PETSc

Docs:  Installation


  Quick instructions:

  Invoke the following commands from the top level PETSc directory [using bash shell] 
export PETSC_DIR=$PWD
./config/configure.py --with-cc=gcc --with-fc=gfortran --download-f-blas-lapack=1 --download-mpich=1
make all test

  Detailed instructions:

  • (MS Windows only) Install cygwin package (including make, python modules) and use cygwin shell.
  • Sugest downloading and installing PETSc as a regular/non-root user, perhaps in /home/username/soft
  • Download latest PETSc release tarball: petsc-3.0.0-p0.tar.gz
  • cd /home/username/soft
  • gunzip -c petsc-3.0.0-p0.tar.gz | tar -xof -
  • cd petsc-3.0.0-p0
  • sh/bash shell:   PETSC_DIR=$PWD; export PETSC_DIR
    csh/tcsh shell:  setenv PETSC_DIR $PWD
  • ./config/configure.py        (use --help for options or the example usages below)
  • make all
  • make test

Encounter problems?


Example Usages:

  • Examples are at config/examples/*.py. We use some of these scripts locally for testing - for example one can update these files and run as:
         
    config/examples/linux-gnu-amd64.py
  • Using the bash shell, assuming BLAS, LAPACK, MPICH are not currently installed ./config/configure.py will download & install BLAS, LAPACK, MPICH if they are not already installed on the system) :
            export PETSC_DIR=/home/petsc/petsc-3.0.0-p0
            cd $PETSC_DIR
            ./config/configure.py --with-cc=gcc --with-fc=gfortran --download-f-blas-lapack=1 --download-mpich=1
            make
            make test
  • Same as above - but build Complex version of PETSc [using c++ compiler]:
            export PETSC_DIR=/home/petsc/petsc-3.0.0-p0
            cd $PETSC_DIR
            ./config/configure.py --with-cc=gcc --with-fc=gfortran --with-cxx=g++ --download-f-blas-lapack=1 --download-mpich=1 --with-scalar-type=complex --with-clanguage=cxx
            make
            make test
  • Using the bash shell, assuming BLAS, LAPACK, MPICH software are installed at the specified locations, and use MPI compilers mpicc/mpif77:
            export PETSC_DIR=/home/petsc/petsc-3.0.0-p0
            cd $PETSC_DIR
            ./config/configure.py --with-blas-lapack-dir=/usr/local/lib --with-mpi-dir=/usr/local/mpich
            make
            make test
  • Using csh shell, install 2 variants of PETSc, one with gnu, the other with intel compilers
            ./config/configure.py PETSC_ARCH=linux-gnu CC=gcc FC=gfortran --download-mpich=1
            make
    PETSC_ARCH=linux-gnu
            make PETSC_ARCH=linux-gnu test
            ./config/configure.py
    PETSC_ARCH=linux-gnu-intel CC=icc FC=ifort --download-mpich=1 --with-blas-lapack-dir=/usr/local/mkl
            make
    PETSC_ARCH=linux-gnu-intel
            make PETSC_ARCH=linux-gnu-intel test

Several variables control the configuration and build process of PETSc. They can either be given as arguments to make or be set as environment variables.

PETSC_DIR: - this environment/make variable should point to the location of the PETSc installation that is used. You can add export PETSC_DIR=value in your .profile or .sh file or setenv PETSC_DIR value in your .cshrc or .tcshrc file. Multiple PETSc versions can coexist on the same file-system. By changing PETSC_DIR one can switch between the versions

PETSC_ARCH: this environment/make variable is used to specify the configuration that should currently be used. It corresponds to the configuration files in bmake/${PETSC_ARCH}. Multiple variants of PETSc libraries can be installed - each variant corresponding to a different PETSC_ARCH. One can switch between using these variants - by changing the value of PETSC_ARCH. If PETSC_ARCH is not set, the configuration from the last time you ran ./config/configure.py will be used.

