Setting up a new computer

Obtain a USB drive with Ubuntu

You need to somehow create a bootable USB stick. This is easiest in Ubuntu and there are many tutorials already, so I won’t clutter it up. (Katie has one).

Install Ubuntu and drivers

Stick the USB in and boot up the computer. You need to change the boot order to boot off the USB stick first. This differs across operating systems; on our old Ubuntu 16.04s, we hit F10 to bring up Boot Options.

You can choose a normal installation or a minimal one. Out of convenience, we go with the normal installation; the only weirdly irritating thing it installs is Amazon. This shouldn’t take long – ours was under 10 min.

The computer will reboot after this.

Note

If your screen flickers and dies, this is due to the graphics drivers not working properly. Go into Advanced Options and boot into Recovery mode.

Warning

Do not reboot before updating drivers and setting up SSH.

Updates

Most of these should already be installed; check anyway.

sudo apt update
sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall
sudo apt install build-essential
sudo apt install linux-headers-$(uname -r)
sudo apt install vim git net-tools openssh-server checkinstall

Important

This will install NVIDIA drivers. Check that it is working with nvidia-smi. If you see a table of performance numbers, all is well. If a message comes up that nvidia-smi cannot communicate with your card, you likely have Safe Boot on. Safe Boot does not allow third-party drivers; NVIDIA is a third party. Disable Safe Boot by typing:

sudo mokutil --disable-validation

It will ask you for a password. When you reboot, a blue screen will show up. This is the MOK management screen. Press any key to perform MOK management and select Change Secure Boot state. It will ask you password questions.

Alternatively, you can sign modules yourself.

Reconfiguring grub and the display server

Edit /etc/gdm3/custom.conf. Uncomment:

# WaylandEnable=false

This forces the computer to use the Xorg display server.

Then edit /etc/default/grub. Replace:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

with:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash nomodeset"

This will disable video drivers until the kernel has started. Update with:

sudo update-grub

Configure SSH

You should have installed openssh-server above. Enable the service and start it.

sudo systemctl enable ssh
sudo systemctl start ssh

Test your access by ssh-ing in. To set up a firewall, first check that the line below is in /etc/default/ufw.

IPV6=yes

SSH keys

Set up SSH keys to avoid typing your password all the time:

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096

Hit enter when it asks you to. Don’t create a passphrase, that really defeats the point.

To copy your details to other places, type:

ssh-copy-id username@destination

You can set up your .ssh/config file to avoid specifying usernames, IP addresses for hosts, etc. Have a look on the shared drive in SHARED/ssh_config for details, or just copy that file to ~/.ssh/config.

Store

On the computers with SSDs and HDDs, we call our HDDs /store. For now, we have been making a directory called /store on the computers without SSDs to maintain consistency. It’s important that all users can read, write, and execute files in /store.

On a new computer, your HDD will likely not be mounted at /store automatically. Search (by hitting the windows button) for Disks. On the 2.0TB hard disk entry, click the gears button to bring up a menu of actions. Choose Edit Mount Options…, turn off User Session Defaults, and change the Mount Point to /store.

Generally in /store there is an opt/ directory, where programs are installed, and a src/ directory, where the source code is. However, due to natural human disorganisation, it is likely to be missing one folder or another, or to have packages/ and modules/ directories (see below), or for programs to just be installed willy-nilly. Nonetheless for the sake of the future, it’s best to choose one scheme and stick to it (I recommend the module system).

Checkinstall

We go now into installing things. Here is where I recommend checkinstall. This replaces make install in building packages. It builds a portable .deb package that can be installed on other computers with dpkg -i my_package.deb, and it can be easily removed with dpkg -r my_package. This solves problems with trying to remove packages when you can’t remember where they have installed files, e.g. when make uninstall is not a possibility.

You should have installed checkinstall earlier, but if not:

sudo apt install checkinstall

As noted, sudo checkinstall replaces sudo make install in the installation process. It will bring up a menu of options to create the new package. The ‘name’ of the package is always the folder that it’s building from – for instance, GROMACS always has a default name of build. Type the number next to the option to change it.

