Detailed Build and Installation Instructions for SST 5.1.x

Overview

SST is an open source, cross platform simulation platform that provides a framework to connect multiple simulated hardware object including CPUs, network, memory, etc. Simulations using the toolkit can be run either single node, or run on multiple nodes via MPI. The toolkit provides a parallel discrete event core as well as several programming interfaces including classes to manage random number generation, statistics handling, simulation output and efficient memory pooling for simulation events. The most recent performance evaluation has shown that SST can scale to simulate beyond 1.5M objectss and operate efficiently on simulations up to 128 dual-processor nodes.

These instructions are intended to walk the user through a detailed set of steps to build and install SST. It is intended for users with intermediate knowledge in the operation of Unix/Linux/OSX environments.

NOTE: The following instructions build a basic version of SST and its required external components. Additional (optional) external components can be built to provide additional features. Instructions for these additional components are available at Instructions for Additional External SST Components.

The SST Release Notes identify what operating systems, compiler and external component combinations have been tested and proven to work with SST 5.1.x.

NOTE: Using combinations other than what is identified in the Release Notes may cause build failures and/or unexpected results.

A detailed list of elements provided with the SST distribution are available at SST Element Summary and SST Element Release Matrix.

If you encounter difficulties, go to the SST Support page.

NOTE: Building SST can sometimes be cumbersome and error prone due to the sheer number of combinations of operating systems, compiler versions and external required components. It is STRONGLY recommended that users closely follow these instructions.

General Build and Install Information

SST does not require root/superuser privileges for installation. Prior to installation, the user will need to decide on directories where SST and its prerequisites can be built and installed. This location should have sufficient space and permissions for building and storage of the libraries and other binaries.

The user is expected to have an intermediate knowledge in the operation of Unix/Linux/OSX environments. They should be able to modify their environment variables, and understand basic build/installation methods, and manipulate the file system.

NOTE: SST and all of its external components should be built using the same compiler type and version. Using different types or versions can create binary incompatibilities that may be difficult to diagnose.

Shell Used For Instructions

These instructions are targeted for users running Bourne-compatible shells. Users running different shells will need to adjust these instructions as necessary.

Specific Instructions for Operating Systems and Compilers

There are 2 main operating systems used for SST: Linux and Mac OSX.

In the instructions that follow, the following icons are used to point out specific issues for an operating system or an operating system with a specific compiler.

- Represents Instructions specific to Linux Operating Systems.

- Represents Instructions specific to Mac OSX Operating Systems using any compiler.

- Represents Instructions specific to Mac OSX using clang.

- Represents Instructions specific to Mac OSX using gcc.

Required system tools

Refer to SST Build Prerequisites for a list of required system tools necessary for building SST.

- Most Linux Systems contain all the necessary tools required to build SST (either pre-installed or available via the distro.), however some older versions may need their system tools updated.

- Mac OSX systems will need the following to be installed on the system before building SST see (Mac OSX Install Options):

Example Build and Install Directories

These instructions will use the following conventions (the user can adjust these as they see fit):

Additional Tasks for Users

These instructions expect the user to possibly modify their system in the following possible ways:

Building A Basic SST System

SST requires 2 external components/dependencies (OpenMPI and Boost) to be built, installed and available on the users machine. After these components are available, then SST itself can be built and installed.

Additional external components can be built to provide additional features. Instructions for these additional components are available at Instructions for Additional External SST Components.

External Dependent Components

OpenMPI 1.8

SST 5.1.x is regularly tested with OpenMPI 1.8 (not later versions), and this version is known to work with SST. Installation of an MPI package from source code is typically unnecessary, since many Linux distributions provide OpenMPI as an optional installable package. Instructions for building OpenMPI 1.8 follow.

OpenMPI can be obtained online at http://www.open-mpi.org/software/ompi/v1.8/

1. Download the OpenMPI archive file openmpi-1.8.tar.gz to $HOME/scratch/src

2. Unarchive the compressed tar file

$ cd $HOME/scratch/src
$ tar xfz openmpi-1.8.tar.gz
$ cd openmpi-1.8

3. Decide on an installation location. For this example: $HOME/local/packages/OpenMPI-1.8. Note this location will contain bin, lib, include, and other directories for use of OpenMPI.