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Cygwin  provides UNIX tools on Microsoft Windows. When installing Cygwin make sure you install the following additional packages

  • make
  • python

Cygwin also has GNU compilers ( gcc, g++, g77) which can be used  if Microsoft, Intel, or Borland Group compilers are not available

Note: Previously we recommanded doing 'rebaseall' to avoid python problems. However 'rebaseall' has its own problems - so if there any python issues, the current recommendation is to reinstall cygwin from scratch.

 Cygwin  http://www.cygwin.com

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Compilers: Specify compilers and compiler options used to build PETSc [and perhaps external packages]

  • Specify compilers using the options --with-cc --with-fc --with-cxx for c, c++, fortran compilers
    • --with-cc=gcc --with-fc=gfortran
    • --with-cc=gcc --with-cxx=g++ --with-fc=gfortran --with-clanguage=cxx
  • If fortran compiler is not available - then disabling using fortran
    • --with-fc=0
  • If no compilers are specified - configure will automatically look for available MPI or regular compilers in users PATH
    • mpicc/mpiCC/mpif90 or mpif77
    • gcc/g++/gfortran or g77
    • cc/CC/f77 etc..
  • Its best to use MPI compilers as this will avoid the situation where MPI is compiled with one set of compilers [like gcc/g77] and user specified incompatible compilers  to PETSc [perhaps icc/ifort]
  • Configure defaults to building PETSc in debug mode. One can switch to using optimzed mode with the toggle option --with-debugging [defaults to debug enabled]. Additionally one can specify more suitable optimization flags with the options COPTFLAGS, FOPTFLAGS, CXXOPTFLAGS.
    • ./config/configure.py --with-cc=gcc --with-fc=gfortran --with-debugging=0 COPTFLAGS='-O3 -march=p4 -mtune=p4' FOPTFLAGS='-O3 -qarch=p4 -qtune=p4'
  • Configure cannot detect compiler libraries for certain set of compilers. In this case one can specify additional system/compiler libraries using the LIBS option
    • ./config/configure.py LIBS='-ldl /usr/lib/libm.a'

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External Packages: PETSc provides interfaces to various external packages. Blas/Lapack and MPI are generally required packages - but one can optionally use external solvers like Hypre, MUMPS etc.. from within PETSc aplications.

PETSc configure has the ability to download and install these external packages. Alternatively if these packages are already installed, then configure can detect and use them.

The following modes can be used to install/use external packages with configure.

--download-PACKAGENAME=1 : Download specified package and install it. Then configure PETSc to use this package.

  • --download-f-blas-lapack=1 --download-mpich=1
  • --download-blacs=1 --download-scalapack=1 --download-mumps=1

--download-PACKAGENAME=/PATH/TO/package.tar.gz : If config/configure.py cannot automatically download the package [due to network/firewall issues], one can download the package by alternaive means [perhaps wget or scp via some other machine]. Once the tarfile is downloaded, the path to this file can be specified to configure with this option. Configure will proceed to install this package and then configure PETSc with it.

  • --download-mpich=/home/petsc/mpich2-1.0.4p1.tar.gz

--with-PACKAGENAME-dir=PATH : If the external package is already installed - specify its location to configure [it will attempt to detect, include, library files from this location.] Normally this corresponds to the top-level installation dir for the package.

