How to Install environment-modules Lmod on OpenBSD

Lmod is an open-source environment-modules solution from the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC). It makes it easier to load, manage, and switch between different software and environment modules on shared computing systems. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the process of installing environment-modules Lmod on OpenBSD.

Prerequisites

  • OpenBSD installation
  • OpenBSD root access

Step 1 – Install Dependencies

In order to use environment-modules Lmod on OpenBSD, we need to install certain dependencies. Here are the steps that you need to follow:

  1. Open up a terminal window on your OpenBSD machine.
  2. Update your package repository:
sudo pkg_add -u
  1. Install the required dependencies by running the following command:
sudo pkg_add lua lua-alt-getopt lua-cjson lua-filelock lua-luafilesystem lua-lyaml lua-term lua-luafilesystem
  1. Verify the installation by running the following command:
pkg_info | grep lua

You should see a list of installed lua packages.

Step 2 – Download and Install Lmod

Next, we need to download and install environment-modules Lmod. Here are the steps that you need to follow:

  1. Download the latest version of Lmod from the TACC repository:
wget https://github.com/TACC/Lmod/archive/refs/tags/[version_number].tar.gz

Note: Replace [version_number] with the latest version number of Lmod.

  1. Extract the downloaded tarball:
tar xvfz Lmod-[version_number].tar.gz

Note: Replace [version_number] with the latest version number of Lmod.

  1. Install Lmod by running the following command:
cd Lmod-[version_number]
sudo make install

Note: Replace [version_number] with the latest version number of Lmod.

  1. Verify that Lmod is installed by running the following command:
module --version

You should see the version number of Lmod.

Step 3 – Configure Lmod

After installation, we need to configure Lmod to work with our OpenBSD system. Here are the steps that you need to follow:

  1. Open the Lmod configuration file:
sudo vi /opt/apps/lmod/lmod/init/profile
  1. Edit the following lines to reflect the paths on your OpenBSD system:
export LMOD_DIR=/opt/apps/lmod/lmod
export LMOD_PACKAGE_PATH=/opt/apps/lmod/lmod
export LMOD_CACHE_DIR=/opt/apps/lmod/cache

  1. Save the file and exit.

  2. Reload the profile by running the following command:

source /opt/apps/lmod/lmod/init/profile

Conclusion

That’s it! You have successfully installed environment-modules Lmod on your OpenBSD machine. You can now start using Lmod to load, manage, and switch between different software and environment modules on shared computing systems.