Environment Modules

The Environment Modules tool makes it easy to maintain multiple versions of compilers, libraries and applications for different users on the cluster. It does this by managing the user's environment variables, such as the $PATH variable, using so-called module files.

Each module file contains the information needed to configure the shell for an application. When a user "loads" an environment module for an application, all environment variables are set correctly for that particular application. Bright Cluster Manager® includes many preconfigured module files, for example for combinations of compilers, mathematical and MPI libraries.

The Environment Modules tool is versatile and flexible:

1. Modules can be configured centrally by the system administrator, or locally by an individual user.
2. Modules can be shared between users.
3. Multiple modules can be loaded simultaneously.
4. Dependencies and incompatibilities between modules can be defined and warnings are given in case of conflict.
5. Modules can be bundled into "meta modules" that will load an entire suite of different applications.
6. Most popular shells are supported, including bash, ksh, sh, csh, tcsh, as well as some scripting languages such as perl and tcl.