Detailed Build and Installation Instructions for SST 13.0.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 objects 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 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 13.0.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 with a large number of external element libraries components and dependencies can be cumbersome due to differing versions as well as variations in compiler, operating system, environment, etc. 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. Mixing different compiler types or versions can create binary incompatibilities that can be difficult to diagnose.

Shell Used For Instructions

These instructions are targeted to 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 (macOS).

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.


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 to newer revisions.

- 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 instruction use the following conventions (though users can adjust these as they see fit):

Other Possible Tasks for Users

For most users, following these instructions will get SST up and running. However there may be rare circumstances that the user will have implement additional changes to their system to resolve problems.

The user may have to possibly modify their system environment in the following possible ways:

It is expected that the user has sufficent knowledge and experience in Linux and/or Mac OSX operating systems to understand and manage these changes.



Building A Basic SST System

SST recommends that one external component (OpenMPI) be built, installed and available on the user’s machine. After this component is 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.

NOTE: If OpenMPI is not available, the SST-Core must be configured with the --disable-mpi option (see configure instructions below). With OpenMPI disabled, the user will be unable to run multi-process simulations.

External Dependent Components

SST 13.0.x is regularly tested with OpenMPI 4.1.4, and this version is known to work with SST. Installation of an MPI package from source code is typically unnecessary, since many Linux distributions and MacOS X package managers provide OpenMPI as an optional installable package. Instructions for building OpenMPI 4.1.4 follow.

OpenMPI can be obtained online at http://www.open-mpi.org/software/ompi/v4.1/

1. Download the OpenMPI archive file openmpi-4.1.4.tar.gz to $HOME/scratch/src

2. Unarchive the compressed tar file

$ cd $HOME/scratch/src
$ tar xfz openmpi-4.1.4.tar.gz
$ cd openmpi-4.1.4

3. Decide on an installation location. For this example: $HOME/local/packages/OpenMPI-4.1.4. 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-4.1.4

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

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



SST Build Architecture

NOTE - SST is comprised of at least two separate packages:



SST Core 13.0.x Build and Installation

After the prerequisite Components (OpenMPI and other optional components) have been successfully installed, the SST-Core can then be built and installed.

1. Obtain the SST-Core 13.0.x source code and save it in $HOME/scratch/src. The tarfile can be downloaded from here.

$ cd $HOME/scratch/src
$ tar xfz sstcore-13.0.0.tar.gz
$ cd $HOME/scratch/src/sstcore-13.0.0

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

$ export SST_CORE_HOME=$HOME/local/sstcore-13.0.0
$ export SST_CORE_ROOT=$HOME/scratch/src/sstcore-13.0.0

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

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

$ ./configure --prefix=$SST_CORE_HOME [other configure settings as needed]

5. Build and install SST-Core

$ make all
$ make install

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

$ export PATH=$SST_CORE_HOME/bin:$PATH

7. Test your SST-Core install

$ which sst
$ sst --version
$ sst-info
$ sst-test-core

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



SST Elements 13.0.x Build and Installation

After SST-Core has been successfully installed, SST-Elements can then be built and installed.

1. Obtain the SST-Elements 13.0.x source code and save it in $HOME/scratch/src. The tarfile can be downloaded from here.

$ cd $HOME/scratch/src
$ tar xfz sstelements-13.0.0.tar.gz
$ cd $HOME/scratch/src/sst-elements-library-13.0.0

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

$ export SST_ELEMENTS_HOME=$HOME/local/sstelements-13.0.0
$ export SST_ELEMENTS_ROOT=$HOME/scratch/src/sst-elements-library-13.0.0

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

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

$ ./configure --prefix=$SST_ELEMENTS_HOME --with-sst-core=$SST_CORE_HOME [other configure settings as needed]

5. Build and install SST-ELEMENTS (This will register SST-Elements with the SST-Core)

$ make all
$ make install

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

$ export PATH=$SST_ELEMENTS_HOME/bin:$PATH

7. Test your SST-Elements install

$ which sst
$ sst --version
$ sst-info
$ sst-test-elements -w "*simple*"

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



Testing SST 13.0.x Functionality

1. Run a very simple sanity test

$ sst --version

2. Verify elements are installed (should generate a list of elements)

$ sst-info

3. Run the full suite of tests

$ sst-test-core
$ sst-test-elements (NOTE: This will take a long time to run. 
                     For a shorter sanity check, try 'sst-test-elements -w "*simple*"'.)


Other SST Elements

Additional SST elements are available at the GitHub sstsimulator organization page.

1. Verify that applications in the SST-Core bin directory are found in the proper directory defined by the PATH environment variable>

$ which sst-register
$ which sst-config

sst-external-element

The sst-external-element element is an example template to demonstrate how to build a standalone 3rd party element.

After SST-Core has been successfully installed, the sst-external-element element can then be built and installed.

Note: The instructions below assume the user will clone the external element. The user may also download the sst-external-element 13.0.x released element

1. Clone the master branch of sst-external-element in $HOME/scratch/src. The repository can be found here.

$ cd $HOME/scratch/src
$ git clone https://github.com/sstsimulator/sst-external-element.git
$ cd $HOME/scratch/src/sst-external-element
$ git checkout v13.0.0_Final

2. Build and install sst-external-element (This will register sst-external-element with the SST-Core)

$ cd src
$ make

juno

The juno element is a very lightweight processor model which executes programs written in a simple assembly.

After SST-Core and SST-Elements have been successfully installed, the juno element can then be built and installed.

Note: The instructions below assume the user will clone the external element. The user may also download the juno 13.0.x released element

1. Clone the master branch of juno in $HOME/scratch/src. The repository can be found here.

$ cd $HOME/scratch/src
$ git clone https://github.com/sstsimulator/juno.git
$ cd $HOME/scratch/src/juno
$ git checkout v13.0.0_Final

2. Build and install juno (This will register juno with the SST-Core)

$ cd src
$ make
$ cd ..

3. Build the juno assembler

$ cd asm
$ make
$ cd ..

To use the assembler

<juno root dir>/asm/sst-juno-asm -i <inputfile>.juno -o <outputfile>.bin

Example:
$ cd ./test/asm/
$ ../../asm/sst-juno-asm -i sum.juno -o sum.bin
$ cd ../sst
$ JUNO_EXE=../asm/sum.bin sst juno-test.py

balar

The balar element is a GPU Simulation model based on the PTX virtual ISA. It integrates GPGPU-Sim into the SST simulation infrastructure.

NOTE Balar has recently undergone substantial updates and as of SST 13, some of the changes are still in flight. Please refer to the Balar README for the latest installation instructions. Once the instructions are finalized, they will be replicated here.



What’s Next…



Configuration selection for Internal Elements and Optional/Required External Components

Below is a description of the Elements provided with SST 13.0.x. 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