Modern Scientific Software Management Using EasyBuild and Lmod

HPC user support teams invest a lot of time and effort in installing scientific software for their users. A well-established practice is providing environment modules to make it easy for users to set up their working environment. Several problems remain, however: user support teams lack appropriate tools to manage a scientific software stack easily and consistently, and users still struggle to set up their working environment correctly. In this paper, we present a modern approach to installing (scientific) software that provides a solution to these common issues. We show how EasyBuild, a software build and installation framework, can be used to automatically install software and generate environment modules. By using a hierarchical module naming scheme to offer environment modules to users in a more structured way, and providing Lmod, a modern tool for working with environment modules, we help typical users avoid common mistakes while giving power users the flexibility they demand.