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Version control your Modulefiles using Git

The Modules concept is a great way to manage versions of tools on a common server, but managing the Modulefiles themselves is error-prone when not controlled using a SCM like Git.

Goals

  • To be able to create, edit, and test Modulefiles without the risk of breaking other users.
  • To be able to track changes to the system-wide Modulefiles using Git.
  • To enable testing of new tool versions (with their associated Modulefiles) before making the new version generally available (since the new Modulefile will not be public until pushed).

Assumptions

Details are tweakable via TCL variables

  • You have Environment Modules version 4.1 or later installed on your system, and Git version 2.4 or later.
  • You have a Unix user named modules that exists only for managing the Modulefiles, and controlling updates to them.

  • The path /home/modules/modulefiles is in your modulerc file:

    module use --append /home/modules/modulefiles
  • Other Unix users (not named modules) use the modules from /home/modules/modulefiles.

Principles of Operation

First we create a git repo for the Modulefiles.

Then we install a Modulefile named localmodules that, when loaded, switches MODULEPATH to a locally-created git clone of the Modulefiles. When unloaded, it switches MODULEPATH back to the default.

After this, any time a user wants to edit the Modulefiles, he works in his local git repo. After editing, testing, and commiting to the local git repo, git push updates the main repository, which (assuming the user knows the password for user modules) automatically updates /home/modules/modulefiles.

Implementation

../../example/modulefiles-in-git/modulefiles/localmodules

Installation

First convert the existing Modulefiles into a git repo at /home/modules/modulefiles, as user modules:

cd /home/modules/modulefiles
git init
git add .
git commit -m 'Initial checkin of existing Modulefiles'
# Enable updates when receiving pushes:
git config --local receive.denyCurrentBranch updateInstead

Edit your global $MODULESHOME/init/modulerc file to use the new env var MODULES_REPO instead of hard-coding the path (requires Modules 4.1). Your modulerc should have:

setenv MODULES_REPO /home/modules/modulefiles
module use /\$MODULES_REPO

(The extra slash required before $MODULES_REPO is a bug to be fixed in 4.2.3.)

Copy the localmodules file from the Modules source tree to your repo:

cd /home/modules/modulefiles
curl --output localmodules https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cea-hpc/modules/master/doc/example/modulefiles-in-git/modulefiles/localmodules

Edit paths in the top of localmodules, if your installation differs from the assumptions, then:

git add localmodules
git commit -m 'Add localmodules from github.com/cea-hpc/modules'

Usage example

As a regular user (i.e. anyone but user modules):

module load localmodules
cd $HOME/modulefiles

Edit, test, then:

git commit -am 'Make some edits'
git push
module unload localmodules

After a successful push and unload, it is safe to delete your local $HOME/modulefiles directory if you wish.