2022-01 Update: Singularity is now called Apptainer and is managed by The Linux Foundation --other than the name change, everything remains the same, e.g., newer versions on our clusters will be called "apptainer" instead of "singularity".
Singularity is a container solution similar to Docker for secure use on multi-user high performance and advanced computing (HPC and AC) systems. Singularity has evolved significantly since it was first introduced in 2015 supporting features such as overlay files, image encryption, exposing GPGPU devices to the container software, etc. Features aside, using containers is valuable for many: the installed software remains exactly the same and can be used a number of clusters and personal computers running Linux by everyone in a research team.
This course will cover commonly used aspects of Singularity, e.g., building an image from DockerHub, how to build a custom image of your own, how to use an overlay file to have read-write access to an image, and how to build and make use of Conda software installations inside an Singularity image.
NOTE: On Compute Canada's clusters, we recommend that Conda is installed and used completely within a Singularity container and we recommend not using Conda directly in your account, e.g., see this link. If you have a need or are using Conda, enrolling in this course will enable you to learn how you can use Conda inside of Singularity.
Live Session Dates: Mar. 7 & 10
NOTE: If enrolling after the live session dates, recordings of such can be viewed online.
- Teacher: Paul Preney