# NERSC Weekly Email, Week of January 30, 2023<a name="top"></a> # ## Contents ## ## [Summary of Upcoming Events and Key Dates](#section1) ## - [Scheduled Outages](#outages) - [Key Dates](#dates) ## [This Week's Events and Deadlines](#section2) ## - [Know a Rising Star in Computational & Data Sciences? Nominate Her Today!](#risingstars) - [Applications to Attend the International HPC Summer School Due Tomorrow!](#ihpcss) - [MATLAB License Server Upgrade Tomorrow](#matlab) ## [Perlmutter](#section3) ## - [Perlmutter Machine Status](#perlmutter) - [Perlmutter Network Updates with Minor Disruptions Upcoming](#pmnetwork) - [Prepare Now for Transitioning to Perlmutter from Cori!](#pmprep) ## [Updates at NERSC ](#section4) ## - [(NEW/UPDATED) Interested in Shaping Future NERSC User Community? Take the User Community Survey Today!](#community) - [Project Members Dropped from Your Continuing NERSC Project? Here's How to Fix It](#continuingusers) - [Cori Retirement Details Will Be Announced this Week](#coriretire) - [Overrun Queue Jobs on Perlmutter Subject to Preemption](#overrun) - [Preempt Queue on Perlmutter: Try It for Free!](#preempt) - [E4S 21.11 & 22.05 Rebuilds and Updates](#e4s) ## [Calls for Participation](#section5) ## - [Call for Proposals for AY23 Research in Quantum Information Science on Perlmutter Now Open!](#qispm) - [Applications Open for Argonne Training Program on Extreme-Scale Computing](#atpesc) ## [Upcoming Training Events ](#section6) ## - [Virtual ECP Project Tutorial Days (Feb 6-10) & Community BOF Days (Feb 14-16)](#ecpdays) - [9th BerkeleyGW Tutorial Workshop & 4th Berkeley Excited States Conference, February 13-17](#psik) - [OLCF Frontier Training Workshop February 15-17](#frontiertrain) ## [NERSC News ](#section7) ## - [Come Work for NERSC!](#careers) - [About this Email](#about) ([back to top](#top)) --- ## Summary of Upcoming Events and Key Dates <a name="section1"/></a> ## ### Scheduled Outages <a name="outages"/></a> (See <https://www.nersc.gov/live-status/motd/> for more info): - **HPSS Archive (User)** - 02/01/23 09:00-14:00 PST, Scheduled Maintenance - System down for operating system upgrades. ### Key Dates <a name="dates"/></a> January 2023 February 2023 March 2023 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 29 30 31 26 27 28 26 27 28 29 30 31 #### This Week - **January 30, 2023**: [Rising Stars in Computational & Data Sciences Nominations Due](#risingstars) - **January 31, 2023**: - [Applications Due for International HPC Summer School](#ihpcss) - [MATLAB License Server Upgrade](#matlab) #### Next Month - **February 6-10, 2023**: [Virtual ECP Project Tutorial Days](#ecpdays) - **February 13-17, 2023**: [BerkeleyGW Tutorial Workshop & BESC2023](#psik) - **February 14-16, 2023**: [Virtual ECP 2023 Community BOF Days](#ecpdays) - **February 15-17, 2023**: [OLCF Frontier Training Workshop](#frontiertrain) - **February 20, 2023**: Presidents Day Holiday (No Consulting or Account Support) #### March - **March 1, 2023**: - [Quantum Information Science on Perlmutter proposals due](#qispm) - [Argonne Training Program on Extreme-Scale Computing Application Deadline](#atpesc) - **March, 2023**: [Cori Retirement](#coriretire) ([back to top](#top)) --- ## This Week's Events and Deadlines <a name="section2"/></a> ## ### Know a Rising Star in Computational & Data Sciences? Nominate Her Today! <a name="risingstars"/></a> Do you know a woman graduate student or postdoc in the computational or data sciences who is interested in pursuing an academic or research career? Consider nominating her to participate in the Rising Stars workshop, which will be held April 12-13, 2023 at the Oden Institute in Austin, Texas. Thirty women in their final year of PhD or within 3 years of having graduated will be selected to come for two days of research presentations, poster sessions, and interactive discussions about academic and research careers, with financial support of travel provided. Nominations, which consist of a nomination letter of support and the nominee's resume (two pages or less), are **due today!** For more information, please see <https://risingstars.oden.utexas.edu/>. ### Applications to Attend the International HPC Summer School Due Tomorrow! <a name="ihpcss"/></a> Are you a graduate student or postdoctoral scholar from an institution in Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia, or the United States who is interested in learning more in computational sciences with major state-of-the-art aspects of HPC and Big Data Analytics for a variety of scientific disciplines, advancing the formation of professional networks, being provided with advanced mentoring, facilitating international exchange and opening up further career options? If so, consider applying to attend the International HPC Summer School, to be held July 9-14, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. For more information and to apply, please see <https://ss23.ihpcss.org>. Applications are due **tomorrow, January 31.