Software

What is the Operating System used on the cluster?

We currently use RockyLinux 8, a community enterprise OS based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).

What software is available on the cluster?

You may kindly refer to the Software section for the list of softwares available on the cluster.

I do not know the exact name of the software I am looking for. How do I find it?

You can use the search bar on the top of the page with some keywords related to the software you are looking for.

Alternatively, in the Software section you can find the list of softwares available on the cluster.

You can also connect to the cluster and type the following command in the terminal:

$ module spider <keywords>

Can I install a package on my own?

We encourage you to use the software packages installed on the cluster as they are specifically built and optimised. However, if you wish to install a package on your own, we have configured the cluster to provide various build tools and libraries to help you compile your software packages locally.

How to load my own collection of modules and libraries on login?

By default the login environment does not load any modules or libraries. However, if you want to load your own collection of modules and libraries on login, you can do so by adding the following line in your ~/.bashrc file:

source ~/.spack_config

Now create and edit the file ~/.spack_config and add the following lines:

spack load <module_1>
spack load <module_2>

Here, module_1 and module_2 are the names of the modules and libraries you want to load. Logout and login to ensure that the modules and libraries are loaded on login.

To restore the default environment, delete the file ~/.spack_config and remove the source command from your ~/.bashrc file. Logout and login to ensure that the default environment is loaded on login.

How hard is it to port my code to run on the facility?

If your code implements parallel programming standards such as OpenMP, MPI, or CUDA, then porting the code would not be a problem. While, the compilation steps might have minimal to no change, the execution of the codes requires you to write SLURM scripts to launch on the cluster.

Can I run my docker applications on the HPC facility?

No. We do not provide docker support on the cluster. However, we do provide Apptainer (formerly Singularity) which is a container technology built to be run on HPC platforms.

How often are the software packages updated?

We update packages regularly to ensure the latest features and bug fixes are available. This also includes updating the Operating System and any other software packages that are required for the cluster to function properly.

While executing a command, I am getting the error "undefined symbol: EVP_KDF_ctrl, version OPENSSL_1_1_1b".

To resolve this issue, please type, spack unload openssl in the terminal.

After launching nano or vi, the application throws a segmentation fault.

To resolve this error, please type spack unload openssl in the terminal.