Warning

Do not name your package a default name that can be found when running sudo apt install mypackagename. Otherwise, it is likely to get replaced by whatever is in the apt repository. e.g. GROMACS 2018.3 should always be called gromacs-2018.3, not gromacs.

Shared .bashrcs

This might be awful practice, but I get tired of getting everyone to source the right stuff. Usually at this point I make a shared/ folder in /home with .bashrc, .bash_aliases, and other useful files. I then edit /etc/skel/.bashrc and place these lines at the end:

if [ -f /home/shared/.bashrc ]; then
    . /home/shared/.bashrc
fi

if [ -f /home/shared/.bash_aliases ]; then
    . /home/shared/.bash_aliases
fi

The computer uses the skeleton files in /etc/skel/ to populate the home directory of a new user. This way they all source the same files, so they have relatively the same environment, and when you update something it gets propagated to all accounts.

Environment modules

On shared computers, and possibly your own, it’s a good idea to use Environment Modules. These let you switch between package versions with module load and module unload. It’s also a good way to organise and keep track of where things are installed, as modulefiles contain paths.

Installation

Install dependencies:

sudo apt install tcl tcl8.6-dev

Make folders to store modulefiles and packages. Typically we put these on /store.

mkdir /store/modules /store/packages

Download and unzip the latest Environment modules <http://modules.sourceforge.net/>. Here, it’s 4.2.3. Navigate to the directory. Set up the build, make, and checkinstall it.

cd modules-4.2.3
./configure
make
sudo checkinstall

If /etc/profile.d/modules.sh and /etc/profile.d/modules.csh already exist, skip this step. Otherwise, copy or symlink them.

sudo ln -s /usr/local/Modules/init/profile.sh /etc/profile.d/modules.sh
sudo ln -s /usr/local/Modules/init/profile.csh /etc/profile.d/modules.csh

Note that the default path for modulefiles is /usr/local/Modules/modulefiles. Edit /usr/local/Modules/init/modulerc and add module use /store/modules to use the directory you made above.

From now on, install packages into /store/packages.

Sourcing modules

You need to place the following either into your .bashrc, or a shared .bashrc:

if [ -f /usr/local/Modules/init/bash ]; then
    . /usr/local/Modules/init/bash
fi

Modulefiles

Module files are provided in this repo. Download them and copy the directory structure and files into /store/modules. For example, you should have a gromacs folder and a cuda folder in /store/modules. Depending on how you choose to install those packages, you may have to edit the paths of each file.

Anaconda

It is a very good idea to download and install Anaconda before doing anyting else with Python. Conda allows you to separate packages into isolated Python environments, and handles package dependencies for you. Create a new environment with:

conda create --name myenv [python=3.6] [scipy=0.15.0]

GCC

Installation

We often need multiple versions of GCC to compile older packages. Versions 6+ can be installed with sudo apt.

sudo apt install gcc-6 g++-6 gcc-7 g++-7 gcc-8 g++-8

If you wish to install GROMACS 2016.1, you will need CUDA 8.0. This in turn requires GCC 5.4, which needs to be installed manually.

GCC 5.4 is a bit broken. We have a patched package on our shared drive, complete with built .deb. Note that if you wish to install into /store/opt, you can just run dpkg -i  gcc-5.4.0_5.4.0-patched-1_amd64.deb. Alternatively, copy it and run:

cd gcc-5.4.0
./contrib/download_prerequisites
cd ..
mkdir objdir && cd objdir
$PWD/../gcc-5.4.0/configure --prefix=/store/opt/gcc-5.4.0 --enable-languages=c,c++,fortran --disable-multilib
make
sudo checkinstall

Switching between versions

At this point you may wish to set up update-alternatives for easy switching between compilers.

