Docs:  Installation

Example Usages:

  • Other examples may be found in config/*.py
  • Using the bash shell, assuming BLAS, LAPACK, MPICH are not currently installed configure will download & install BLAS, LAPACK, MPICH if they are not already installed on the system) :
            export PETSC_DIR=/home/petsc/petsc-2.2.1
            cd $PETSC_DIR
            ./config/configure.py --download-f-blas-lapack=ifneeded --download-mpich=ifneeded
            make
            make test
  • Using the bash shell, assuming BLAS, LAPACK, MPICH software are installed at the specified locations:
            export PETSC_DIR=/home/petsc/petsc-2.2.1
            cd $PETSC_DIR
            ./config/configure.py --with-blas-lapack-dir=/usr/local/lib --with-mpi-dir=/usr/local/mpich
            make
            make test
  • Using tcsh shell, install PETSc with default BLAS and LAPACK and no MPI:
            setenv PETSC_DIR /home/petsc/petsc-2.2.1
            cd $PETSC_DIR
            ./config/configure.py --with-mpi=0
            make
            make test
  • Install PETSc with default BLAS, LAPACK and MPI using the GNU compilers, build the optimized version of the libraries:
            ./config/configure.py --with-vendor-compilers=0
            make BOPT=O
            make BOPT=O test
  • Using csh shell, install PETSc on Linux with two different sets of compilers:
            setenv PETSC_ARCH linux-gnu
            ./config/configure.py --with-vendor-compilers=0 --with-mpi-dir=/usr/local/mpich-gnu
            make BOPT=O
            make BOPT=O test
            setenv PETSC_ARCH linux-gnu-intel
            ./config/configure.py --with-vendor-compilers=intel --with-gnu-compilers=0 --with-blas-lapack-dir=/usr/local/mkl --with-mpi-dir=/usr/local/mpich-intel
            make BOPT=O
            make BOPT=O test

Several variables control the configuration and build process of PETSc. They can either be given as arguments to make or be set as environment variables. In particular, the are:

PETSC_DIR: - this environment/make variable should point to the location of the PETSc installation that is used. You can add export PETSC_DIR=value in your .profile or .sh file or setenv PETSC_DIR value in your .cshrc or .tcshrc file. Multiple PETSc versions can coexist on the same file-system. By changing PETSC_DIR one can switch between the versions

PETSC_ARCH: this environment/make variable is used to specify the configuration that should currently be used. It corresponds to the configuration files in bmake/${PETSC_ARCH}. Multiple variants of PETSc libraries can be installed - each variant corresponding to a different PETSC_ARCH. One can switch between using these variants - by changing the value of PETSC_ARCH. If PETSC_ARCH is not set, the configuration from the last time you ran ./config/configure.py will be used.

BOPT: this environment/make variable is used to distinguish debug/optimized or c/c++/complex versions of PETSc libraries. One can install, any/all variants of the libraries, and switch between them by changing the value of BOPT. If BOPT is not set then the value of g will be used. The table below explains the most common BOPT values.

 g  debug version of PETSc libraries - useable from C, fortran
 g_c++  debug version of PETSc libraries - useable from C++, fortran
 g_complex  debug complex version of PETSc libraries - useable from C++, fortran
 O  Optimized version of PETSc libraries - useable from C, fortran
 O_c++  Optimized version of PETSc libraries - useable from C++, fortran
 O_complex  Optimized version of PETSc libraries - useable from C++, fortran

example usage - assuming ex1.c is user code, and a makefile with a target to compile ex1 exists: 
    make BOPT=g PETSC_ARCH=linux PETSC_DIR=/home/petsc/petsc-2.1.5 ex1

Return to Installation Instructions     Return to Manual Installation Instructions

bmake/${PETSC_ARCH}/packages: this configuration file, corresponding to the PETSC_ARCH used, contains the configuration for all external software packages that PETSc is installed with. The specification is in the compiler notation for include paths, library paths, library names.

 Compiler flag   Example  Explanation
 -D  -DPETSC_HAVE_X11  define a macro
 -I  -I/home/petsc/mpich-1.2.5/include  specify include paths to the compiler
 -L  -L/home/petsc/mpich-1.2.5/lib  specify the library paths to the compiler
 -l  -lmpich  specify the name of the library to link to- if the library is libmpich.a
 filename  /home/petsc/foo.a  specify the library to link to (which cannot be specified using -l)

bmake/${PETSC_ARCH}/variables: this file contains the configuration for the C, C++, fortran compilers - that are associated with the PETSC_ARCH used.

