hpc / Charliecloud

What is Charliecloud?

Charliecloud provides user-defined software stacks (UDSS) for high-performance computing (HPC) centers. This "bring your own software stack" functionality addresses needs such as:

• software dependencies that are numerous, complex, unusual, differently configured, or simply newer/older than what the center provides;

• build-time requirements unavailable within the center, such as relatively unfettered internet access;

• validated software stacks and configuration to meet the standards of a particular field of inquiry;

• portability of environments between resources, including workstations and other test and development system not managed by the center;

• consistent environments, even archivally so, that can be easily, reliabily, and verifiably reproduced in the future; and/or

• usability and comprehensibility.

How does it work?

Charliecloud uses Linux user namespaces to run containers with no privileged operations or daemons and minimal configuration changes on center resources. This simple approach avoids most security risks while maintaining access to the performance and functionality already on offer.

Container images can be built using Docker or anything else that can generate a standard Linux filesystem tree.

How do I learn more?

• Documentation: https://hpc.github.io/charliecloud

• GitHub repository: https://github.com/hpc/charliecloud

• We wrote an article for USENIX's magazine ;login: that explains in more detail the motivation for Charliecloud and the technology upon which it is based: https://www.usenix.org/publications/login/fall2017/priedhorsky

• A more technical resource is our Supercomputing 2017 paper: https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=3126925

Who is responsible?

Contributors:

• Rusty Davis [email protected]
• Hunter Easterday [email protected]
• Oliver Freyermuth [email protected]
• Shane Goff [email protected]
• Michael Jennings [email protected]
• Christoph Junghans [email protected]
• Jordan Ogas [email protected]
• Kevin Pelzel [email protected]
• Megan Phinney [email protected]
• Reid Priedhorsky [email protected], co-founder and project lead
• Tim Randles [email protected], co-founder
• Matthew Vernon [email protected]
• Peter Wienemann [email protected]
• Lowell Wofford [email protected]

How can I participate?

Questions, comments, feature requests, bug reports, etc. can be directed to:

• our mailing list: [email protected] or https://groups.io/g/charliecloud

• issues on GitHub

Patches are much appreciated on the software itself as well as documentation. Optionally, please include in your first patch a credit for yourself in the list above.

We are friendly and welcoming of diversity on all dimensions.

Copyright and license

Charliecloud is copyright © 2014–2020 Triad National Security, LLC.

This software was produced under U.S. Government contract 89233218CNA000001 for Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), which is operated by Triad National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration.

This is open source software (LA-CC 14-096); you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the Apache License, Version 2.0. A copy is included in file LICENSE. You may not use this software except in compliance with the license.

The Government is granted for itself and others acting on its behalf a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable worldwide license in this material to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies to the public, perform publicly and display publicly, and to permit others to do so.

Neither the government nor Triad National Security, LLC makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any liability for use of this software.

If software is modified to produce derivative works, such derivative works should be clearly marked, so as not to confuse it with the version available from LANL.