  • --with-mpi-dir=/home/petsc/software/mpich2-1.0.4p1
--with-PACKAGENAME-include=INCLUDEPATH --with-PACKAGENAME-lib=LIBRARYLIST: Usually a package is defined completely by its include file location - and library list. [If the package is already installed] - then one can use these two options to specify the package to configure.
  • --with-parmetis-include=/home/petsc/software/parmetis/include --with-parmetis-lib=/home/petsc/software/parmetis/lib/libparmetis.a
  • --with-mpi-include=/home/petsc/software/mpich2-1.0.4p1/include --with-mpi-lib=[/home/petsc/software/mpich2-1.0.4p1/lib/libmpich.a,-lpthread,-lrt]
Notes:
  • Run config/configure.py-help to get the list of external packages - and corresponding additional options  [for example --with-mpiexec for mpich]
  • Generally one would use either one of the above 4 modes for any given package - and not mix these. [i.e mixing -with-mpi-dir and -with-mpi-include etc.. should be avoided]
  • Some packages might not support certain options like --download-PACKAGENAME or --with-PACKAGENAME-dir. Some architectures like Windows might have issues with these options. In these cases, --with-PACKAGENAME-include --with-PACKAGENAME-lib options should be prefered.
  • Its best to install some external packages like SuperLU_DIST, MUMPS, Hypre with the option --download-PACKAGENAME.  [the correct options for these packages are --download-superlu_dist=1 --download-mumps=1 --download-hypre=1]
    • This will install the COMPATIBLE version of the external package. A generic install of this package might not be compatible with PETSc [perhaps due to version differences - or perhaps due to the requirement of additional patches for it to work with PETSc]
    • All packages will be installed with the same set of compilers - this avoids problems [for ex: wiered link time errors] with mixing code compiled with multiple compilers [for example mixing gfortran and ifort compiled code].
  • If one had to download a compatible external package manually, then the URL for this package is listed in configure source for this package. For example, check config/PETSc/packages/SuperLU.py for the url for download this package.
Additional options:

--with-external-packages-dir=PATH : By default, external packages will be installed in ${PETSC_DIR}/externalpackages. However one can choose a different location where these packages are installed.

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BLAS/LAPACK: these packages provide some basic numeric kernels used by PETSc.

  • Configure will automatically look for blas/lapack in certain standard locations, on most systems you should not need to provide any information about BLAS/LAPACK in the config/configure.py command, some of the standard locations used are 
    •  /usr/lib/libblas.a,liblapack.a
    • Intel MKL on Windows or Linux
    • sunperf on solaris
    • VecLib on Macs
    • IBM ESSL
    • [and many more]
  • One can use the following options to let configure download/install blas automatically.
    • --download-f-blas-lapack=1  [when fortran compiler is present]
    • --download-c-blas-lapack=1 [when configuring without a fortran compiler - i.e --with-fc=0]
  • Alternatively one can use other externalpackages installation options like the following.
    • --with-blas-lapack-lib=libsunperf.a
    • --with-blas-lib=libblas.a --with-lapack-lib=liblapack.a
    • --with-blas-lapack-dir=opt/intel/mkl72
Notes:
  • Sadly, IBM's ESSL does not have all the private routines of BLAS that some packages, such as SuperLU expect; in particular slamch, dlamch and xerbla. Therefor you need a full implementation of blas/lapack when using these package. In this case, use --download-f-blas-lapack=yes

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MPI: This software provides the parallel functionality for PETSc.

  • Configure will automatically look for MPI compilers mpicc/mpif77 etc and use them if found [in default PATH]
  • One can use the following options to download/install
  • One can use the following options to let configure download/install MPI automatically
    • --download-mpich=1   [install and use MPICH]
    • --download-openmpi=1       [Install LAM version of MPI]
  • Alternatively one can use other externalpackages installation options.
Using MPI Compilers:
  • Its best to install PETSc with MPI compilers - this way, the SAME compilers used to build MPI are used to build PETSc [this avoids incompatibilities which might crop up - when using libraries compiled with different c or fortran compilers.]. This can be achieved with the following modes.
    • Vendor provided MPI might already be installed.  IBM, SGI, Cray etc provide their own.
        ./config/confiure.py --with-cc=mpcc --with-fc=mpf77
    • If using MPICH which is already installed [perhaps using myrinet/gm] then use:
        ./config/configure.py
      --with-mpi-dir=/path-to-mpich-install

Installing without MPI:

  • You can build (sequential) PETSc without an MPI. This is useful for quickly installing PETSc [if MPI is not available - for whatever reason]. However - if there is any MPI code in user application, then its best to install a full MPI - even if the usage is currently limited to uniprocessor mode.
    • ./config/configure.py --with-mpi=0
Installing with OpenMPI/LAM with shared MPI libraries:

OpenMPI defaults to building shared libraries for MPI. However, the binaries generated by MPI wrappers mpicc/mpif77 etc require LD_LIBRARY_PATH to be set to the location of these libraries.

Due to this OpenMPI restriction one has to set LD_LIBRARY_PATH correctly [per OpenMPI installation instructions], before running PETSc configure. The same issue might exist with LAM as well.

