In this RCE Podcast, Kenneth Hoste from Ghent University describes EasyBuild, a software build and installation framework that allows you to manage scientific software on HPC systems in an efficient way.
“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. EasyBuild is developed by the High-Performance Computing team at Ghent University together with the members of the EasyBuild community, and is made available under the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2.”
Kenneth Hoste received his Masters degree and Ph.D in Computer Science from Ghent University in Belgium in 2005 and 2010, respectively. His research topic consisted of applying machine learning techniques to various problems that relate to analysis, estimation and optimization of computer system performance. Particular topics include the characterization of microarchitecture-independent workload behavior, and applying evolutionary search algorithms to optimizing static and JiT compilers. Since October 2010, he has been working in the HPC support team of Ghent University, focusing on user support topics. As a direct result of this, he has taken up the role as main developer and release manager of EasyBuild, a community-powered framework written in Python that aims to tackle the ubiquitous problem of automating the tedious task of building and installing (scientific) software.