Clear any options you may already have for gcc and g++.

sudo update-alternatives --remove-all gcc
sudo update-alternatives --remove-all g++

Then configure the program path (second last field, e.g. /store/opt/gcc-5.4.0/bin/gcc) to the first field (e.g. /usr/bin/gcc). The last number indicates priority. A larger number is higher.

sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gcc gcc /store/opt/gcc-5.4.0/bin/gcc 10
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gcc gcc /usr/bin/gcc-6 20
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gcc gcc /usr/bin/gcc-7 30
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gcc gcc /usr/bin/gcc-8 40
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/g++ g++ /store/opt/gcc-5.4.0/bin/g++ 10
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/g++ g++ /usr/bin/g++-6 20
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/g++ g++ /usr/bin/g++-7 30
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/g++ g++ /usr/bin/g++-8 40

To switch between them, run:

sudo update-alternatives --config gcc

CUDA

CUDA 8

This is necessary for GROMACS 2016.1.

Make sure you have the patched version of cuda_8.0.61_375.26_linux.run. It’s too big to put on the repo, but it is on our shared drive in SHARED/cuda/. External users can download the unpatched version and patch it themselves.

Unpack and copy InstallUtils.pm to your computer. Then install the toolkit.

/cuda_8.0.61_375.25_linux.run --tar mxvf
sudo cp InstallUtils.pm /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/perl-base
export $PERL5LIB
sudo sh cuda_8.0.61_375.25_linux.run --toolkit --toolkitpath=/store/packages/cuda/cuda-8.0 --silent

Check that /store/packages/cuda/cuda-8.0/bin/nvcc exists.

CUDA 9

This is necessary for AMBER 16.

Make sure you have gcc-6 selected with:

sudo update-alternatives --config gcc

This doesn’t work when you try to install it non-interactively, for some reason.

sudo sh cuda_9.0.176_384.81_linux.run

ctrl+C to scroll to the end of the terms and conditions. Accept and pass in your path you want to install to, when prompted. (Likely /store/packages/cuda/cuda-9.0.)

CUDA 10

This shouldn’t need the extra copying and exporting, I think.

sudo sh cuda_10.1.105_418.39_linux.run --toolkit --toolkitpath=/store/packages/cuda/cuda-10.1 --silent

GROMACS

You need cmake for this.

sudo apt install cmake

2016.1

Make sure you have GCC 5.4 running with gcc --version. If it’s another version, change it with sudo update-alternatives --config gcc.

tar xfz gromacs-2016.1.tar.gz
cd gromacs-2016.1
mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DGMX_BUILD_OWN_FFTW=ON -DREGRESSIONTEST_DOWNLOAD=ON \
-DGMX_GPU=on -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/store/packages/gromacs/gromacs-2016.1 \
-DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS=-fPIC -DCUDA_TOOLKIT_ROOT_DIR=/store/packages/cuda/cuda-8.0
make -j 6
make check
sudo checkinstall

2018.3

I think this works fine with CUDA 10 and GCC 8.3.

tar xfz gromacs-2018.3.tar.gz
cd gromacs-2018.3
mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DGMX_BUILD_OWN_FFTW=ON -DREGRESSIONTEST_DOWNLOAD=ON \
-DGMX_GPU=on -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/store/packages/gromacs/gromacs-2018.3 \
-DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS=-fPIC -DCUDA_TOOLKIT_ROOT_DIR=/store/packages/cuda/cuda-10.1
make -j 6
make check
sudo checkinstall

Other versions

Other versions will have largely the same commands. Remember to check which CUDA and GCC versions they should have.

g_mydensity (4.5.7)

g_mydensity is a great tool with an extremely specific required environment. While it seems to have previously compiled with GROMACS 5.1.4, that may have been a fever dream because it definitely didn’t in 2019. The program is tested against GROMACS 4.5.x; we compiled 4.5.7 for this. GROMACS 4.5.7 requires fftw-3.

Start by setting your compiler flags with -fPIC.

export CXXFLAGS=-fPIC
export CFLAGS=-fPIC

Install fftw-3

We downloaded FFTE 3.3.8.

tar xvf fftw-3.3.8.tar
cd fftw-3.3.8
./configure --enable-threads --enable-float
make -j 12
sudo checkinstall

If something goes wrong here, enable fPIC, run make clean, and try again.

