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EasyBuild

EasyBuild is a software build and installation framework that allows you to manage (scientific) software on HPC systems in an efficient way.

Advanced Usage – Proceed with Caution

The instructions on this page are intended for experienced users who are familiar with module systems and software compilation. Modifying or building personal modules with EasyBuild can lead to broken environments or system conflicts if not done carefully. If you're unsure about any of the steps or potential consequences, we strongly recommend contacting the support team before proceeding.

Configuration

The default configuration is as follows:

Default configuration

module load EasyBuild
eb --show-config

#
# Current EasyBuild configuration
# (C: command line argument, D: default value, E: environment variable, F: configuration file)
#
buildpath      (D) = /home/username/.local/easybuild/build
containerpath  (D) = /home/username/.local/easybuild/containers
installpath    (D) = /home/username/.local/easybuild
repositorypath (D) = /home/username/.local/easybuild/ebfiles_repo
robot-paths    (D) = /storage-apps/easybuild/software/EasyBuild/4.7.2/easybuild/easyconfigs
sourcepath     (D) = /home/username/.local/easybuild/sources

Editing configuration

Configuring EasyBuild can be done by:

  • using eb with command line arguments
  • setting environment variables ($EASYBUILD_...)
  • providing one or more configuration files

Recommendation

You can find all information about EasyBuild configuration here. We suggest to use eb command line arguments for configuration.

Shared EasyBuild installations

All software installations realized with EasyBuild that are available for all users are stored in /storage-apps/easybuild/. The following directories are important:

  • /storage-apps/easybuild/software - contains all original software files installed with EasyBuild (binaries, configs, etc.)
  • /storage-apps/easybuild/modules - contains all modulefiles generated by EasyBuild
  • /storage-apps/easybuild/software/EasyBuild/4.7.2/easybuild/easyconfigs - build recipes of software for EasyBuild (.eb files)

Software installations realized with EasyBiuld are available at two distict paths depening on the node architecture (x86 CPU nodes vs. arm GPU nodes):

  • /apps/easybuild_gpu/software - contains all original software files installed with EasyBuild (binaries, configs, etc.) for GPU nodes
  • /apps/easybuild_gpu/modules - contains allmodulefiles generated by EasyBuild for GPU nodes
  • /apps/easybuild_gpu/easybuild/easyconfigs - build recipes of software for EasyBuild (.eb files) for GPU nodes
  • /apps/easybuild/software - contains all original software files installed with EasyBuild (binaries, configs, etc.) for CPU nodes
  • /apps/easybuild/modules - contains all modulefiles generated by EasyBuild for for CPU nodes
  • /apps/easybuild/easybuild/easyconfigs - build recipes of software for EasyBuild (.eb files) for CPU nodes

Typical workflow

Compilation with EasyBuild

Software compilation with EasyBuild is possible only on login nodes!

Let's install the gnuplot package with EasyBuild. Start by loading the EasyBuild module, then check the available easyconfig (version and toolchain) files for gnuplot:

Check all easyconfig files for gnuplot 

module load EasyBuild
eb -S gnuplot

== found valid index for /storage-apps/easybuild/software/EasyBuild/4.7.2/easybuild/easyconfigs, so using it...
CFGS1=/storage-apps/easybuild/software/EasyBuild/4.7.2/easybuild/easyconfigs
* $CFGS1/g/gnuplot/gnuplot-5.0.3-foss-2016a.eb
* $CFGS1/g/gnuplot/gnuplot-5.0.3-intel-2016a.eb
* $CFGS1/g/gnuplot/gnuplot-5.0.5-foss-2016b.eb
* $CFGS1/g/gnuplot/gnuplot-5.0.5-intel-2016b.eb
* $CFGS1/g/gnuplot/gnuplot-5.0.6-intel-2017a.eb
* $CFGS1/g/gnuplot/gnuplot-5.2.2-foss-2017b.eb
* $CFGS1/g/gnuplot/gnuplot-5.2.2-foss-2018a.eb
* $CFGS1/g/gnuplot/gnuplot-5.2.2-intel-2017b.eb
* $CFGS1/g/gnuplot/gnuplot-5.2.2-intel-2018a.eb
* $CFGS1/g/gnuplot/gnuplot-5.2.5-foss-2018b.eb
* $CFGS1/g/gnuplot/gnuplot-5.2.5_fix-libcerf.patch
* $CFGS1/g/gnuplot/gnuplot-5.2.6-GCCcore-8.2.0.eb
* $CFGS1/g/gnuplot/gnuplot-5.2.6-foss-2018b.eb
* $CFGS1/g/gnuplot/gnuplot-5.2.6-fosscuda-2018b.eb
* $CFGS1/g/gnuplot/gnuplot-5.2.6_fix_missing_dep_for_gobject_to_cairopdf.patch
* $CFGS1/g/gnuplot/gnuplot-5.2.8-GCCcore-8.3.0.eb
* $CFGS1/g/gnuplot/gnuplot-5.2.8-GCCcore-9.3.0.eb
* $CFGS1/g/gnuplot/gnuplot-5.4.1-GCCcore-10.2.0.eb
* $CFGS1/g/gnuplot/gnuplot-5.4.2-GCCcore-10.3.0.eb
* $CFGS1/g/gnuplot/gnuplot-5.4.2-GCCcore-11.2.0.eb
* $CFGS1/g/gnuplot/gnuplot-5.4.4-GCCcore-11.3.0.eb
* $CFGS1/g/gnuplot/gnuplot-5.4.6-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb

