How to load modules

Overview of loading and unloading software modules on the Grid using commands like module spider, module avail, module load, module unload, module swap, and ml. Includes tips for checking available modules, swapping compilers, and listing active modules.

This is an overview of how to unload and load module applications for the Grid. If you'd like to use a certain application on the Grid, be sure to check the available modules to see if it's not already installed. If not, submit a software installation request.

Useful commands for loading and unloading modules:

• module spider
  • Reports all the modules that can be loaded on a system
  • module spider module_name shows the information on a particular module

This tells you that you need to load a gnu compiler module before you can load the mpich module.

• module avail
  • Reports modules that can be loaded directly as well as default and already loaded modules.
  • module load module_name
    • Loads the named module
    • e.g. module load matlab
• module unload module_name
  • Unloads the named module
  • E.g. module unload matlab
• module swap
  • Switches modules
  • E.g. if we wanted to load the intel module we would get this error. The gnu7 compiler is loaded by default, and you can only have one compiler loaded at a time. The error messages give the command to use module swap in order to swap compiler modules. You can simply highlight the text to copy it, and right-click to paste!
  • Enter the command: module swap gnu7 intel/2020
• module list
  • List of loaded modules
• ml
  • By itself means module list.
  • It can be paired with an argument such as a module name or module command
  • E.g. ml spider means module spider, ml intel/2019 means module load intel/2019.
• You can use the auto-fill feature to check all the available choices for a particular module.
  • E.g. ml intel and hit the tab key twice
  • E.g. ml ls-dyna and the hit the tab key twice