The EEMCS-HPC cluster uses Environment Modules for managing software. The modules system permits us to set up the shell environment to make running and compiling software easier. It also allows us to make available many software packages and libraries that would otherwise conflict with one another.

When you first log into the cluster, you will be entered into a very barebone user environment with minimal software available. The module system is a script based system used to manage the user environment and to “activate” software packages. In order to access software that is installed on the cluster, you must first load the corresponding software module.

The directory /software contains sub-directories where the separate groups can install additional software.

• If you need an additional standard package, ask a contact person to arrange for the package to be installed.
• If you need a package that can be installed in user space then install it yourself. If others will be using the package ask for a directory in /software, otherwise use your home directory.
  • Tensorflow v1.6+ and Keras require the avx and/or avx2 support, use either the –constraint=avx/avx2 or the main_avx or main_avx2 partitions.
• If the package is not standard and requires root privileges to install: contact Geert Jan Laanstra.
• You are not supposed to contact ICTS without talking to the contact persons.

The preinstalled software on the cluster is a growing list containing the following software :

• opencv, boost, python2.7/3.8 etc…

The Ubuntu 20.04 default version is 9.3.0. Not all source packages can be compiled with this version, for compatibility the version 7.5.0 is provided.

To activate this version load the module gnu/gcc-7, this is for example required by the older sample code of the cuda versions of 10.x and below.

Due to changes in the infra structure, downloads are only possible using the proxy server. define an environment variable for this purpose.

• shell environment varable

export HTTP_PROXY=http://proxy.utwente.nl:3128
export HTTPS_PROXY=http://proxy.utwente.nl:3128

• python variable

os.environ["HTTP_PROXY"]= "http://proxy.utwente.nl:3128"
os.environ["HTTPS_PROXY"]= "http://proxy.utwente.nl:3128"

In order to install your own set of python packages within your home folder run one of the following commands (depending on your python version).

pip install --user <PackageName>
pip3 install --user <PackageName>

The default python versions are 2.7.18 and 3.8.5, for different versions you need to load the correct module file.

Additional software that is not directly available, can be added to your environment using the Environment Modules. To load this software on login, just add the following command to your .bashrc file:

module load <ModuleFolder>/<ModuleName>

To list the available modules run the following command:

module avail

Below is a list of the available optional software and their additional instructions.

The FMT group also uses Environment Modules to manage its software. To use these modules add the following commands to your .bashrc file:

module use /software/fmt/other/modules
module use /software/fmt/easybuild/modules/all

The other hierarchy contains modules with software that needs to be installed by hand. Currently, it contains installations of

• Java (Various SE versions)
• CADP

EasyBuild is a software build system. The provided configurations allow build of a long list of HPC software, including various compiler tool chains.

When a package can be built automatically, adding it as a module here has the great advantage that you can share the build configuration with other people. This directory contains modules for:

• mCRL2
• LTSmin

The configs for these are archived on github.