On 02/11/2015 10:09 AM, Cook, Malcolm wrote:
Hi Fotis & Stuart,
....
What do people do/recommend for multiple OS environments? We are
>> currently CentOS 6 but will eventually move to C7. I'm thinking I
>> will want a separate application tree for each OS (/projects/app-c6
>> and /projects/app-c7).
>>
>> How do people deal with software with frequent updates (java) or
>> security issues? Do you rebuild and remove old packages?
>
>You may be able to handle both of the above needs,
>by using the concept of buildsets, mentioned in p. over here:
>https://archive.fosdem.org/2014/schedule/event/hpc_devroom_hpcbios/attachments/slides/491/export/events/attachments/hpc_
>devroom_hpcbios/slides/491/FOSDEM14_HPC_devroom_09_HPC_BIOS.pdf
>
>In principle, the idea is that you create self-contained directory areas
>with complete build trees, including modules, at a given point in time.
>I've calling them /opt/apps/HPCBIOS.YYYYMMDD but any kind of tag will just
do.
>
>Then you might create symlinks like:
> /opt/apps/sandybridge -> /opt/apps/*.YYYYMMDD
>
>I used a dubious example name above but you get the idea.
Fotis, I note your example name, "sandybridge", apparently encoded an intel
processor microarchitecture, NOT the name of a linux distribution (such as c6 or c7 for
releases of centOS, as proposed). I'm trying to understand the implications of
possibly needing to support a heterogeneous environment having multiple CentOS versions
(6.5 and 7.x) on multiple core types (sandybridge) and would appreciate any more clarity
here. Are you possibly suggesting that buildsets for each combination of microprocessor
and OS version might be appropriate
(provoking visions of /opt/apps/{sandybridge,Nehalem}/centOS{6,7}/YYYYMMDD )
??
We certainly have need for such a thing. Our cluster is mostly Ivy Bridge
(with AVX2 support), including the login nodes where I do most my builds.
However, we have some systems (1-2TB) with older chipsets that don't
have AVX. So anything built with optarch=True (i.e. -xHost) on the login
nodes won't work on the big mem nodes.
I could do the build on the big mem (older chipset) nodes but then won't
get the benefit of AVX on the newer nodes. So somehow providing a way
to distinguish based on the chip set would be kind of nice.
($.02)
jack
