Message: 5
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2016 15:12:05 +1100
From: Craig Sanders <cas@taz.net.au>
To: Luv Main <luv-main@luv.asn.au>
Subject: Re: /usr/bin/env
Message-ID: <20161223041205.qbkvfszdiy4tpakh@taz.net.au>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

On Fri, Dec 23, 2016 at 02:44:28PM +1100, Andrew Mather wrote:
> Module files are generally set up by the admins, so they don't require
> anything more from the user than including the appropriate loading
> statements in their scripts. It's not unlike a wrapper script really.

it sounds similar to (but quite a bit more advanced than) what i've done in
the past with wrapper scripts and collections of environment setting files
sourced (#included) as needed.

Yep. Pretty much.

It's not uncommon in scientific computing to need multiple versions of compilers and various bits of software compiled against a range of different libraries and the like. You have to retain old versions of software, often long past its use-by date in case someone queries a scientific paper based on using that particular version.

By using a chain of module load commands the user can easily set up an environment very different from the current OS state (apart from the kernel itself), repeatably, across an entire cluster if needs be.

They can even swap environments around between various steps in a script if that is needed.

Obviously it's overkill for some requirements and won't suit everyone's Modus Operandi, but well worth knowing about if that's the sort of thing you need to do.

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