** ### MATLAB License Server Upgrade Tomorrow <a name="matlab"/></a> NERSC will perform a brief maintenance on the MATLAB license server, moving it into our container service to allow easier upgrading, on Tuesday, January 31, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time. This will make upgrading MATLAB itself simpler as well. During this time, you may be unable to obtain a license seat, which would prevent MATLAB starting up. Already-running MATLAB processes should continue to run. ([back to top](#top)) --- ## Perlmutter <a name="section3"/></a> ## ### Perlmutter Machine Status <a name="perlmutter"/></a> Perlmutter is available to all users with an active NERSC account. This includes both the Phase 1 (GPU-based) and Phase 2 (CPU-only) nodes. Charging for jobs on Perlmutter began on October 28. See <https://docs.nersc.gov/current/#perlmutter> for a list of current known issues and <https://docs.nersc.gov/jobs/policy/#qos-limits-and-charges> for tables of the queues available on Perlmutter. This newsletter section will be updated regularly with the latest Perlmutter status. ### Perlmutter Network Updates with Minor Disruptions Upcoming <a name="pmnetwork"/></a> In last week's maintenance, we made some changes to the Perlmutter network that have improved its performance and reliability. We are continuing to monitor its status, and it appears that most issues have been resolved. In the coming weeks, you can expect some rolling reboots to login nodes and system nodes. These reboots will install fixes that address additional issues that were previously dwarfed by the larger issues that were resolved in last week's maintenance. During the system-node reboots, you may observe transient file system hangs, and login node reboots will require a fresh login to a new login node, but these upgrades should be otherwise invisible. ### Prepare Now for Transitioning to Perlmutter from Cori! <a name="pmprep"/></a> With Cori scheduled to be retired in March, it is a good time to make sure that you are prepared to transition your workflows to Perlmutter. NERSC is here to help -- we have provided several trainings recently that will be beneficial to current users looking to transition to Perlmutter, and more events are in the works. - September's [New User Training](https://www.nersc.gov/users/training/events/new-user-training-sept2022/) contained lots of useful information about Perlmutter and how to use it. Slides are available and professionally captioned videos are linked from the training webpage. - The [GPUs for Science Day](https://www.nersc.gov/users/training/events/gpus-for-science-day-2022-october-25th/) (slides and videos with professional captions available) contained valuable resources for those migrating their applications to Perlmutter GPUs. - The [Data Day](https://www.nersc.gov/users/training/events/data-day-2022-october-26-27/) event (slides and videos currently available) included content aimed at users who are interested in porting their data workflows to Perlmutter. - The [Migrating from Cori to Perlmutter](https://www.nersc.gov/users/training/events/migrating-from-cori-to-perlmutter-training-dec2022/) training, which took place on December 1, focused on building and running jobs on Perlmutter. The slides and videos with professional captions from this training have been published on the event webpage. ([back to top](#top)) --- ## Updates at NERSC <a name="section4"/></a> ## ### (NEW/UPDATED) Interested in Shaping Future NERSC User Community? Take the User Community Survey Today! <a name="community"/></a> NERSC staff are investigating ways to build a stronger, more active NERSC user community. The aim of this initiative is to develop a user community of practice -- a way for community members to come together to exchange information, share experiences, and develop skills. By facilitating communication within the NERSC user community, we can create a better NERSC experience for everyone. We are seeking input from users of all levels of experience and backgrounds via our [User Community Survey](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfOoxU3AEgokXSyTUjQCJH0C4Ite6J-8V24DXm5IbEbPUpOZw/viewform?usp=sf_link), which should require no more than 10 minutes of your time. The responses to the [survey](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfOoxU3AEgokXSyTUjQCJH0C4Ite6J-8V24DXm5IbEbPUpOZw/viewform?usp=sf_link) will inform our