How to prepare for the Singularity Workshop
To get optimal benefit from this workshop, you will need the following prerequisites:
You should be familiar with using the Linux command line.
Please bring a notebook or laptop computer with an Intel 64bit CPU, at least 8 GB RAM and 20 GB of unused disk space, set up for Internet connection with the UIBK or Eduroam WIFI network.
To create Singularity containers, you need a Linux installation with root privileges. No matter which OS (Linux, MacOS, Windows) you run on your computer, we positively recommend to use a Linux Virtual Machine for all of your Singularity development activities. For MacOS and Windows, this is required (the Linux Subsystem for Microsoft Windows 10 is not suitable because it lacks the necessary system calls), for Linux, the VM adds a layer of protection against errors.
For this workshop, we will use a generic Ubuntu 18.04 Virtual Machine with a few software packages pre-installed (gcc, make, python, libarchive-dev, squashfs-tools) and the Firefox start page pointing to the Singularity Workshop web site:
If you do not have a virtualization environment set up on your computer, please install:
- the Oracle VirtualBox virtualization software, and
- the VirtualBox Extension Pack
Download our Singularity workshop image https://www.uibk.ac.at/downloads/c102mf/singularity-2018/uibk-singularity-workshop.ova
Start VirtualBox and import the VM: VirtualBox: "File/Import Appliance", navigate to your downloaded OVA file and select.
Start the VM. Login: singularity Password: singularity.
Note that this VM is pre-configured with the German keyboard. If your keyboard is different, go to the settings menu (top right-hand), select "Region and Language". Here you can choose between US and German keyboards or (via the "+" button) add your own keyboard if it is different.
Inside the VM, start the Firefox web browser. For the hands-on exercises, use the instructions provided on this browser's start page.
(Optional) an account on one of our HPC clusters. We will supply accounts on the LCC2 teaching cluster.