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Conference call notes 20250129

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Kenneth Hoste edited this page Jan 29, 2025 · 1 revision

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Notes on the 263rd EasyBuild conference call, Wednesday 29 Jan 2025 (09:00 UTC / 10:00 CET)

Attendees

List of attendees (14):

  • Simon Branford (Univ. of Birmingham, UK)
  • Alex Domingo (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium)
  • Alain van Hoof (TU Eindhoven, Netherlands)
  • Kenneth Hoste (HPC-UGent, Belgium)
  • Kurt Lust (UAntwerpen / LUMI)
  • Georgios Kafanas (University of Luxembourg)
  • Sam Moors (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium)
  • Sebastien Moretti (SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland)
  • Jurij Pečar (EMBL, Germany)
  • Jan André Reuter (JSC, Germany)
  • Ãke Sandgren (Umeå University, Sweden)
  • Jörg Saßmannshausen (Imperial College London, UK)
  • Roberto Scipioni (Red Oak Consulting, UK)
  • Cintia Willemyns (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium)

Agenda

  • overview of recent developments
  • outlook to EasyBuild 5.0 release
  • 2024b update of common toolchains
  • Q&A

Recent developments

  • latest EasyBuild release:
  • next (stable) EasyBuild release:
    • EasyBuild v5.0.0 🔥
    • additional EasyBuild 4.9.x versions could still be done via 4.9.x branches, but none are planned currently
  • EasyBuild v5.0.0
    • project board: https://github.com/orgs/easybuilders/projects/18/views/2
    • detailed notes on latest developments here
    • to test development version of EasyBuild 5.0: 
      # set up Python virtual environment, and jump into it
python3 -m venv eb5
source eb5/bin/activate

# install EasyBuild 5.0 development version into it
pip install https://github.com/easybuilders/easybuild-framework/archive/5.0.x.tar.gz
pip install https://github.com/easybuilders/easybuild-easyblocks/archive/5.0.x.tar.gz
pip install https://github.com/easybuilders/easybuild-easyconfigs/archive/5.0.x.tar.gz

# go!
eb --version

Merged PRs

  • docs (merged PRs)

    • ...

  • framework (merged PRs)

    • bug fixes
      • ...
    • enhancements
      • ...
    • changes
      • [5.0.x] refactor generation of required environment variables in module files + deprecate make_module_req_guess method in EasyBlock class in favor of module_load_environment (PR #4653)
    • code cleanup
      • [5.0.x] use enumerate where applicable + fix for ModuleGenerator._generate_multi_deps_list (PR #4720)

  • easyblocks (merged PRs)

    • bug fixes
      • [5.0.x] fix error reporting for unknown value of unrecognized_configure_options in ConfigureMake (PR #3563)
      • [5.0.x] Enhance Score-P EasyBlock for future releases and better oneAPI support (PR #3548)
    • enhancements
      • ...
    • updates
      • ...
    • changes
      • [5.0.x] adopt module_load_environment in generic Rpm easyblock (PR #3561)
    • new easyblocks
      • ...
    • code cleanup
      • ...

  • easyconfigs (merged PRs)

    • ~XXX easyconfig PRs were merged since last conf call
    • bug fixes/reports
      • ...
    • enhancements
      • ...
    • (noteworthy) new software
      • ...
    • noteworthy software updates
      • CUDA 12.8.0 (supports GCC 14.2)
    • cleanup
      • ...
    • changes
      • ...

Open (active) PRs

  • docs (open PRs + issues)

    • ...

  • framework (open PRs + issues)

    • bug fixes
      • ...
    • enhancements
      • [5.0.x] Copy build log and artifacts to a permanent location after failures (PR #4601)
        • mostly new code, so worth considering to include in EasyBuild v5.0.0 (but not a priority)
      • Problem using $CPATH in modulefiles overwriting system paths (issue #3331)
        • [5.0.x] add module-search-path-headers configuration option to control how modules set search paths to header files (PR #4655)
      • [develop] initial work towards integrating easy_update functionality (PR #4714)
      • [5.0.x] add TODO and warning about non-path variables not being currently handled in module load environment (PR #4748)
    • code cleanup
      • ...
    • changes
      • [5.0.x] Deprecate use of parallel easyconfig parameter and fix updating the template value (PR #4580)
      • With new clang based intel compilers (ifx, icx, icpx) we should use -march=native (issue #4744)

