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Archived easyconfigs

Since EasyBuild v3.0.0, easyconfig files using deprecated (i.e., old and inactive) toolchains are archived.

Since EasyBuild v5.0.0, archived easyconfig files are transferred to the easybuild-easyconfigs-archive repository.

Toolchain deprecation

Support for toolchains included in EasyBuild is defined in our support policy on toolchain generations.

Once a new toolchain generation is released, it will be supported by the maintainers of Easybuild for a limited period of time. Afterwards, it becomes deprecated and at some point it will be archived including all easyconfig files using that toolchain.

What are deprecated toolchains?

A deprecated toolchain is a toolchain version or generation that is no longer recommended for use in production systems.

Initially, deprecated toolchains are removed from the EasyBuild regression tests and new contributions in the form of easyconfigs become restricted. After a period of time defined in our support policy, all easyconfig files using that deprecated toolchain are moved to the easyconfigs archive, i.e. the __archive__ subdirectory in the easybuild-easyconfigs-archive repository.

This does not mean that the support for using deprecated toolchains is removed from the EasyBuild framework, although the lack of testing may imply that using them may no longer work at some point in time.

Why are toolchains being deprecated?

Toolchain generations are deprecated if:

  • it is established in our support policy
  • they become inactive, meaning that no easyconfig files using that toolchain have been contributed for a long period of time (e.g., in the last year)
  • they become obsolete, which usually happens when a toolchain is replaced by some other newer toolchain

Inactive toolchains may become re-activated in the future if a new toolchain version is contributed to easybuild-easyconfigs.

Using archived easyconfigs

The archive of easyconfigs is not installed by default. You need to install the easybuild-easyconfigs package with the archive extra option in pip. This will pull in the easybuild-easyconfigs-archive package, which provides the contents of the __archive__ subdirectory.

python -m pip install easybuild-easyconfigs[archive]

Easyconfig files in the archive are hidden from plain sight, meaning that the eb command will not use those files by default. You need to use the --consider-archived-easyconfigs configuration option to make EasyBuild look into the archive when it seeks easyconfigs (e.g., with --search or --robot).

$ eb -S '^goolfc'
CFGS=/home/example/work/easybuild-easyconfigs/easybuild/easyconfigs
  * $CFGS1/g/goolfc/goolfc-2016.08.eb
  * $CFGS1/g/goolfc/goolfc-2016.10.eb

Note: 6 matching archived easyconfig(s) found, use --consider-archived-easyconfigs to see them

$ eb -S '^goolfc' --consider-archived-easyconfigs
CFGS=/home/example/easybuild-easyconfigs/easybuild/easyconfigs
  * $CFGS/g/goolfc/goolfc-2016.08.eb
  * $CFGS/g/goolfc/goolfc-2016.10.eb

Matching archived easyconfigs:

  * $CFGS/__archive__/g/goolfc/goolfc-1.3.12.eb
  * $CFGS/__archive__/g/goolfc/goolfc-1.4.10.eb
  * $CFGS/__archive__/g/goolfc/goolfc-2.6.10.eb