Note: 6 matching archived easyconfig(s) found, use --consider-archived-easyconfigs to see them

Consider installation of gnuplot-5.4.6 with the GCCcore-12.2.0 toolchain. Check dependencies first with the -Dr option. Already installed dependencies are marked with [X].

Check all dependencies for installation 

eb -Dr gnuplot-5.4.6-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb

== Temporary log file in case of crash /tmp/eb-esp0xabd/easybuild-1gbj5uyi.log
== found valid index for /storage-apps/easybuild/software/EasyBuild/4.7.2/easybuild/easyconfigs, so using it...
== found valid index for /storage-apps/easybuild/software/EasyBuild/4.7.2/easybuild/easyconfigs, so using it...
Dry run: printing build status of easyconfigs and dependencies
CFGS=/storage-apps/easybuild/software/EasyBuild/4.7.2/easybuild/easyconfigs
* [x] $CFGS/m/M4/M4-1.4.19.eb (module: M4/1.4.19)
* [x] $CFGS/b/Bison/Bison-3.8.2.eb (module: Bison/3.8.2)
* [x] $CFGS/f/flex/flex-2.6.4.eb (module: flex/2.6.4)
* [x] $CFGS/z/zlib/zlib-1.2.12.eb (module: zlib/1.2.12)
* [x] $CFGS/b/binutils/binutils-2.39.eb (module: binutils/2.39)
* [x] $CFGS/g/GCCcore/GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: GCCcore/12.2.0)
* [x] $CFGS/h/help2man/help2man-1.49.2-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: help2man/1.49.2-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [x] $CFGS/m/M4/M4-1.4.19-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: M4/1.4.19-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [x] $CFGS/z/zlib/zlib-1.2.12-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: zlib/1.2.12-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [x] $CFGS/b/Bison/Bison-3.8.2-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: Bison/3.8.2-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [x] $CFGS/f/flex/flex-2.6.4-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: flex/2.6.4-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [x] $CFGS/b/binutils/binutils-2.39-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: binutils/2.39-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [x] $CFGS/p/pkgconf/pkgconf-1.9.3-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: pkgconf/1.9.3-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [x] $CFGS/n/ncurses/ncurses-6.3-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: ncurses/6.3-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [x] $CFGS/l/libtool/libtool-2.4.7-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: libtool/2.4.7-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [x] $CFGS/b/bzip2/bzip2-1.0.8-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: bzip2/1.0.8-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [x] $CFGS/g/groff/groff-1.22.4-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: groff/1.22.4-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [ ] $CFGS/l/libpng/libpng-1.6.38-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: libpng/1.6.38-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [x] $CFGS/e/expat/expat-2.4.9-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: expat/2.4.9-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [x] $CFGS/l/libreadline/libreadline-8.2-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: libreadline/8.2-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [ ] $CFGS/n/NASM/NASM-2.15.05-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: NASM/2.15.05-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [ ] $CFGS/p/pixman/pixman-0.42.2-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: pixman/0.42.2-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [ ] $CFGS/g/gperf/gperf-3.1-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: gperf/3.1-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [x] $CFGS/p/pkgconf/pkgconf-1.8.0.eb (module: pkgconf/1.8.0)
* [x] $CFGS/o/OpenSSL/OpenSSL-1.1.eb (module: OpenSSL/1.1)
* [x] $CFGS/c/cURL/cURL-7.86.0-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: cURL/7.86.0-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [x] $CFGS/d/DB/DB-18.1.40-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: DB/18.1.40-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [x] $CFGS/p/Perl/Perl-5.36.0-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: Perl/5.36.0-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [x] $CFGS/a/Autoconf/Autoconf-2.71-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: Autoconf/2.71-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [x] $CFGS/a/Automake/Automake-1.16.5-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: Automake/1.16.5-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [x] $CFGS/a/Autotools/Autotools-20220317-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: Autotools/20220317-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [ ] $CFGS/p/Perl/Perl-5.36.0-GCCcore-12.2.0-minimal.eb (module: Perl/5.36.0-GCCcore-12.2.0-minimal)
* [ ] $CFGS/u/util-linux/util-linux-2.38.1-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: util-linux/2.38.1-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [x] $CFGS/l/libffi/libffi-3.4.4-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: libffi/3.4.4-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [x] $CFGS/u/UnZip/UnZip-6.0-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: UnZip/6.0-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [x] $CFGS/n/ncurses/ncurses-6.3.eb (module: ncurses/6.3)
* [x] $CFGS/g/gettext/gettext-0.21.1.eb (module: gettext/0.21.1)
* [x] $CFGS/x/XZ/XZ-5.2.7-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: XZ/5.2.7-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [x] $CFGS/l/libarchive/libarchive-3.6.1-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: libarchive/3.6.1-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [x] $CFGS/c/CMake/CMake-3.24.3-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: CMake/3.24.3-GCCcore-12.2.0)
* [ ] $CFGS/g/gnuplot/gnuplot-5.4.6-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb (module: gnuplot/5.4.6-GCCcore-12.2.0)
== Temporary log file(s) /tmp/eb-esp0xabd/easybuild-1gbj5uyi.log* have been removed.
== Temporary directory /tmp/eb-esp0xabd has been removed.

