SpECTRE  v2023.05.16
Installation on Clusters

The installation instructions are the same for most systems because we use shell scripts to set up the environment for each supercomputer. We describe the generic installation instructions once, and only note special instructions if necessary for the particular system. If you have already built SpECTRE and just want to load the modules, source the shell file for your system and run spectre_load_modules.

Note
Sample submit scripts for some systems are available in support/SubmitScripts.

General Instructions

  1. Run export SPECTRE_HOME=/path/to/where/you/want/to/clone
  2. Clone SpECTRE using git clone SPECTRE_URL $SPECTRE_HOME
  3. Run cd $SPECTRE_HOME && mkdir build && cd build
  4. Run . $SPECTRE_HOME/support/Environments/SYSTEM_TO_RUN_ON_gcc.sh, where SYSTEM_TO_RUN_ON is replaced by the name of the system as described in the relevant section below.
  5. If you haven't already installed the dependencies, run export SPECTRE_DEPS=/path/to/where/you/want/the/deps Then run spectre_setup_modules $SPECTRE_DEPS. This will take a while to finish. Near the end the command will tell you how to make the modules available by providing a module use command. Make sure you are providing an absolute path to spectre_setup_modules.
  6. Run module use $SPECTRE_DEPS/modules
  7. Run spectre_run_cmake, if you get module loading errors run spectre_unload_modules and try running spectre_run_cmake again. CMake should set up successfully.
  8. Build the targets you are interested in by running, e.g. make -j4 test-executables

Anvil at Purdue University

You should build and run tests on a compute node. You can get a compute node by running

sinteractive -N1 -n 20 -p debug -t 60:00

Avoid running module purge because this also removes various default modules that are necessary for proper operation. Instead, use module restore. Currently the tests can only be run in serial, e.g. ctest -j1 because all the MPI jobs end up being launched on the same core.

Cedar, Graham, and Niagara at ComputeCanada

Use compute_canada as the SYSTEM_TO_RUN_ON in the general instructions.

Frontera at TACC

Follow the general instructions, using frontera for SYSTEM_TO_RUN_ON.

Processes running on the head nodes have restrictions on memory use that will prevent linking the main executables. It is better to compile on an interactive node. Interactive nodes can be requested with the idev command.

For unknown reasons, incremental builds work poorly on frontera. Running make will often unnecessarily recompile SpECTRE libraries.

Wheeler at Caltech

Follow the general instructions using wheeler for SYSTEM_TO_RUN_ON, except you do not need to install any dependencies, so you can skip steps 5 and 6. You can optionally compile using LLVM/Clang by sourcing wheeler_clang.sh instead of wheeler_gcc.sh

CaltechHPC at Caltech

Follow the general instructions, using caltech_hpc for SYSTEM_TO_RUN_ON. When you go to build, you will need to get an interactive node (login nodes limit the amount of memory accessible to individual users, to below the amount necessary to build SpECTRE). To ensure you get an entire node to build on, use the command:

srun -t 02:00:00 -N 1 -c 32 --mem=192000 -A sxs -D . --pty /bin/bash

being sure to re-source environment files once you get the interactive node shell.

Ocean at Fullerton

Follow the general instructions, using ocean for SYSTEM_TO_RUN_ON, you do not need to install any dependencies, so you can skip steps 5 and 6.