; "
-
-        # https://linux.die.net/man/1/pdsh
-        # %n will be replaced by pdsh command
-        colossal_launch = [
-            exports, f"cd {os.path.abspath('.')};", sys.executable, "-u", "-m", "torch.distributed.launch",
-            f"--nproc_per_node={args.nproc_per_node}", f"--master_addr={args.master_addr}",
-            f"--master_port={args.master_port}"
-        ]
-        return pdsh_cmd_args + colossal_launch + [self.user_script] + self.user_arguments
+import fabric
+from fabric import Connection
+from .hostinfo import HostInfo, HostInfoList
+from multiprocessing import Pipe, Process
+from multiprocessing import connection as mp_connection
+import click
+
+
+def run_on_host(hostinfo: HostInfo, workdir: str, recv_conn: mp_connection.Connection,
+                send_conn: mp_connection.Connection, env: dict) -> None:
+    """
+    Use fabric connection to execute command on local or remote hosts.
+
+    Args:
+        hostinfo (HostInfo): host information
+        workdir (str): the directory to execute the command
+        recv_conn (multiprocessing.connection.Connection): receive messages from the master sender
+        send_conn (multiprocessing.connection.Connection): send messages to the master receiver
+        env (dict): a dictionary for environment variables
+    """
+
+    fab_conn = fabric.Connection(hostinfo.hostname, port=hostinfo.port)
+    finish = False
+    env_msg = ' '.join([f'{k}=\"{v}\"' for k, v in env.items()])
+
+    # keep listening until exit
+    while not finish:
+        # receive cmd
+        cmds = recv_conn.recv()
+
+        if cmds == 'exit':
+            # exit from the loop
+            finish = True
+            break
+        else:
+            # execute the commands
+            try:
+                # cd to execute directory
+                with fab_conn.cd(workdir):
+                    # propagate the runtime environment
+                    with fab_conn.prefix(f"export {env_msg}"):
+                        if hostinfo.is_local_host:
+                            # execute on the local machine
+                            fab_conn.local(cmds, hide=False)
+                        else:
+                            # execute on the remote machine
+                            fab_conn.run(cmds, hide=False)
+                    send_conn.send('success')
+            except:
+                click.echo(f"Error: failed to run {cmds} on {hostinfo.hostname}")
+                send_conn.send('failure')
+
+    # shutdown
+    send_conn.send("finish")
+    fab_conn.close()
+
+
+class MultiNodeRunner:
+    """
+    A runner to execute commands on an array of machines. This runner
+    is inspired by Nezha (https://github.com/zhuzilin/NeZha).
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.processes = {}
+        self.master_send_conns = {}
+        self.master_recv_conns = {}
+
+    def connect(self, host_info_list: HostInfoList, workdir: str, env: dict) -> None:
+        """
+        Establish connections to a list of hosts
+
+        Args:
+            host_info_list (HostInfoList): a list of HostInfo objects
+            workdir (str): the directory where command is executed
+            env (dict): environment variables to propagate to hosts
+        """
+        for hostinfo in host_info_list:
+            master_send_conn, worker_recv_conn = Pipe()
+            master_recv_conn, worker_send_conn = Pipe()
+            p = Process(target=run_on_host, args=(hostinfo, workdir, worker_recv_conn, worker_send_conn, env))
+            p.start()
+            self.processes[hostinfo.hostname] = p
+            self.master_recv_conns[hostinfo.hostname] = master_recv_conn
+            self.master_send_conns[hostinfo.hostname] = master_send_conn
+
+    def send(self, hostinfo: HostInfo, cmd: str) -> None:
+        """
+        Send a command to a local/remote host.
+
+        Args:
+            hostinfo (HostInfo): host information
+            cmd (str): the command to execute
+        """
+
+        assert hostinfo.hostname in self.master_send_conns, \
+            f'{hostinfo} is not found in the current connections'
+        conn = self.master_send_conns[hostinfo.hostname]
+        conn.send(cmd)
+
+    def stop_all(self) -> None:
+        """
+        Stop connections to all hosts.
+        """
+
+        for hostname, conn in self.master_send_conns.items():
+            conn.send('exit')
+
+    def recv_from_all(self) -> dict:
+        """
+        Receive messages from all hosts
+
+        Returns:
+            msg_from_node (dict): a dictionry which contains messages from each node
+        """
+
+        msg_from_node = dict()
+        for hostname, conn in self.master_recv_conns.items():
+            msg_from_node[hostname] = conn.recv()
+        return msg_from_node
diff --git a/colossalai/cli/launcher/run.py b/colossalai/cli/launcher/run.py
index 5bb88fd3e7f0..e078a57c15c9 100644
--- a/colossalai/cli/launcher/run.py
+++ b/colossalai/cli/launcher/run.py
@@ -1,65 +1,72 @@
 import click
-import subprocess
-import collections
 import sys
 import os
 import torch
 from colossalai.context import Config
-from .multinode_runner import PDSHRunner
-from copy import deepcopy
+from .multinode_runner import MultiNodeRunner
+from .hostinfo import HostInfo, HostInfoList
+from typing import List
+from packaging import version
 