Notes:
  • Avoid specifing compilers [with options --with-cc or --with-fc]  when using the option --with-mpi-dir. [Option--with-mpi-dir specifies using MPI compilers - so its best to use them - and not overwride them with user specified --with-cc].
  • One can specify mpiexec or mpiexec with the options --with-mpiexec

 MPI     http://www.mpi-forum.org
 MPICH  http://www.mcs.anl.gov/mpi/mpich
 LAM  http://www.lam-mpi.org
 MPICH-NT (Microsoft Windows)  http://www.mcs.anl.gov/~ashton/mpich.nt
 MPI/Pro (Microsoft Windows)  http://www.mpi-softtech.com/products/mpi_pro
 HPVM (Microsoft Windows)  http://www-csag.ucsd.edu/projects/hpvm.html
 WMPI (Microsoft Windows)  http://www.criticalsoftware.com/hpc

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Additional Microsoft Windows Notes:

Microsoft Compilers: Use configure with the following options to build for Microsoft C/C++ & Compaq Fortran [assuming MPICH & Intel MLK are already installed in the default locations]
        ./config/configure.py --with-cc='win32fe cl' --with-fc='win32fe f90'  --with-cxx='win32fe cl'

If fortran usage is not required - and you don't have Intel MLK - just use:

       ./config/configure.py --with-cc='win32fe cl' --with-fc=0 --download-c-blas-lapack=1

If fortran usage is required [with Digital/Compaq f90 compiler] - and you don't have Intel MLK - just use the following [assuming the path to compaq fortran libraries is correct]:

       ./config/configure.py --with-cc='win32fe cl' --with-fc='win32fe f90' --download-f-blas-lapack=1 LIBS="-L'/cygdrive/c/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/DF98/LIB'"

Note the usage of both single quotes and double quotes in the above line.

Using Visual Studio 2005: win32fe currently is unable to autodetect visual studio 2005 compilers. In such case one should adopt the following procedure to install PETSc
  • setup compilers to work from 'cmd' shell. This is done by running vcvars32.bat or equivalent compiler initialization scripts in 'cmd' shell.

    Some compilers install  shortcuts in program files for this operation [For eg:  Start  -> Programs -> Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition -> Visual Studio Tools -> Visual Studio 2005 Command Prompt]

    If using both C and Fortran compilers, the fortran compiler shell [either .bat file - or the  Start -> Program shortcut]  is likely to initialize both C and fortran compilers.

  • make sure the compilers work in this cmd shell,  by compiling sample test code
      cl testcode.c
      ifort testcode.f

  • from within this 'cmd' shell, run 'bash --login' [which is in likley at c:\cygwin\bin\bash.exe]

  • within this bash shell, run win32fe with --nodetect option i.e:
     ./config/configure.py --with-cc='win32fe cl --nodetect' --with-fc='win32fe ifort --nodetect' --with-mpi=0 --download-f-blas-lapack=1

Configure: --download-package option does not work with many external packages [for eg: mpich]

Project Files: We provide templates for Microsoft Visual Studio project files at ${PETSC_DIR}/projects. These work for us - with our configure build [config/cygwin-ms.py with MPICH1 and Intel MKL 5], However they will REQURE MODIFICATIONS to work with a user build of PETSc - as the locations of packages & configure options used by user could be different from our defult build.

To get these project files working for your installation of PETSc, please do the following:

  • try compiling the example from cygwin shell - using makefile - for eg:
    cd src/ksp/ksp/examples/tutorials
    make ex2
  • if the above works - then make sure all the compiler/linker options used by make are also present in the project file in the correct notation.
  • if errors - redo the above step. [if all the options are correctly specified - then the example should compile from MSDev.

Debugger:  Running PETSc probrams with -start_in_debugger is not supported on this platform, so debuggers will need to be initiated manually. Make sure your environment is properly configured to use the appropriate debugger for your compiler. The debuggers can be initiated using Microsoft Visual Studio 6: msdev ex1.exe, Microsoft Visual Studio .NET: devenv ex1.exe, Intel Enhanced Debugger: edb ex1.exe, or GNU Debugger gdb ex1.exe.