To get information about configuration of software and how the installation is done, inspect the .eb file:

Check .eb file 
eb --show-ec gnuplot-5.4.6-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb

== Temporary log file in case of crash /tmp/eb-5lb8lvwf/easybuild-vqyv_apk.log
== found valid index for /storage-apps/easybuild/software/EasyBuild/4.7.2/easybuild/easyconfigs, so using it...
== Contents of /storage-apps/easybuild/software/EasyBuild/4.7.2/easybuild/easyconfigs/g/gnuplot/gnuplot-5.4.6-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb:
easyblock = 'ConfigureMake'

name = 'gnuplot'
version = '5.4.6'

homepage = 'http://gnuplot.sourceforge.net'
description = """Portable interactive, function plotting utility"""

toolchain = {'name': 'GCCcore', 'version': '12.2.0'}

source_urls = [('https://sourceforge.net/projects/gnuplot/files/gnuplot/%(version)s', 'download')]
sources = [SOURCE_TAR_GZ]
checksums = ['02fc27918200ed64d8f0c3b84fe81b95b59cd47ad99f270939ae497c19f27419']

builddependencies = [
('binutils', '2.39'),
('pkgconf', '1.9.3'),
('Autotools', '20220317'),
] 

dependencies = [
('ncurses', '6.3'),
('cairo', '1.17.4'),
('libjpeg-turbo', '2.1.4'),
('libpng', '1.6.38'),
('libgd', '2.3.3'),
('Pango', '1.50.12'),
('libcerf', '2.3'),
('X11', '20221110'),
('Qt5', '5.15.7'),
('Lua', '5.4.4'),
('wxWidgets', '3.2.2.1'), 
]

preconfigopts = 'autoreconf && '

configopts = '--with-qt=qt5 --without-latex '

sanity_check_paths = {
'files': ['bin/gnuplot'],
'dirs': []
}
# make sure that pdf terminal type is available
sanity_check_commands = ["gnuplot -e 'set terminal pdf'"]

moduleclass = 'vis'

== Temporary log file(s) /tmp/eb-5lb8lvwf/easybuild-vqyv_apk.log* have been removed.
== Temporary directory /tmp/eb-5lb8lvwf has been removed.

You can now install software and all missing dependencies (-r option) with the following command:

eb -r gnuplot-5.4.6-GCCcore-12.2.0.eb --installpath=/project/<project_id>/yourfolder

Project directory

We encourage users to use shared project folders for personal EasyBuild installations to ensure the sharing of software installations between all project participants.

Finally, you can use your personal modules and load your software module for usage. 

module use /project/<project_id>/yourfolder/modules/all
module load gnuplot-5.4.6-GCCcore-12.2.0

Created by: Andrej Hurajt, Marek Štekláč, Marek Štekláč