approach to a series of NERSC user focus groups, which we will hold in the coming months. The focus group is the next step in particpation; you do not need to volunteer for the focus group in order to fill out the survey. Thanks for helping us in our initiative to build a NERSC user community of practice! ### Project Members Dropped from Your Continuing NERSC Project? Here's How to Fix It <a name="continuingusers"/></a> Did you miss the deadline to select users to continue in your project from AY 2022 to AY 2023? Don't despair -- there's a simple fix! First, to add users back, simply navigate to the "Roles" tab of your project in [Iris](https://iris.nersc.gov). On the right-hand side of the page, select "From Last Year" from the list of buttons. A menu listing all the users in your project in AY 2022 will appear, and you can select continuing users and then click "OK" to add them back into the project. Second, if any of these users was authorized to use the premium queue and you want to reauthorize their use of premium, navigate to the "CPU" tab of your project and edit the "QOS" column to enable premium. ### Cori Retirement Details Will Be Announced this Week <a name="coriretire"/></a> NERSC is finishing the final details of its plans for retiring Cori. Users can count on Cori being available through the end of March. A standalone email on the topic of Cori will be sent later this week, and Cori's retirement will be on the agenda for this month's NUG Monthly Meeting. ### Overrun Queue Jobs on Perlmutter Subject to Preemption <a name="overrun"/></a> In the final days of the allocation year, many projects ran jobs in the [overrun](https://docs.nersc.gov/policies/resource-usage/#overrun) queues on Cori and Perlmutter. While the system is in an evolving state, please note that overrun jobs on the Perlmutter system are subject to preemption by higher priority workloads. If your workload is amenable, we recommend that you implement [checkpoint/restart](https://docs.nersc.gov/development/checkpoint-restart/) in your jobs to save your progress periodically. This will also allow you to leverage the [preempt](https://docs.nersc.gov/jobs/examples/#preemptible-jobs) queue on Perlmutter. For more information about queues and charges at NERSC, please see our [queue policy documentation page](https://docs.nersc.gov/jobs/policy/#qos-limits-and-charges). ### Preempt Queue on Perlmutter: Try It for Free! <a name="preempt"/></a> NERSC is allowing users to try the new "preempt" queue for free! The preempt queue is aimed at users whose jobs are capable of running for a relatively short amount of time before terminating, and can withstand the termination of their job to restart (generally, jobs capable of checkpointing and restarting). Jobs in the preempt queue are guaranteed up to two hours of uninterrupted runtime and are subject to preemption after that. Benefits to using the preempt queue include - The ability to improve your throughput by submitting jobs that start quickly; - The possibility (though no guarantee) of a longer walltime (currently, you may request up to 24 hours vs 12 hours for the regular queue); and - A discount in charging for your job. To use the preempt queue, you must add the "-q preempt" flag to your job script. The preempt queue is available for both GPU and CPU-only jobs, and allows a maximum job size of 128 nodes for both types of jobs. To encourage users to explore the use of this capability, **for the first month, all jobs that run in the preempt queue will run free of charge**! After that, we plan to offer a substantial discount for preempt jobs. For more information, please see - <https://docs.nersc.gov/jobs/policy/#perlmutter-gpu> for information about the queues available on Perlmutter (scroll down to see the CPU-only queues), and - <https://docs.nersc.gov/jobs/examples/#preemptible-jobs> for an example preemptible job script. ### E4S 21.11 & 22.05 Rebuilds and Updates <a name="e4s"/></a> E4S is a curated set of scientific software libraries and packages developed by ECP teams and made available at NERSC. Versions 21.11 and 22.05 have been rebuilt and updated for the latest Perlmutter programming environments. In the 22.05 software stack (which can be accessed via `module load e4s/22.05`) we provide four Spack environments: `gcc`, `nvhpc`, `cce`, and `cuda`. After the module is loaded, load the environment appropriate for your work, e.g., `spack env activate gcc`. The GCC environment contains the most software packages, since `PrgEnv-gnu` is the default programming environment on Perlmutter. For more information on ths software stack, please see the [E4S version 22.05 documentation](https://docs.nersc.gov/applications/e4s/perlmutter/22.05/). E4S