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Software within the ARCC

The ARCC supports a wide range of softwares that are available to our users. High-Performance Computing(HPC) environments are shared by multiple users and they will each need different versions of softwares in order to get their projects running. Having the users install their own software could cause issues. One user might need Python 3.12 while another user might need Python 3.6. If both versions happened to be installed in the same location, it could cause instability issues. In order to work around this, the ARCC uses a module system.

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Software packages are pre-installed in non-standard locations on the cluster, and using the module system, users can dynamically change their environment variables without affecting the global system, thus not affecting any other users on the cluster.

Adjusting your environment variables can be done using the module command. This command allows users to:

  • Switch between different versions of software

  • Load software on demand

  • Keep environments organized and conflict-free

In the next section, we’ll cover more on the module command.