112 lines
3.3 KiB
ReStructuredText
112 lines
3.3 KiB
ReStructuredText
Feature overview
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==================
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This is a high-level overview of features that make Spack different
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from other `package managers
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<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Package_management_system>`_ and `port
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systems <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ports_collection>`_.
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Simple package installation
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----------------------------
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Installing the default version of a package is simple. This will install
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the latest version of the ``mpileaks`` package and all of its dependencies:
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.. code-block:: sh
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$ spack install mpileaks
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Custom versions & configurations
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-------------------------------------------
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Spack allows installation to be customized. Users can specify the
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version, build compiler, compile-time options, and cross-compile
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platform, all on the command line.
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.. code-block:: sh
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# Install a particular version by appending @
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$ spack install mpileaks@1.1.2
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# Specify a compiler (and its version), with %
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$ spack install mpileaks@1.1.2 %gcc@4.7.3
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# Add special compile-time options with +
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$ spack install mpileaks@1.1.2 %gcc@4.7.3 +debug
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# Cross-compile for a different architecture with =
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$ spack install mpileaks@1.1.2 =bgqos_0
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Users can specify as many or few options as they care about. Spack
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will fill in the unspecified values with sensible defaults.
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Customize dependencies
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-------------------------------------
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Spack allows *dependencies* of a particular installation to be
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customized extensively. Suppose that ``mpileaks`` depends indirectly
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on ``libelf`` and ``libdwarf``. Using ``^``, users can add custom
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configurations for the dependencies:
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.. code-block:: sh
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# Install mpileaks and link it with specific versions of libelf and libdwarf
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$ spack install mpileaks@1.1.2 %gcc@4.7.3 +debug ^libelf@0.8.12 ^libdwarf@20130729+debug
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Non-destructive installs
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-------------------------------------
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Spack installs every unique package/dependency configuration into its
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own prefix, so new installs will not break existing ones.
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Packages can peacefully coexist
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-------------------------------------
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Spack avoids library misconfiguration by using ``RPATH`` to link
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dependencies. When a user links a library or runs a program, it is
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tied to the dependencies it was built with, so there is no need to
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manipulate ``LD_LIBRARY_PATH`` at runtime.
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Creating packages is easy
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-------------------------------------
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To create a new packages, all Spack needs is a URL for the source
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archive. The ``spack create`` command will create a boilerplate
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package file, and the package authors can fill in specific build steps
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in pure Python.
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For example, this command:
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.. code-block:: sh
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$ spack create http://www.mr511.de/software/libelf-0.8.13.tar.gz
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creates a simple python file:
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.. code-block:: python
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from spack import *
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class Libelf(Package):
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homepage = "http://www.example.com/"
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url = "http://www.mr511.de/software/libelf-0.8.13.tar.gz"
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version('0.8.13', '4136d7b4c04df68b686570afa26988ac')
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def install(self, prefix):
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configure("--prefix=%s" % prefix)
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make()
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make("install")
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It doesn't take much python coding to get from there to a working
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package:
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.. literalinclude:: ../../../var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/libelf/package.py
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:lines: 25-
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Spack also provides wrapper functions around common commands like
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``configure``, ``make``, and ``cmake`` to make writing packages
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simple.
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