GROMACS 4.5.7

cd gromacs-4.5.7/
mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/store/packages/gromacs/gromacs-4.5.7
make -j 12
make test
sudo checkinstall

g_mydensity

We downloaded ours from Luca Monticelli’s website. You must source GROMACS 4.5.7 for this to compile. We have chosen to symlink it to /usr/local/bin.

module load gromacs/4.5.7
mv jbarnoud-g_mydensity-4f9a93c151a9 g_mydensity && cd g_mydensity
make
sudo chmod a+x g_mydensity
sudo ln -s /store/opt/g_mydensity/g_mydensity /usr/local/bin/g_mydensity

AMBER

AmberTools 19

This requires gcc 8 and cuda 10. Install dependencies:

sudo apt-get install bc csh flex gfortran g++ xorg-dev zlib1g-dev
sudo apt-get install flex bison libbz2-dev patch

Download and untar AMBER:

tar xvfj AmberTools19.tar.bz2  # should create an amber18 folder
mv amber18 /store/packages/amber/
cd /store/packages/amber/amber18

Set up your environment:

export AMBERHOME=/store/packages/amber/amber18/
export CUDA_HOME=/store/packages/cuda/cuda-10.0/

Configure and install:

./configure gnu
source /store/packages/amber/amber18/amber.sh
sudo checkinstall

Amber 16

CUDA and gfortran

This requires CUDA 9.0, which requires gcc 6. It also requires g++ 6 and gfortran 6. If you’ve upgraded to Eoan Ermine (19.10), you won’t have this available as a package. Edit /etc/apt/sources.list and add the following lines to the bottom of the file.

deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ disco universe
# deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ disco universe

Save it and run sudo apt update. Install gfortran with sudo apt install gfortran-6 gfortran-7 gfortran-8, and configure with update-alternatives.

sudo update-alternatives --remove-all gfortran
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gfortran gfortran /usr/bin/gfortran-6 20
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gfortran gfortran /usr/bin/gfortran-7 30
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gfortran gfortran /usr/bin/gfortran-8 40

Dependencies

Use the version with netcdf already present. We have a working copy on iodine. Move it to /store/packages/amber/amber16/.

export AMBERHOME=/store/packages/amber/amber16/
export CUDA_HOME=/store/packages/cuda/cuda-9.0/
sudo apt install python-tk python-matplotlib  # other packages should be installed with AmberTools above

Install

cd $AMBERHOME
./configure -cuda gnu
source /store/packages/amber/amber16/amber.sh
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/store/packages/cuda/cuda-9.0/lib64:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}"
make -j 12
sudo -E checkinstall
make test

Note

If you get an error message with cudaGetDeviceCount failed unknown, install this package:

sudo apt install nvidia-modprobe

Autodock Tools and Vina

We downloaded the MGLTools script from the site.

mv mgltools_Linux-x86_64_1.5.6_Install /store/opt
chmod a+x mgltools_Linux-x86_64_1.5.6_Install
./mgltools_Linux-x86_64_1.5.6_Install
sudo ln -s /store/opt/MGLTools-1.5.6/bin/adt /usr/local/bin/adt

For Autodock Vina:

sudo apt install autodock-vina

PyMol

Install directly in conda

The easiest way to install PyMol is probably to install the open-source version directly with conda. This involves installing third party packages.

On linux, you can install from conda-forge:

conda install -c conda-forge pymol-open-source

The conda-forge package doesn’t include an OS X version, so you’ll need to find another package if you want to do this on a mac. Ada is using this one but use it at your own risk:

conda install -c tpeulen pymol-open-source

apt

You can install the open-source version directly by using apt.

sudo apt install pymol

However, this will clash with conda. Deactivate conda with conda deactivate to run PyMol.

Building from source

Alternatively, build it from source.

git clone https://github.com/schrodinger/pymol-open-source
cd pymol-open-source
python setup.py install --prefix=/store/packages/pymol/pymol-open-source

And update your path.

echo 'PATH=/store/packages/pymol/pymol-open-source/bin:$PATH' >> /home/shared/.bashrc

(If you’re not root, replace /home/shared.bashrc with ~/.bashrc.)