Environment customization

After logging in to the ACES system you may need to customize your environment settings to control what software your account makes use of. For example you may wish to select a particular compiler, MPI and interconnect option for building applications or you may wish to select a specific revision of Matlab. This is typically done by modifying the start-up scripts for your account and/or editing your queue system scripts.

Modules

The module command has been installed on ACES to assist with this customization. It provides a shorthand way to configure your account to use specific software. Some examples are given below.

Using modules

1. To set your shell to use the default Intel compilers with the ethernet communication based MPICH implementation of MPI use the command.

             $ module load mpich/intel
   

   This will change your account settings so that the mpi commands such as mpif77, mpif90, mpicc, mpiCC, mpirun resolve to use the Intel compilers and the ethernet build of MPICH.
   
   
2. To set your shell to use the default Intel compilers with the GM communication based MPICH (for use with Myrinet switches) implementation of MPI use the command.

             $ module load mpich-gg/intel
   

   This will change your account settings so that the mpi commands such as mpif77, mpif90, mpicc, mpiCC, mpirun resolve to use the Intel compilers and the GM build of MPICH.
   
   
3. To list available module definitions

             $ module avail
   

   This will produce a list of all the available modules that are setup on the system e.g.

   -------------- /usr/local/pkg/modules/modules-3.1.6/modulefiles ---------------------------
   adaptor/10.2/intel             man                            mpich-vmi/intel
   atlas/3.7.8/gcc/3.3.3(default) matlab/6r13                    mplite/2.7/gnu
   cscope                         matlab/7r14(default)           mplite/2.7/intel
   dot                            maui/3.2.6p9(default)          mplite/2.7/pgi
   g95/18Oct2004                  module-cvs                     nco/2.9.9(default)
   gm/2.0.14(default)             module-info                    ncview/1.92e(default)
   gnu/3.3.3(default)             modules                        null
   icc/8.1.021(default)           mpich/gnu(default)             pgi/5.2(default)
   ifc/8.1.018(default)           mpich/intel                    python-ext
   intel/8.1(default)             mpich/pgi                      rsh
   lam/7.1.1/gnu                  mpich-gm/gnu(default)          torque/1.0.1p6(default)
   lam/7.1.1/intel                mpich-gm/intel                 torque-additions/1.0(default)
   lam/7.1.1/pgi                  mpich-gm/pgi                   use.own
   lam/gnu(default)               mpich-vmi/1.2.5/gnu            vmi/2.0
   lam/intel                      mpich-vmi/1.2.5/intel
   lam/pgi                        mpich-vmi/gnu(default)
   

   
   
4. To list the settings the pgi module provides

             $ module   --long display pgi
   

   This command shows what actions the pgi module invokes

             setenv       PGI /usr/local/pkg/pgi/pgi-5.2
             prepend-path PATH /usr/local/pkg/pgi/pgi-5.2/linux86/5.2/bin
             prepend-path MANPATH /usr/local/pkg/pgi/pgi-5.2/linux86/5.2/man
             setenv       CC pgcc
             setenv       CFLAGS "-L/usr/local/pkg/pgi/pgi-5.2/lib \
                            -I/usr/local/pkg/pgi/pgi-5.2/include"
             setenv       CXX pgCC
             setenv       CXXFLAGS "-L/usr/local/pkg/pgi/pgi-5.2/lib \
                            -I/usr/local/pkg/pgi/pgi-5.2/include"
             setenv       FC pgf77
             setenv       FFLAGS "-L/usr/local/pkg/pgi/pgi-5.2/lib \
                            -I/usr/local/pkg/pgi/pgi-5.2/include"
             setenv       F90 pgf90
             setenv       F90LAGS "-L/usr/local/pkg/pgi/pgi-5.2/lib \
                            -I/usr/local/pkg/pgi/pgi-5.2/include"
   

   
   

Useful modules

The following table lists some widely used modules that are defined in ACES.