Modules and Applications

This page provides an overview of how software applications are managed on Aire.

Module system explained

Aire uses a module system for managing software applications - a common practice in HPC clusters. A module system simplifies the use of different software and different versions of the software, which can quickly become complicated and lead to a loss of performance. With a module system, many users can access multiple different versions of a software application safely and conveniently.

Installing and managing modules

Popular and common software applications are installed and managed centrally by the Research Computing team. This approach not only saves users time and effort, but also makes sure that the installed applications have the correct optimisation for the hardware of the system and do not interfere with each other (different applications often have files or libraries with the same name, for example). It also allows the Research Computing team to limit the availability of some modules to specific user groups - groups using licenced software, for example.

Requesting new modules

You can request new modules by submitting a Research Computing Query giving details about your requirements. Requests will be assessed for suitability to be a shared application. Most open source applications can be incorporated, and commercial applications can be supported with appropriate licenses.

Using modules

Users can list, load and unload modules using the module command:

List currently available modules:

    $ module avail

Load a specific module:

    $ module load <module>

Unload a module (useful for avoiding module conflicts and for workflow separation):

    $ module unload <module>

See also

For a more complete guide to using modules and managing reproducible environments on Aire, check out Software on Aire.