+# Constants that define our syntax
+NODE_SEP = ','
+
+
+def fetch_hostfile(hostfile_path: str, ssh_port: int) -> HostInfoList:
+    """
+    Parse the hostfile to obtain a list of hosts.
+    
+    A hostfile should look like:
+    worker-0
+    worker-1
+    worker-2
+    ...
+
+    Args:
+        hostfile_path (str): the path to the hostfile
+        ssh_port (int): the port to connect to the host
+    """
 
-def fetch_hostfile(hostfile_path):
     if not os.path.isfile(hostfile_path):
         click.echo(f"Error: Unable to find the hostfile, no such file: {hostfile_path}")
         exit()
 
-    # e.g., worker-0:16
     with open(hostfile_path, 'r') as fd:
-        device_pool = collections.OrderedDict()
+        device_pool = HostInfoList()
+
         for line in fd.readlines():
             line = line.strip()
             if line == '':
                 # skip empty lines
                 continue
-            try:
-                hostname, slot_count = line.split(":")
-                slot_count = int(slot_count)
-            except ValueError as err:
-                click.echo(f"Error: Hostfile is not formatted correctly, expected <hostname>:<slot>, but found {line}")
-                exit()
 
-            if hostname in device_pool:
+            # build the HostInfo object
+            hostname = line.strip()
+            hostinfo = HostInfo(hostname=hostname, port=ssh_port)
+
+            if device_pool.has(hostname):
                 click.echo(f"Error: found duplicate host {hostname} in the hostfile")
                 exit()
-            device_pool[hostname] = slot_count
-    return device_pool
 
-
-def _stable_remove_duplicates(data):
-    # Create a new list in the same order as original but with duplicates
-    # removed, should never be more than ~16 elements so simple is best
-    new_list = []
-    for x in data:
-        if x not in new_list:
-            new_list.append(x)
-    return new_list
+            device_pool.append(hostinfo)
+    return device_pool
 
 
-def parse_device_filter(host_info, include_str=None, exclude_str=None):
+def parse_device_filter(device_pool: HostInfoList, include_str=None, exclude_str=None) -> HostInfoList:
     '''Parse an inclusion or exclusion string and filter a hostfile dictionary.
 
     Examples:
-        include_str="worker-0@worker-1:0,2" will use all slots on worker-0 and
-          slots [0, 2] on worker-1.
-        exclude_str="worker-1:0" will use all available devices except
-          slot 0 on worker-1.
-    '''
+        include_str="worker-0,worker-1" will execute jobs only on worker-0 and worker-1.
+        exclude_str="worker-1" will use all available devices except worker-1.
 
-    # Constants that define our syntax
-    NODE_SEP = '@'
-    SLOT_LIST_START = ':'
-    SLOT_SEP = ','
+    Args:
+        device_pool (HostInfoList): a list of HostInfo objects
+        include_str (str): --include option passed by user, default None
+        exclude_str (str): --exclude option passed by user, default None
+    
+    Returns:
+        filtered_hosts (HostInfoList): filtered hosts after inclusion/exclusion
+    '''
 
     # Ensure include/exclude are mutually exclusive
     if include_str and exclude_str:
@@ -68,176 +75,207 @@ def parse_device_filter(host_info, include_str=None, exclude_str=None):
 