4. Set the home directory environment variable of the OpenMPI installation.

$ export MPIHOME=$HOME/local/packages/OpenMPI-1.8

5. Configure OpenMPI to be installed in $MPIHOME

$ ./configure --prefix=$MPIHOME

6. Build and install OpenMPI

$ make all install

7. Update your PATH environment variable so that it contains the bin directory of the OpenMPI installation location. Also set the MPICC and MPICXX variables to point to the correct MPI compiler options. initialization file.

$ export PATH=$MPIHOME/bin:$PATH  
$ export MPICC=mpicc   
$ export MPICXX=mpicxx

8. OPTIONAL - In some cases, it may be necessary to specify the location of the OpenMPI library files for proper operation of SST.

$ export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$MPIHOME/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
$ export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=$MPIHOME/lib:$DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH
$ export MANPATH=$MPIHOME/share/man:$DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH

9. To make the changes to the environment variables a permanent change, it may require editing of your login shell’s initialization file.

Boost 1.56

Boost 1.56 can be obtained online at http://sourceforge.net/projects/boost/files/boost/1.56.0/

SST 5.1.x makes use of Boost 1.56. If a Boost installation is in the default compiler search paths and it is not the Boost installation you wish to use, it’s best to remove that copy of Boost if possible.

1. Download Boost archive file boost_1_56_0.tar.gz to $HOME/scratch/src

2. Unarchive the compressed tar file

$ cd $HOME/scratch/src
$ tar xfz boost_1_56_0.tar.gz
$ cd $HOME/scratch/src/boost_1_56_0

3. Decide on an installation location. For this example: $HOME/local/packages/boost-1.56. Note this location will contain lib, include, and other directories for use of Boost.

4. Set the home directory environment variable of the Boost installation.

$ export BOOST_HOME=$HOME/local/packages/boost-1.56

5. Configure Boost to be installed in $BOOST_HOME

$ ./bootstrap.sh --prefix=$BOOST_HOME

6. Build and install Boost 1.56 in $BOOST_HOME (NOTE: Boost MPI is no longer needed for SST 5.1)

$ ./b2 install

7. OPTIONAL - In some cases, it may be necessary to specify the location of the Boost library files for proper operation of SST.

$ export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$BOOST_HOME/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
$ export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=$BOOST_HOME/lib:$DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH

8. To make the changes to the environment variables a permanent change, it may require editing of your login shell’s initialization file.

SST 5.1.x Build and Installation

After the prerequisite Components (OpenMPI and Boost) have been successfully installed, SST can then be built and installed.

1. Obtain the SST 5.1.x source code and save it in $HOME/scratch/src. A tarfile can be downloaded from SST Downloads.

$ cd $HOME/scratch/src
$ tar xfz sst-5.1.tar.gz
$ cd $HOME/scratch/src/sst-5.1

2. Set the home directory environment variable to the SST installation (i.e. where you want the SST files installed).

$ export SST_HOME=$HOME/local/sst-5.1

3. Review prerequisite package installation locations and use this to construct a configure line for SST. For more information on SST configuration click here or run $ ./configure –help

4. Configure SST, being sure to make configure reference the location of SST’s local prerequisite packages.

$ ./configure --prefix=$SST_HOME --with-boost=$BOOST_HOME [Other configure settings as needed]

5. Build and install SST

$ make all
$ make install

6. Update your PATH environment variable so that it contains the bin directory of the SST installation location.

$ export PATH=$SST_HOME/bin:$PATH

7. To make the changes to the environment variables a permanent change, it may require editing of your login shell’s initialization file.

Testing SST 5.1.x Functionality

1. Run a very simple sanity test

$ sst --version

2. Run a very simple simulation

$ sst $SST_HOME/sst/elements/simpleElementExample/tests/test_simpleRNGComponent_mersenne.py

What’s Next…

Configuration selection for Internal Elements and Optional/Required External Components

Below is a description of the Elements provided with SST 5.1. Most elements are automatically included in the configuration. Some elements are only enabled when the –with-“external component” is set. For more information, see Instructions for Additional External SST Components