Environment Modules

The ABCI system offers various development environments, MPIs, libraries, utilities, etc. listed in Software. And, users can use these software in combination as modules.

Environment Modules allows users to configure their environment settings, flexibly and dynamically, required to use these modules.

Usage

Users can configure their environment using the module command:

$ module [options] <sub-command> [sub-command options]

The following is a list of sub-commands.

Sub-command	Description
list	List loaded modules
avail	List all available modules
show module	Display the configuration of "module"
load module	Load a module named "module" into the environment
unload module	Unload a module named "module" from the environment
switch moduleA moduleB	Switch loaded "moduleA" with "moduleB"
purge	Unload all loaded modules (Initialize)
help module	Print the usage of "module"

Use cases

Loading modules

[username@login1 ~]$ module load cuda/12.6/12.6.1 cudnn/9.5/9.5.1

List loaded modules

[username@login1 ~]$ module list
Currently Loaded Modulefiles:
 1) cuda/12.6/12.6.1   2) cudnn/9.5/9.5.1

Display the configuration of modules

[username@login1 ~]$ module show cuda/12.6/12.6.1
-------------------------------------------------------------------
/apps/modules/modulefiles/rhel9/gpgpu/cuda/12.6/12.6.1:

module-whatis   {cuda 12.6.1}
conflict        cuda
prepend-path    CUDA_HOME /apps/cuda/12.6.1
prepend-path    CUDA_PATH /apps/cuda/12.6.1
prepend-path    PATH /apps/cuda/12.6.1/bin
prepend-path    LD_LIBRARY_PATH /apps/cuda/12.6.1/extras/CUPTI/lib64
prepend-path    LD_LIBRARY_PATH /apps/cuda/12.6.1/lib64
prepend-path    CPATH /apps/cuda/12.6.1/extras/CUPTI/include
prepend-path    CPATH /apps/cuda/12.6.1/include
prepend-path    LIBRARY_PATH /apps/cuda/12.6.1/lib64
prepend-path    MANPATH /apps/cuda/12.6.1/doc/man
prepend-path    PATH /apps/cuda/12.6.1/gds/tools
prepend-path    MANPATH /apps/cuda/12.6.1/gds/man
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Unload all loaded modules (Initialize)

[username@login1 ~]$ module purge
[username@login1 ~]$ module list
No Modulefiles Currently Loaded.

Load dependent modules

[username@login1 ~]$ module load cudnn/9.5/9.5.1
WARNING: cudnn/9.5/9.5.1 cannot be loaded due to missing prereq.
HINT: the following modules must be loaded first: cuda/12.6

Loading cudnn/9.5/9.5.1
  ERROR: Module evaluation aborted

Because of dependencies, you cannot load cudnn/9.5/9.5.1 without first loading cuda/12.6.

[username@login1 ~]$ module load cuda/12.6/12.6.1
[username@login1 ~]$ module load cudnn/9.5/9.5.1

Load exclusive modules

Modules that are in an exclusive relationship, such as modules of different versions of the same library, cannot be used at the same time.

[username@login1 ~]$ module load cuda/12.5/12.5.1
[username@login1 ~]$ module load cuda/12.6/12.6.1
Loading cuda/12.6/12.6.1
  ERROR: Module cannot be loaded due to a conflict.
    HINT: Might try "module unload cuda" first.

Switch modules

[username@login1 ~]$ module load cuda/12.5/12.5.1
[username@login1 ~]$ module switch cuda/12.5/12.5.1 cuda/12.6/12.6.1

Usage in a job script

When using the module command in a job script for a batch job, it is necessary to add initial settings as follows.

sh, bash:

source /etc/profile.d/modules.sh
module load cuda/12.6/12.6.1

csh, tcsh:

source /etc/profile.d/modules.csh
module load cuda/12.6/12.6.1