     # no-op
     if include_str is None and exclude_str is None:
-        return host_info
+        return device_pool
 
     # Either build from scratch or remove items
-    filtered_hosts = dict()
     if include_str:
         parse_str = include_str
+        filtered_hosts = HostInfoList()
     elif exclude_str:
-        filtered_hosts = deepcopy(host_info)
         parse_str = exclude_str
+        filtered_hosts = device_pool
 
     # foreach node in the list
     for node_config in parse_str.split(NODE_SEP):
-        # Node can either be alone or node:slot,slot,slot
-        if SLOT_LIST_START in node_config:
-            hostname, slots = node_config.split(SLOT_LIST_START)
-            slots = [int(x) for x in slots.split(SLOT_SEP)]
-
-            # sanity checks
-            if hostname not in host_info:
-                click.echo(f"Hostname '{hostname}' not found in hostfile")
-                exit()
-            for slot in slots:
-                if slot not in host_info[hostname]:
-                    click.echo(f"No slot '{slot}' specified on host '{hostname}'")
-
-            # If include string, build the list from here
-            if include_str:
-                filtered_hosts[hostname] = slots
-            elif exclude_str:
-                for slot in slots:
-                    click.echo(f'- removing {slot} from {hostname}')
-                    filtered_hosts[hostname].remove(slot)
-
-        # User just specified the whole node
-        else:
-            hostname = node_config
-            # sanity check hostname
-            if hostname not in host_info:
-                click.echo(f"Hostname '{hostname}' not found in hostfile")
-                exit()
-
-            if include_str:
-                filtered_hosts[hostname] = host_info[hostname]
-            elif exclude_str:
-                filtered_hosts[hostname] = []
-
-    # Post-processing to remove duplicates and empty nodes
-    del_keys = []
-    for hostname in filtered_hosts:
-        # Remove duplicates
-        filtered_hosts[hostname] = _stable_remove_duplicates(filtered_hosts[hostname])
-        # Remove empty hosts
-        if len(filtered_hosts[hostname]) == 0:
-            del_keys.append(hostname)
-
-    # remove unneeded hosts
-    for name in del_keys:
-        del filtered_hosts[name]
-
-    # Lastly, go over filtered_hosts and convert to a OrderedDict() to ensure
-    # we map ranks to nodes correctly by maintaining host_info ordering.
-    ordered_hosts = collections.OrderedDict()
-    for host in host_info:
-        if host in filtered_hosts:
-            ordered_hosts[host] = filtered_hosts[host]
+        hostname = node_config
+        hostinfo = device_pool.get_hostinfo(hostname)
+        # sanity check hostname
+        if not device_pool.has(hostname):
+            click.echo(f"Error: Hostname '{hostname}' not found in hostfile")
+            exit()
+
+        if include_str:
+            filtered_hosts.append(hostinfo)
+        elif exclude_str:
+            filtered_hosts.remove(hostname)
+
+    return filtered_hosts
+
+
+def get_launch_command(
+    master_addr: str,
+    master_port: int,
+    nproc_per_node: int,
+    user_script: str,
+    user_args: List[str],
+    node_rank: int,
+    num_nodes: int,
+    extra_launch_args: str = None,
+) -> str:
+    """
+    Generate a command for distributed training.
+
+    Args:
+        master_addr (str): the host of the master node
+        master_port (str): the port of the master node
+        nproc_per_node (str): the number of processes to launch on each node
+        user_script (str): the user Python file
+        user_args (str): the arguments for the user script
+        node_rank (int): the unique ID for the node
+        num_nodes (int): the number of nodes to execute jobs
+
+    Returns:
+        cmd (str): the command the start distributed training
+    """
 
-    return ordered_hosts
+    def _arg_dict_to_list(arg_dict):
+        ret = []
+
+        for k, v in arg_dict.items():
+            if v:
+                ret.append(f'--{k}={v}')
+            else:
+                ret.append(f'--{k}')
+        return ret
+
+    if extra_launch_args:
+        extra_launch_args_dict = dict()
+        for arg in extra_launch_args.split(','):
+            if '=' in arg:
+                k, v = arg.split('=')
+                extra_launch_args_dict[k] = v
+            else:
+                extra_launch_args_dict[arg] = None
+        extra_launch_args = extra_launch_args_dict
+    else:
+        extra_launch_args = dict()
 
