Aire Configuration Update & Upcoming Data Centre Visit
Patricia Ternes
This week, we focused on maintaining momentum with installations, tackling more complex software setups—those that rely on multiple dependencies and require thorough troubleshooting. As a result, we installed several underlying libraries to enable new applications and improve the stability of existing ones:
Newly Installed Libraries:
- bzip2-devel
- libcurl-devel
- libnsl, libnsl2
- libquadmath-devel
- libxml2-devel
- libXp, motif
- ncurses-compat-libs.x86_64
- xorg-x11-fonts-100dpi, xorg-x11-fonts-75dpi
These additions were essential for improving Spack, Ansys, and Stata, which were introduced last week but needed further tweaks. Many of these were also crucial for NetCDF-Fortran, which proved particularly tricky to install. The solution required a fresh installation of HDF5 with the correct configuration to support Fortran. A huge thank you to our community—this issue was solved thanks to one of our users! Your collaboration continues to make this journey both smoother and more enjoyable.
Newly Installed: Intel oneAPI Suite
We’re excited to announce that Intel oneAPI, one of the most requested software suites, is now available! This includes Intel compilers and a suite of powerful tools, adding a total of 17 new applications to support a wide range of workflows.
Upcoming Software Releases
We’ve completed installations for Matlab and CASTEP, but they are pending license verification. As soon as we receive the necessary licensing details, these applications will be available.
Next on our priority list:
- Finalising CASTEP & MATLAB
- Installing ORCA
- Starting work on VASP and Ansys 2023R2
We continue to prioritize software installations based on demand, so please keep sending your requests—it helps us focus on what matters most to our users.
Join Our Data Centre Visit!
We’re offering an opportunity to visit the data centre where Aire is hosted. If you're curious about the infrastructure behind your computing power, join us on:
📅 Wednesday, 19th March | 11 AM – 1 PM
📅 Thursday, 20th March | 11 AM – 1 PM
Space is limited, so if you’re interested, send us an email (rcteam@leeds.ac.uk) to reserve your spot. We’ll provide visit details to confirmed attendees.
Thanks for your continued support, and we look forward to bringing you even more improvements in the coming weeks!
If you are interested in more information about Aire, please read our previous blog posts:
Author
Patricia Ternes
Research Software Engineer Manager