Overview
Supercomputing software environments are highly domain dependent, and to prevent conflicts while balancing ease of use, the software that your research needs will likely need to be loaded into the environment as a software module.
No software modules are loaded when you start a new session, so you must load software in every session.
Listing Available Modules
The following command will list all available software modules.
module avail
You can also see available modules from the web portal.
Sol: https://links.asu.edu/sol-modules
Phoenix: https://links.asu.edu/phx-modules
Research Computing uses two methods to create modules, which is reflected in two naming schemes. Modules that are built manually follow the naming scheme software/version.number. Modules that are built with a program called Spack follow the naming scheme software-version.number-compiler-version.number. There is no difference between the methods otherwise.
Loading a module
To use software, you must first load the module into your shell environment using the module load command.
module load aspect/2.3.0
In this example, Aspect software has been loaded and can be used as normal.
Tip: you can use “ml” as a shorthand for “module load”
Listing Loaded Modules
To see a list of modules that are currently loaded use the following command.
module list
Unloading modules by name
To unload only a single module use the following command.
module unload aspect/2.3.0
Unloading all loaded modules
To unload all modules that are currently loaded run the following.
module purge
Module purge is useful for starting over with a clean environment, like when incorporating modules into an sbatch job script.
Example
$ module avail aspect ------------------------------ /packages/modulefiles/apps ------------------------------ aspect/2.3.0 aspect/2.3.0-debug aspect/2.4.0 aspect/2.4.0-debug aspect/2.5.0-pre ----------------------------- /packages/modulefiles/spack ------------------------------ aspect-2.3.0-gcc-11.2.0 $ module load aspect/2.3.0 $ module list Currently Loaded Modulefiles: 1) dealii-9.3.3-gcc-11.2.0 2) openmpi-4.1.3-gcc-11.2.0 3) aspect/2.3.0 $ module purge $ module list No Modulefiles Currently Loaded.
Using Modules in SBATCH Job Scripts
Many sbatch scripts will include a module load command as part of the script.
Examples of this can be found here: Slurm - SBATCH Job Scripts
Installing Software as Modules
If the software you need is not installed as a module yet, please create a support ticket by reviewing our RTO Request Help page. Please indicate the URL to the software downloading source, the version of the software needed, and other related information in the email.
Additional Support
If you require further assistance on this topic, please contact the Research Computing Team. To create a support ticket review our RTO Request Help page. For quick inquiries, reach out via our #rc-support Slack Channel or attend our office hours for live assistance. We also offer a series of Educational Opportunities and Workshops.