+    torch_version = version.parse(torch.__version__)
+    assert torch_version.major == 1
 
-def parse_inclusion_exclusion(device_pool, inclusion, exclusion):
-    active_devices = collections.OrderedDict()
-    for hostname, slots in device_pool.items():
-        active_devices[hostname] = list(range(slots))
+    if torch_version.minor < 9:
+        cmd = [
+            sys.executable, "-m", "torch.distributed.launch", f"--nproc_per_node={nproc_per_node}",
+            f"--master_addr={master_addr}", f"--master_port={master_port}", f"--nnodes={num_nodes}",
+            f"--node_rank={node_rank}"
+        ]
+    else:
+        # extra launch args for torch distributed launcher with torch >= 1.9
+        default_torchrun_rdzv_args = dict(rdzv_backend="c10d",
+                                          rdzv_endpoint=f"{master_addr}:{master_port}",
+                                          rdzv_id="colossalai-default-job")
+
+        # update rdzv arguments
+        for key in default_torchrun_rdzv_args.keys():
+            if key in extra_launch_args:
+                value = extra_launch_args.pop(key)
+                default_torchrun_rdzv_args[key] = value
+
+        if torch_version.minor < 10:
+            cmd = [
+                sys.executable, "-m", "torch.distributed.run", f"--nproc_per_node={nproc_per_node}",
+                f"--nnodes={num_nodes}", f"--node_rank={node_rank}"
+            ]
+        else:
+            cmd = [
+                "torchrun", f"--nproc_per_node={nproc_per_node}", f"--nnodes={num_nodes}", f"--node_rank={node_rank}"
+            ]
+        cmd += _arg_dict_to_list(default_torchrun_rdzv_args)
 
-    return parse_device_filter(active_devices, include_str=inclusion, exclude_str=exclusion)
+    cmd += _arg_dict_to_list(extra_launch_args) + [user_script] + user_args
+    cmd = ' '.join(cmd)
+    return cmd
 
 
-def launch_multi_processes(args):
+def launch_multi_processes(args: Config) -> None:
     """
     Launch multiple processes on a single node or multiple nodes.
 
     The overall logic can be summarized as the pseudo code below:
     
-    if hostfile given:
-        hostinfo = parse_hostfile(hostfile)
-        hostinfo = include_or_exclude_hosts(hostinfo)
-        launch_on_multi_nodes(hostinfo)
-    elif hosts given:
-        hostinfo = parse_hosts(hosts)
-        launch_on_multi_nodes(hostinfo)
-    else:
-        launch_on_current_node()
+        if hostfile given:
+            hostinfo = parse_hostfile(hostfile)
+            hostinfo = include_or_exclude_hosts(hostinfo)
+            launch_on_multi_nodes(hostinfo)
+        elif hosts given:
+            hostinfo = parse_hosts(hosts)
+            launch_on_multi_nodes(hostinfo)
+        else:
+            launch_on_current_node()
+    
+    Args:
+        args (Config): the arguments taken from command line
+
     """
     assert isinstance(args, Config)
 
+    if args.nproc_per_node is None:
+        click.echo("--nproc_per_node did not receive any value")
+        exit()
+
     # cannot accept hosts and hostfile at the same time
     if args.host and args.hostfile:
         click.echo("Error: hostfile and hosts are mutually exclusive, only one is required")
 
     # check if hostfile is given
     if args.hostfile:
-        device_pool = fetch_hostfile(args.hostfile)
-    else:
-        device_pool = None
-
-    # filter and only keep the ones needed
-    active_devices = None
-    if device_pool:
-        active_devices = parse_inclusion_exclusion(device_pool, args.include, args.exclude)
+        device_pool = fetch_hostfile(args.hostfile, ssh_port=args.ssh_port)
+        active_device_pool = parse_device_filter(device_pool, args.include, args.exclude)
 
