Supported Applications

The above graphic displays just a small subset of supported applications available on Frontera. For a full list of available applications, see the output of the module spider command. For a list of supported compilers, see the Compiling section.

Adding Software

If a particular software package you would like to use is not available as a module, you have a few options:

• Install the software yourself within your own directory,
• Use a Singularity container that has the software in it, or
• Contact TACC for advanced help by submitting a ticket.

Containers

Singularity is available through the tacc-singularity module on Frontera, and is currently at version 3.7.2 as of this writing. Apptainer, the open-source fork of Singularity, is available as well through the tacc-apptainer module. Container images, or .sif files, can either be pulled from a remote hub or copied onto the system for use (see the Storing and Moving Data section).

Due to security concerns on HPC systems like Frontera, users cannot be given root or sudo access to the system. Therefore, Singularity containers cannot be built on the system; the recommendation is to develop them locally, then upload them to Frontera. For the same reason, Docker is not available at all on Frontera, because it unavoidably requires root access to the system.

However, Singularity/Apptainer give you the ability to pull a Docker container from an online repository such as Docker Hub and convert it automatically to a .sif file so you can run it. (TACC actually recommends incorporating Docker and Docker Hub into your workflow if you build your own containers.) Note, if different versions of a particular Docker container will be needed over time, then you may want to pay attention to the recommended best practices when converting it to a Singularity container to run on Frontera.

A great starting point for working with Singularity/Apptainer on Frontera is TACC's documentation from the Containers @ TACC Workshop. If you are totally unfamiliar with Singularity, the official documentation has a lot of resources to help you get started.