Modules

The module system is a command-line tool to help users manage their Linux environment variables (e.g. PATH, LD_LIBRARY_PATH). It works by grouping related environment variable settings together based on various usage scenarios, such as

• Adding executables to a user’s PATH

• Adding the location of specific software libraries to a user’s LD_LIBRARY_PATH

• Adding documentation manual pages “man pages” to a user’s MANPATH

• Creating custom environment variables to define the global path where a specific package is installed, e.g. FFTWHOME

These modules may be added/removed dynamically, allowing a user to have a great amount of control over her/his environment.

Possibly one of the greatest assets of the module system is that it provides a simple user interface, and can be queried to learn all of the available modules on a system, making it easier to know which packages are or aren’t already installed on a system.

The module system operates through the Linux executable, module, followed by the desired command. The primary module commands are as follows:

• module avail – displays a list of all available modules on the system, e.g.

  $ module avail
  
  ------------------------------------ /hpc/modules/applications -------------------------------------
     aimall/17.01.25        gaussian/g16a     (D)    orca/4.0.0        sas/9.4
     allinea/forge-7.0.2    julia/0.5.2              orca/4.0.1 (D)    spack
     autodock_vina/1.1.2    lammps/2016.11.17        python/2          stata/mp-14
     cfour/2.00beta         matlab/r2017a            python/3   (D)    tensorflow/1.2_gpu
     charmm/c41b1           namd/2.12/cpu     (D)    q-chem/5.0        vmd/1.9.3/egl
     gaussian/g03e          namd/2.12/gpu            r/3.4.0           vmd/1.9.3/ogl      (D)
     gaussian/g09d          nbo/6.0                  r/3.4.1    (D)
  
  -------------------------------------- /hpc/modules/compilers --------------------------------------
     gcc-4.8.5    intel-17.0.4    pgi-12.10    pgi-16.5
     gcc-6.3      llvm-4.0.0      pgi-13.2     pgi-17.4
  
    Where:
     D:  Default Module
  
  Use "module spider" to find all possible modules.
  Use "module keyword key1 key2 ..." to search for all possible modules matching any of the "keys".
  

• module list – lists all currently loaded modules in your working environment. At first, we have none:

  $ module list
  No modules installed
  

• module add and module load – loads a module into your working environment. For example, at the moment matlab is not in our PATH:

  $ matlab
  -bash: matlab: command not found
  

  but once we load the matlab module, it is now in our path

  $ module load matlab
  $ matlab -nodisplay -nosplash
  
                                        < M A T L A B (R) >
                              Copyright 1984-2017 The MathWorks, Inc.
                               R2017a (9.2.0.556344) 64-bit (glnxa64)
                                           March 27, 2017
  
  
  To get started, type one of these: helpwin, helpdesk, or demo.
  For product information, visit www.mathworks.com.
  
  >>
  

  and it is listed as being loaded in our environment (after quiting)

  $ module list
  
  Currently Loaded Modules:
    1) matlab/r2017a
  

• module rm and module unload – undoes a previous “add” or “load” command, removing the module from your working environment, e.g.

  $ module load python
  $ module list
  
  Currently Loaded Modules:
    1) matlab/r2017a   2) python/3
  
  $ module unload python
  $ module list
  
  Currently Loaded Modules:
    1) matlab/r2017a
  

• module switch and module swap – this does a combination unload/load, swapping out one module for another, e.g.

  $ module load gcc-6.3
  $ module load mvapich2
  $ module list
  
  Currently Loaded Modules:
    1) gcc-6.3   2) mvapich2/2.2-qmt35td
  
  $ module swap mvapich2 openmpi
  $ module list
  
  Currently Loaded Modules:
    1) gcc-6.3   2) openmpi/2.1.1-ne4p6t6
  

• module display and module show – this shows detaled information about how a specific module affects your environment, e.g.

  $ module display r
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     /hpc/modules/applications/r/3.4.1.lua:
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  whatis("Name : r")
  whatis("Version : 3.4.1")
  family("r")
  always_load("gcc-6.3")
  append_path("PATH","/cm/local/apps/curl/bin")
  help([[R is 'GNU S', a freely available language and environment for statistical computing and graphics which provides a wide variety of statistical and graphical techniques: linear and nonlinear modelling, statistical tests, time series analysis, classification, clustering, etc. Please consult the R project homepage for further information.]])
  prepend_path("PATH","/hpc/spack/opt/spack/linux-centos7-x86_64/gcc-6.3.0/r-3.4.1-goez3p22shsw3y54osk56bpiwwjfnjmu/bin")
  prepend_path("CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH","/hpc/spack/opt/spack/linux-centos7-x86_64/gcc-6.3.0/r-3.4.1-goez3p22shsw3y54osk56bpiwwjfnjmu/")
  prepend_path("MANPATH","/hpc/spack/opt/spack/linux-centos7-x86_64/gcc-6.3.0/r-3.4.1-goez3p22shsw3y54osk56bpiwwjfnjmu/share/man")
  prepend_path("XDG_DATA_DIRS","/hpc/spack/opt/spack/linux-centos7-x86_64/gcc-6.3.0/pango-1.40.3-esnuezqtwnztztf5ym5laexnfxyssuj4/share")
  prepend_path("LIBRARY_PATH","/hpc/spack/opt/spack/linux-centos7-x86_64/gcc-6.3.0/r-3.4.1-goez3p22shsw3y54osk56bpiwwjfnjmu/rlib/R/lib")
  prepend_path("LD_LIBRARY_PATH","/hpc/spack/opt/spack/linux-centos7-x86_64/gcc-6.3.0/r-3.4.1-goez3p22shsw3y54osk56bpiwwjfnjmu/rlib/R/lib")
  prepend_path("CPATH","/hpc/spack/opt/spack/linux-centos7-x86_64/gcc-6.3.0/r-3.4.1-goez3p22shsw3y54osk56bpiwwjfnjmu/rlib/R/include")
  

• module help – This displays a set of descriptive information about the module (what it does, the version number of the software, etc.). This only applies to packages where their “help” pages have been installed (none yet on ManeFrame).

$ /hpc/spack/opt/spack/linux-centos7-x86_64/gcc-4.8.5/gcc-6.3.0-25d5bficqjhp272cil37hy3znbqrqoqj/bin/g++ driver.cpp \
  one_norm.cpp vector_difference.cpp vector_product.cpp \
  vector_sum.cpp -lm -o driver.exe

$ module load gcc-6.3
$ g++ driver.cpp one_norm.cpp vector_difference.cpp \
  vector_product.cpp vector_sum.cpp -lm -o driver.exe