         if args.num_nodes > 0:
             # only keep the first num_nodes to execute jobs
-            updated_active_devices = collections.OrderedDict()
-            for count, hostname in enumerate(active_devices.keys()):
+            updated_active_device_pool = HostInfoList()
+            for count, hostinfo in enumerate(active_device_pool):
                 if args.num_nodes == count:
                     break
-                updated_active_devices[hostname] = active_devices[hostname]
-            active_devices = updated_active_devices
-
-        if args.nproc_per_node > 0:
-            # only keep the first
-            updated_active_devices = collections.OrderedDict()
-            for hostname, active_devices in active_devices.items():
-                if len(active_devices) < args.nproc_per_node:
-                    click.echo(
-                        f"Error: The number of available GPUs on {hostname} is smaller than the argument nproc_per_node"
-                    )
-                    exit()
-                updated_active_devices[hostname] = active_devices[args.nproc_per_node]
-            active_devices = updated_active_devices
+                updated_active_device_pool.append(hostinfo)
+            active_device_pool = updated_active_device_pool
+    else:
+        active_device_pool = None
 
     env = os.environ.copy()
 
     # use hosts if hostfile is not given
-    if args.host and active_devices is None:
-        hostinfo = collections.OrderedDict()
-        host_list = args.host.strip().split(',')
+    if args.host and active_device_pool is None:
+        active_device_pool = HostInfoList()
+        host_list = args.host.strip().split(NODE_SEP)
         for hostname in host_list:
-            hostinfo[hostname] = args.nproc_per_node
-        active_devices = hostinfo
-
-    # run on local node if not hosts or hostfile is given
-    if not active_devices:
-        if args.nproc_per_node == -1 or args.nproc_per_node > torch.cuda.device_count():
-            nproc_per_node = torch.cuda.device_count()
-        else:
-            nproc_per_node = args.nproc_per_node
-
-        if torch.__version__ <= "1.9":
-            cmd = [
-                sys.executable, "-u", "-m", "torch.distributed.launch", f"--nproc_per_node={nproc_per_node}",
-                f"--master_addr={args.master_addr}", f"--master_port={args.master_port}"
-            ] + [args.user_script] + args.user_args
-        else:
-            cmd = [
-                "torchrun", f"--nproc_per_node={nproc_per_node}", f"--master_addr={args.master_addr}",
-                f"--master_port={args.master_port}"
-            ] + [args.user_script] + args.user_args
-    else:
-        runner = PDSHRunner(args)
-
-        curr_path = os.path.abspath('.')
-        if 'PYTHONPATH' in env:
-            env['PYTHONPATH'] = curr_path + ":" + env['PYTHONPATH']
-        else:
-            env['PYTHONPATH'] = curr_path
-
-        cmd = runner.get_cmd(env, active_devices, args)
-
-    result = subprocess.Popen(cmd, env=env)
-    result.wait()
-    if result.returncode > 0:
-        sys.exit(result.returncode)
+            hostinfo = HostInfo(hostname=hostname, port=args.ssh_port)
+            active_device_pool.append(hostinfo)
+
+    if not active_device_pool:
+        # run on local node if not hosts or hostfile is given
+        # add local node to host info list
+        active_device_pool = HostInfoList()
+        localhost_info = HostInfo(hostname='127.0.0.1', port=args.ssh_port)
+        active_device_pool.append(localhost_info)
+
+    # launch distributed processes
+    runner = MultiNodeRunner()
+    curr_path = os.path.abspath('.')
+
+    # collect current path env
+    env = dict()
+    for k, v in os.environ.items():
+        # do not support multi-line env var
+        if v and '\n' not in v:
+            env[k] = v
+
+    # establish remote connection
+    runner.connect(host_info_list=active_device_pool, workdir=curr_path, env=env)
+
+    # execute distributed launching command
+    for node_id, hostinfo in enumerate(active_device_pool):
+        cmd = get_launch_command(master_addr=args.master_addr,
+                                 master_port=args.master_port,
+                                 nproc_per_node=args.nproc_per_node,
+                                 user_script=args.user_script,
+                                 user_args=args.user_args,
+                                 node_rank=node_id,
+                                 num_nodes=len(active_device_pool),
+                                 extra_launch_args=args.extra_launch_args)
+        runner.send(hostinfo=hostinfo, cmd=cmd)
+
+    runner.recv_from_all()
+    runner.stop_all()
+    runner.recv_from_all()
diff --git a/requirements/requirements.txt b/requirements/requirements.txt
index 02a907f09dee..572ee77ddda9 100644
--- a/requirements/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements/requirements.txt
@@ -6,3 +6,4 @@ packaging
 pre-commit
 rich
 click
+fabric