Return to Installation Instructions      Return to Manual Installation Instructions

Cygwin  provides UNIX tools on Microsoft Windows. When installing Cygwin make sure you install the following additional packages

  • make
  • patch
  • python
  • rebase
Run /bin/rebaseall after install and use bash as the working shell.

Cygwin also has GNU compilers ( gcc, g++, g77) which can be used  if Microsoft, Intel, or Borland Group compilers are not available

Note: To insure success of rebaseall - make sure there are no other cygwin processes (except bash) are running like ssh or sshd etc.

 Cygwin  http://www.cygwin.com

Return to Installation Instructions     Return to Manual Installation Instructions

BLAS/LAPACK: these packages provide some basic numeric kernels used by PETSc.

  • If ./config/configure.py cannot locate BLAS and LAPACK you can use the options --with-blas-lapack-dir=directory or --with-blas-lib=library and --with-lapack-lib=library or --with-blas-lapack-lib=library to indicate the location of the libraries.
    • on Microsoft Windows and Linux, one can use Intel MKL
    • On AIX (IBM) ESSL, on OSF (Compaq/alpha) DXML, on Solaris Sunperf, on SGI libcomplib.sgimath.
    • On some Linux boxes, blas/lapack is installed [/usr/lib/liblapack.a /usr/lib/libblas.a ]
    • Alternatively download the source distribution fblaslapack or cblaslapack from PETSc downloadpage
  • Use the ./config/configure.py options --download-f-blas-lapack=yes, --download-f-blas-lapack=ifneeded, then PETSc will download and install a BLAS and LAPACK for you.
  • Use --download-c-blas-lapack (as opposed to --download-f-blas-lapack) only if there is no fortran compiler.
 Intel MKL  http://www.intel.com/software/products/mkl
 fblaslapack  ftp://ftp.mcs.anl.gov/pub/petsc/fblaslapack.tar.gz
 cblaslapack  ftp://ftp.mcs.anl.gov/pub/petsc/f2cblaslapack.tar.gz

Return to Installation Instructions     Return to Manual Installation Instructions

MPI: This software provides the parallel functionality for PETSc.

  • If ./config/configure.py cannot locate MPI you can indicate its location with --with-mpi-dir=directory or --with-mpi-include=directory --with-mpi-lib=libraryname --with-mpi-run=pathofmpirun
    • On parallel machines, Vendor provided MPI might already be installed.  IBM, SGI, Cray etc provide their own. 
    • If vendor provided MPI is not available, it can be installed from sources. We recommend MPICH
  • Use the ./config/configure.py option --download-mpich=yes then PETSc will download and install MPICH for you.
 MPI     http://www.mpi-forum.org
 MPICH  http://www.mcs.anl.gov/mpi/mpich
 LAM  http://www.lam-mpi.org
 MPICH-NT (Microsoft Windows)  http://www-unix.mcs.anl.gov/~ashton/mpich.nt
 MPI/Pro (Microsoft Windows)  http://www.mpi-softtech.com/products/mpi_pro
 HPVM (Microsoft Windows)  http://www-csag.ucsd.edu/projects/hpvm.html
 WMPI (Microsoft Windows)  http://www.criticalsoftware.com/hpc

Return to Installation Instructions     Return to Manual Installation Instructions

I don't want to use MPI: You can build (sequential) PETSc without an MPI.

  • If building PETSc with configure run ./config/configure.py --with-mpi=0 ....
  • Otherwise edit bmake/${PETSC_ARCH}/packages and use 
    # Location of MPI (Message Passing Interface) software
    #
    MPI_LIB        = ${PETSC_DIR}/lib/lib${BOPT}/${PETSC_ARCH}/libmpiuni.a
    MPI_INCLUDE    = -I${PETSC_DIR}/include/mpiuni
    MPIRUN         = ${PETSC_DIR}/bin/mpirun.uni

Return to Installation Instructions     Return to Manual Installation Instructions

Optional Packages:  PETSc can be installed with various optional packages - including SuperLU, Spooles, Matlab etc.. 

