4. User Environment

4.1. Linux OS

The SDP server is installed with AlmaLinux OS. We assume that you already have the basic knowledge of Linux. If not, you can refer to the listed websites to learn more.

The Missing Semester of Your CS Education (Videos lectures on Youtube or Bilibili)
Linux简单教程

4.2. Environment Modules

In Linux, different user may use different version of applications or libraries. To simplify the initialization of the shell environment, the Environment Modules is normally used. The SDP employs a new environment module system, namely the Lua based module system (Lmod) to simplify the usage of the module commands.

To view all the available modules, use module avail (or ml av for Lmod):

[xiangliu@localhost ~] module avail
------------------------------ /work/IDE/modulefiles ----------------------------------------
IDE/MATLAB/R2020a    IDE/MATLAB/R2020b (D)    IDE/PyCharm/2021.3    IDE/PyCharm/2022.3 (D)
[xiangliu@localhost ~] ml av
------------------------------ /work/IDE/modulefiles ----------------------------------------
IDE/MATLAB/R2020a    IDE/MATLAB/R2020b (D)    IDE/PyCharm/2021.3    IDE/PyCharm/2022.3 (D)

To load a module, use module load module-name (or ml module-name for Lmod):

[xiangliu@localhost ~] module load IDE/MATLAB
[xiangliu@localhost ~] ml IDE/PyCharm

To view the loaded modules, use module list (or ml for Lmod):

[xiangliu@localhost ~] module list
Currently Loaded Modules:
  1) IDE/MATLAB/R2020b   2) IDE/PyCharm/2022.3
[xiangliu@localhost ~] ml
Currently Loaded Modules:
  1) IDE/MATLAB/R2020b   2) IDE/PyCharm/2022.3

Correspondingly, to unload a module use module unload module-name (or ml unload module-name):

[xiangliu@localhost ~] module unload IDE/MATLAB
[xiangliu@localhost ~] ml
Currently Loaded Modules:
  1) IDE/PyCharm/2022.3
[xiangliu@localhost ~] ml unload IDE/PyCharm

To unload all the modules, use module purge (or ml purge):

[xiangliu@localhost ~]$ ml purge
[xiangliu@localhost ~]$ ml
No modules loaded

4.3. User Bash Profile

The bash profile is automatically loaded when a shell session is established. If you want certain modules to be loaded automatically, please insert the command into your bash profile (.bashrc). For instance, MATLAB can be used directly once you login the SDP, if you have done the following.

[xiangliu@localhost ~] vi ~/.bashrc
# .bashrc

# User specific aliases and functions
module load MATLAB