Build Software

Setting up a Dynamic Environment

Learning Objectives

Understand the need for a dynamic environment
Learn to load and unload modulefiles
Learn to write your own modulefiles

Pre-installed Modulefiles

List available modulefiles

$ module avail

Spruce Knob’s Available Modules Screen

Load a Modulefile

$ python3

-bash: python3: command not found

$ module load compilers/python/3.5.1
$ module list

Currently Loaded Modulefiles:
    1) compilers/python/3.5.1

$ python3

Python 3.5.1 (default, Mar 10 2016, 10:56:02) [GCC 4.4.7 20120313 (Red Hat 
4.4.7-16)] on linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>

Unload a Modulefile

$ module unload compilers/python/3.5.1
$ module list

No Modulefiles Currently Loaded.

$ python3

-bash: python3: command not found

Search for Modulefiles

By Category

$ module avail mpi

--------------- /usr/share/Modules/development ------------------------------------
mpi/intel/4.1.0.024 mpi/intel/5.0.3.048 mpi/mvapich2/1.9    mpi/openmpi/1.6.5
mpi/intel/4.1.1.036 mpi/mpich2/1.2.1    mpi/mvapich2/2.0.1  mpi/openmpi/1.8.4

What Modulefiles look like

$ module show compilers/python/3.5.1

-------------------------------------------------------------------
/usr/share/Modules/development/compilers/python/3.5.1:

module-whatis    Name: Python 
module-whatis    Version: 3.5.1 
module-whatis    Category: Scripting Language Intrepeter 
module-whatis    URL: http://www.python.org 
module-whatis    packages: setuptools-18.2 
conflict         compilers/python/2.7.3 compilers/python/2.7.10 
prepend-path     PATH /shared/software/python/python-3.5.1/bin 
-------------------------------------------------------------------

What is command

$ module whatis compilers/python/3.5.1

compilers/python/3.5.1: Name: Python
compilers/python/3.5.1: Version: 3.5.1
compilers/python/3.5.1: Category: Scripting Language Intrepeter
compilers/python/3.5.1: URL: http://www.python.org
compilers/python/3.5.1: packages: setuptools-18.2

Internal search of modulefiles

$ module apropos -i setuptools

compilers/python/2.7.10: packages: Numpy 1.9.2, Matplotlib 1.4.3, Setuptools 18.3.1
compilers/python/3.5.1: packages: setuptools-18.2

Writing private module files

Modulefiles can be written by users so they can control their own environments.
Modulefiles are very simple to write. Usually, you just want to add a directory to your PATH variable. We want to write a modulefile to use our python3 interpreter; which consists of adding $HOME/python3/bin to our PATH variable. This is done with the prepend-path directive in modulefiles.

$ cat python3

#%Module

prepend-path PATH /home/training01/python3/bin

Personal modulefiles need to be located in a subdirectory privatemodules in your home directory.

Load your personal private modulefiles

$ module load use.own

You can now see your personal modulefiles in the module avail command.

$ module avail

---------------------- /home/training01/privatemodules -------------------------------
python3

We can load the python3 modulefile, and verify that it works correctly.

$ python3

-bash3: python3: command not found

$ module load python3
$ module list

Currently Loaded Modulefiles:
  1) use.own   2) python3

$ which python3

/home/training01/python3/bin/python3