The optional package information is specified in bmake/${PETSC_ARCH}/packages file. An example specification is as follows:

PARMETIS_INCLUDE    = -I/home/petsc/soft/solaris-9/ParMetis-3.0
PARMETIS_LIB        = -L/home/petsc/soft/solaris-9/ParMetis-3.0 -lparmetis -lmetis
PETSC_HAVE_PARMETIS = -DPETSC_HAVE_PARMETIS

Notice that the include, library paths, library files are specified, and a flag is set - to enable the package within PETSc. For more example usage for any other package, check out the default bmake/*/packages files in the distribution

Return to Installation Instructions     Return to Manual Installation Instructions

Aditional Microsoft Windows Notes:

Compilers: Support Microsoft (win32_ms*), Intel (win32_intel), Borland (win32_borland), Gnu compilers (win32_gnu)

Project Files: We provide default project files that work with PETSC_ARCH=win32_ms_mpich. They are located at ${PETSC_DIR}/projects. Be sure to build the libraries that correspond to the project configuration you are using. To use a C++ project with Debug configuration, BOPT=g_c++ libraries are required.

Debugger:  Running PETSc probrams with -start_in_debugger is not supported on this platform, so debuggers will need to be initiated manually. Make sure your environment is properly configured to use the appropriate debugger for your compiler. The debuggers can be initiated using Microsoft Visual Studio 6: msdev ex1.exe, Microsoft Visual Studio .NET: devenv ex1.exe, Intel Enhanced Debugger: edb ex1.exe, or GNU Debugger gdb ex1.exe.

PETSc Win32 front end - win32fe:  This tool is used as a wrapper to Microsoft/ Borland/ Intel compilers and associated tools - to enable building PETSc libraries using make and other UNIX tools. For additional info, run ${PETSC_DIR}/bin/win32/win32fe without any options.

Return to Installation Instructions     Return to Manual Installation Instructions

Manual Installation:
  • apply the patches (using GNU patch utility)
            cd petsc-2.2.1
            patch -Np1 < petsc_patches_all_2.2.1
  • sh/bash shell PETSC_DIR=`pwd`; export PETSC_DIR        (note the backquote)
    csh/tcsh shell setenv PETSC_DIR `pwd`
  • Run bin/petscarch -suggest and from the list of choices select the one that most closely resembles your system, call it arch
  • Select a name for your configuration, we recommend arch followed by _local. For example, linux_local
  • sh/bash shell
    PETSC_ARCH=chosen name; export PETSC_DIR
    csh/tcsh shell
    setenv PETSC_ARCH chosen name
  • mkdir bmake/${PETSC_ARCH}
  • cp bmake/predefined/arch/* bmake/${PETSC_ARCH} (ignore possible warning messages about not copying directories)
  • Edit bmake/${PETSC_ARCH}/packages and specify the location of BLAS, LAPACK and MPI. I Don't want MPI
  • Add optional packages to the bmake/${PETSC_ARCH}/packages
  • make BOPT=g all
  • make BOPT=g test
Examples:
  • install PETSc on solaris  manually  by modifying the configuration files with Sun compilers
            export PETSC_DIR=/home/petsc/petsc-2.2.1
            cd $PETSC_DIR
            bin/petscarch -suggest
            PETSC_ARCH=solaris_local; export PETSC_ARCH
            mkdir bmake/solaris_local
            cp bmake/solaris/* bmake/solaris_local
      edit bmake/solaris_local/packages - and update the location of BLAS, LAPACK, MPI
            make BOPT=g
            make BOPT=g test
  • install PETSc on Microsoft Windows, with MPICH-NT, Microsoft Compilers, Intel MKL
      install cygwin package and use 'bash' from cygwin as the working shell
            export PETSC_DIR=/home/petsc/petsc-2.2.1
            cd $PETSC_DIR
            bin/petscarch -suggest
            export PETSC_ARCH=win32_ms_mpich_local
            mkdir bmake/win32_ms_mpich_local
            cp bmake/win32_ms_mpich/* bmake/win32_ms_mpich_local
      edit bmake/win32_ms_mpich_local/packages and make sure the paths to MPICH-NT, Intel MKL (BLAS,LAPACK) are correct
            make BOPT=g
            make BOPT=g test