version 21.11 will be deprecated on March 31, 2022. We expect to complete our installation of version 22.11 within the next few weeks. ([back to top](#top)) --- ## Calls for Participation <a name="section5"/></a> ## ### Call for Proposals for AY23 Research in Quantum Information Science on Perlmutter Now Open! <a name="qispm"/></a> NERSC is seeking project proposals to conduct research using NERSC's Perlmutter supercomputer in the area of quantum information science (QIS) through its QIS@Perlmutter program. Up to 20,000 GPU node-hours may be awarded to accepted proposals. Applicants with projects in all areas of QIS are encouraged to apply, including but not limited to: - Quantum simulation of materials and chemical systems; - Algorithms for compilation and simulation of quantum circuits; - Error mitigation for quantum computing; - Development/testing of hybrid quantum-classical algorithms; - Software development for the quantum computing stack; - Interactions between quantum computing systems and/or accelerators and traditional HPC systems. This is an open call not limited to NERSC users. Applications are now being accepted and will be reviewed on a rolling basis, but submissions made by March 1, 2023 will be given full consideration. For more information and to apply, please see <https://www.nersc.gov/research-and-development/quantum-information-science/quantum-information-science-perlmutter/>. ### Applications Open for Argonne Training Program on Extreme-Scale Computing <a name="atpesc"/></a> Are you a doctoral student, postdoc, or computational scientist looking for advanced training on the key skills, approaches, and tools to design, implement, and execute computational science and engineering applications on current high-end computing systems and the leadership-class computing systems of the future? If so, consider applying for the Argonne Training Program on Extreme-Scale Computing (ATPESC) program. The core of the two-week program focuses on programming methodologies that are effective across a variety of supercomputers and applicable to exascale systems. Additional topics to be covered include computer architectures, mathematical models and numerical algorithms, approaches to building community codes for HPC systems, and methodologies and tools relevant for Big Data applications. This year's program will be held July 30-August 11 in the Chicago area. There is no cost to attend. Domestic airfare, meals, and lodging are provided. For more information and to apply, please see <https://extremecomputingtraining.anl.gov/>. **The application deadline is March 1, 2023**. ([back to top](#top)) --- ## Upcoming Training Events <a name="section6"/></a> ## ### Virtual ECP Project Tutorial Days (Feb 6-10) & Community BOF Days (Feb 14-16) <a name="ecpdays"/></a> Join the Exascale Computing Project (ECP) for its virtual events happening in February: - The **Virtual ECP Project Tutorial Days** (February 6-10) cover best practices for exascale-era systems. Topics include power management on exascale platforms; performance evaluation using the TAU performance system; and developing robust and scalable next-generation workflows, applications, systems, and more. For the agenda and Zoom link information, please see <https://forms.gle/j2wWCVpKqo7iGBB5A>. - The **ECP 2023 Community Birds-of-a-Feather (BOF) Days** (February 14-16) provide an opportunity for the high-performance computing community to engage with ECP teams to discuss their projects' latest development efforts. Each BOF will last 60-90 minutes and include a brief overview and Q&A. Topics include Julia; particle co-design libraries; software sustainability; ADIOS2; E4S; HDF5; checkpointing with VELOC; OpenMP offloading; MPI; software testing; performance portability; UPC++; Spack; SYCL; and more. For more information and to register, please see <https://www.exascaleproject.org/event/2023-ecp-community-bof-days/>. ### 9th BerkeleyGW Tutorial Workshop & 4th Berkeley Excited States Conference, February 13-17 <a name="psik"/></a> The ninth annual BerkeleyGW Tutorial Workshop will be held February 13-15, 2023. This hybrid in-person/virtual event targets grad students, postdocs, and researchers interested in *ab initio* calculations of many-electron effects in excited-state properties of condensed matter, and will include basic GW and BSE theory, features of the BerkeleyGW package, and detailed examples and hands-on user sessions on the GW and GW Bethe-Salpeter equation approaches using the BerkeleyGW package. The fourth annual Berkeley Excited States Conference (BESC2023) will be held February 16-17 as a hybrid in-person/virtual event featuring invited talks by experts on