PETSc Win32 front end - win32fe:  This tool is used as a wrapper to Microsoft/ Borland/ Intel compilers and associated tools - to enable building PETSc libraries using make and other UNIX tools. For additional info, run ${PETSC_DIR}/bin/win32/win32fe without any options.

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Installing PETSc in /usr/local or /opt where sudo or root previledges are required:

If one wants to install PETSc [with sources] in a common system location like /usr/local or /opt, then sugest creating a dir for PETSc in the required location with user previledges, and then do the PETSc install [as a regular/non-root user]. i.e

  • sudo mkdir /opt/petsc
  • sudo chown user:group /opt/petsc
  • cd /opt/petsc
  • tar -xzf petsc-3.0.0-p0.tar.gz
  • cd petsc-3.0.0-p0
  • ./config/configure.py
  • make

 One can also use the gnu prefix-install mode.

  • [untar PETSc in a non-root regular location - say /home/username]
  • setenv PETSC_DIR $PWD
  • ./config/configure.py --prefix=/opt/petsc/petsc-3.0.0-p0  [other configure options]
  • make
  • sudo make install PETSC_DIR=$PWD
After the install is done, one has to switch to using PETSC_DIR=/opt/petsc/petsc-3.0.0-p0.  If you've installed PETSc with the --prefix option then you DO NOT use a PETSC_ARCH variable. You should install different configurations using different --prefix names.

Installing on machine requiring cross compiler or a job scheduler:

If one has to use a cross compiler - or go through the job scheduler to use MPI on a given machine - use the configure option '--with-batch=1' as follows:

  • run configure with the additional option '--with-batch=1' on the frontend node (compiler server) [perhaps with the additional option '--with-mpi-shared=0']
  • the above configure run will create a binary 'conftest'. Run this binary 'conftest' on one compute node using the job scheduler.
  • The above run of conftest will create a new python script 'reconfigure'. Run 'python reconfigure'  again on the frontend node (compiler server)to complete the configuration process

Installing on IBM SP:

To run any code compiled with MPI on IBM SP - one has to go through the job scheduler.  [So follow the instructions from the above section 'Installing on machine requiring job scheduler']. Alternatively check/run config/examples/aix5.1.0.0.py for all configure options required on the SP with compilers defaulting to 32bit mode, and config/examples/aix5.1.0.0-64.py with compilers defaulting to 64bit mode.

Installing on IBM Blue Gene:

IBM Blue Gene [as of now] requires modified compiler script wrappers to compile PETSc-3.0.0-p0. Please download ftp://ftp.mcs.anl.gov/pub/petsc/tmp/petsc-bgl-tools.tar.gz and follow instructions provided in the README file.


Installing with TAU Instrumentation package:

TAU package and the prerequisite PDT packages need to be installed separately. PETSc provides a wrapper compiler for TAU. This needs to be invoked with the correct information for the installed TAU and PDT packages. For eg:

 ./config/configure.py --with-mpi-dir=/home/petsc/soft/linux-rh73/mpich-1.2.4 --with-fc=0 --with-cxx=0 -PETSC_ARCH=linux-tau -with-cpp=cpp --with-cc="`pwd`/bin/taucc.py -cc=gcc -pdt_parse=/homes/petsc/soft/linux-rh73/pdtoolkit-2.2b1/linux/bin/cxxparse -tau_lib_dir=/homes/petsc/soft/linux-rh73/tau-2.11.18/i386_linux/lib"


Installing TOPS components:

To install TOPS components one has to download and install CCA Tools.  [linux only]

  • Get the CCA Tools package from http://www.cca-forum.org/download/cca-tools/cca-tools-0.5.9.tar.gz
  • Configure cca-tools using '-with-mpi' option [prerequisites might be Java SDK, c++, mpich1]
  • Configure PETSc with C++, babel, ccafe options. Check config/config/asterix-tops.py for an example.
  • Build PETSc libraries & TOPS components with 'make all'
  • To test  do: 'cd src/tops; make examples'

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