  • easyblocks (open PRs + issues)

    • bug fixes/reports
      • [develop] fix enhance_sanity_check for PythonPackage (PR #3477)
      • Issue with building PyTorch 2.1.2 using EasyBuild 5 (issue #3570)
      • changes to Cargo easyblock break installation of polars (issue #3567)
      • [5.0.x] Fix $PYTHONPATH for hermetic python in TensorFlow builds with EB 5.x (PR #3568)
    • enhancements
      • [develop -> 5.0.x] enhance LLVM easyblock for compilation of clang/flang + other llvm-projects (PR #3373)
      • [develop] enable hwloc and HeFFTe support in GROMACS easyblock (PR #3531)
      • Make path to temporary install directory used in test step of PythonPackage easyblock available through environment variable so that it may be used in easyconfigs (PR #3565)
      • add support for Sapphire Rapids in LAMMPS easyblock (PR #3569)
    • updates
      • ...
    • changes
      • updates to easyblock required because make_module_req_guess is being deprecated:
        • adopt module_load_environment: Bundle (PR #3513)
        • adopt module_load_environment in PerlModule + custom easyblock for FlexiBLAS (PR #3529)
        • adopt module_load_environment: PythonPackage (PR #3530)
          • ~10 similar PRs for other easyblocks, see also overview in issue #3527
      • update easyblocks to use EasyConfig.parallel property (PR #3557)
    • code cleanup
      • ...
    • new
      • ...

  • easyconfigs (open PRs + issues)

    • ~950 open easyconfig PRs
    • bug fixes/reports
      • ...
    • enhancements
      • ...
    • (noteworthy) new software
      • ...
    • software updates
      • [develop] PyTorch v2.3.0 (PR #20489 + PR #22021)
        • blocked by changes in how results of PyTorch test suite are reported...
        • custom easyblock for PyTorch will need to be updated, Flamefire has started looking into it
      • [develop] AlphaFold 3 (PR #21864 + PR #22067)
    • changes
      • ...

2025a common toolchains

  • (2024b is skipped to catch up with original schedule for defining common toolchain versions)
    • EasyBuild v5.0 is ideal excuse for that break in continuity...
  • GCC 14.2 as a base (see easyconfigs PR #21114)
  • we should define candidate toolchains using latest version of all components
  • easyconfigs using GCCcore/14.2.0 toolchain available for Python 3.13.1, Perl + Perl-bundle-CPAN 5.40.0
  • effort sort of on hold until EasyBuild v5.0.0 is released...

Q&A / others

  • 8th EasyBuild User Survey, please fill it out! (closes 28 Feb'25)
  • agenda for 10th EasyBuild User Meeting (EUM'25, 25-27 Mar'25 in Jülich) is starting to come together...
    • will soon be publised at https://easybuild.io/eum25
    • high-level overview (subject to change!)
      • Tue 25 March'25
        • keynote on ROCm (to be confirmed)
        • EasyBuild State of the Union
        • EasyBuild 5.0
        • JUPITER (incl. tour)
      • Wed 26 March'25
        • keynote by Jeff Hammond (NVIDIA) on MPI standards
      • Thu 27 March'25 (focus on EESSI)
        • keynote on EuroHPC Federation Platform (to be confirmed)
        • EESSI intro/update
        • EESSI test suite
        • Improving NVIDIA GPU support in EESSI
      • talks to be confirmed/scheduled
        • Clang vs GCC
        • OpenGL support in EasyBuild
        • Getting Started as EasyBuild Contributor
        • Spack update (remote)
        • Continuous Benchmarking (w/ JUBE)
        • ReFrame
        • Ramble (remote)
        • LEXIS platform for running workflows
        • POP3 (CoE on performance tools)
        • Scalasca
        • Lmod
        • Environment Modules
        • Open OnDemand
        • Blablador, state of open LLMs
    • social event "Keeping the P in HPC", most likely on Wed afternoon
    • suggestions
      • Jörg (seconded by Roberto): open discussion/brainstorm on attracting & keeping young talent
    • EUM'25 registrations so far: ~27 on-site attendees (incl. 8 from JSC) + 7 remote attendees
  • Jörg: Blender installed as unpacked binary
  • Alex: feedback on PR with easyconfig templates (PR #21984)
  • Roberto: updated easyconfigs for Singularity/Apptainer?
    • OK as long as it doesn't require root permissions or sudo to install
    • install without suid is mostly useful
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