recent progress in the field. For more information and to register, please see <https://workshop.berkeleygw.org/>. ### OLCF Frontier Training Workshop February 15-17 <a name="frontiertrain"/></a> The Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) will host a virtual Frontier Training Workshop February 15-17, 2023. The workshop is open to NERSC users. The purpose of the workshop is to help new Frontier users (or those planning to use Frontier) to learn how to run on the system. The first day will feature presentations and a hands-on session. (To participate in the hands-on, you must have an account on Frontier or Crusher.) The second and third days will include presentations from vendors and staff. For more information and to register, please see <https://www.nersc.gov/users/training/events/olcf-frontier-training-workshop-feb-15-17-2023/>. ([back to top](#top)) --- ## NERSC News <a name="section7"/></a> ## ### Come Work for NERSC! <a name="careers"/></a> NERSC currently has several openings for postdocs, system administrators, and more! If you are looking for new opportunities, please consider the following openings: - [Scientific IO & Data Architect](http://m.rfer.us/LBLzdP5jy): Collaborate with scientists to enable their data, AI, and analytics needs using NERSC supercomputers. - [Network Engineer](http://m.rfer.us/LBLNxI5jz): Engineer and manage the NERSC data-center network to support NERSC's world-class compute and storage systems. - [HPC User Environment Architect](http://m.rfer.us/LBLtG15iO): Help NERSC define and implement innovative development environments and programming models that scientists can use to get the most out of advanced computing architectures for their scientific research. - [Science Engagement Engineer](http://m.rfer.us/LBLZN15gd): Help NERSC develop its User Community of Practice. - [Web & Online User Experience Lead](http://m.rfer.us/LBLt705fH): Oversee the NERSC Web User Experience, and lead the design, development, implementation, and maintenance of web interfaces that target NERSC's external stakeholders. - [Linux Systems Administrator / DevOps Engineer](http://m.rfer.us/LBL8bO5dU): Help build and manage NERSC's container and virtual machine platforms and deploy services that help our supercomputing center run smoothly. - [Data Science Workflows Architect](http://m.rfer.us/LBLAlL5b5): Work with multidisciplinary teams to adapt and optimize workflows for HPC systems, including data transfer, code optimization, AI, and automation. - [HPC Storage Systems Developer](http://m.rfer.us/LBLdsq5XB): Use your systems programming skills to develop the High Performance Storage System (HPSS) and supporting software. - [HPC Systems Software Engineer](http://m.rfer.us/LBL3Hv5XA): Combine your software and system development skills to support world-class HPC computational systems. - [HPC Storage Infrastructure Engineer](http://m.rfer.us/LBLqP65X9): Join the team of engineers integrating NERSC's distributed parallel file systems with NERSC's computational and networking infrastructure, troubleshoot performance issues at scale, and develop innovative solutions to optimize operational and user productivity. - [HPC Storage Systems Analyst](http://m.rfer.us/LBLgDg5VX): Join the team of engineers and programmers supporting HPSS and parallel center-wide systems. - [Machine Learning Postdoctoral Fellow](http://m.rfer.us/LBLXfI5RA): Participate in a novel project on systematic-aware AI benchmarking for High-Energy Physics (HEP). - [HPC Architecture and Performance Engineer](http://m.rfer.us/LBL1rb56n): Contribute to NERSC's understanding of future systems (compute, storage, and more) by evaluating their efficacy across leading-edge DOE Office of Science application codes. - [NESAP for Simulations Postdoctoral Fellow](http://m.rfer.us/LBLRUa4lS): Collaborate with computational and domain scientists to enable extreme-scale scientific simulations on NERSC's Perlmutter supercomputer. (**Note:** You can browse all our job openings on the [NERSC Careers](https://lbl.referrals.selectminds.com/page/nersc-careers-85) page, and all Berkeley Lab jobs at <https://jobs.lbl.gov>.) We know that NERSC users can make great NERSC employees! We look forward to seeing your application. ### About this Email <a name="about"/></a> You are receiving this email because you are the owner of an active account at NERSC. This mailing list is automatically populated with the email addresses associated with active NERSC accounts. In order to remove yourself from this mailing list, you must close your account, which can be done by emailing <accounts@nersc.gov> with your request. _______________________________________________ Users mailing list Users@nersc.gov