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SuperLU and SuperLU_DIST

SuperLU and SuperLU_DIST are libraries for the direct solution of large sparse non-symmetric systems of linear equations, typically by factorisation and back-substitution. The libraries are provided by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and are freely available under a slightly modified BSD-style license.

Two separate modules are provided for SuperLU and SuperLU_DIST.

SuperLU

  • module load superlu

This module provides the serial library SuperLU.

Compiling and linking with SuperLU

Compiling and linking SuperLU applications requires no special action beyond module load superlu and using the standard compiler wrappers cc, CC, or ftn. The exact options issued by the compiler wrapper can be examined via, e.g., 

$ cc --cray-print-opts
while the module is loaded.

The module defines the environment variable SUPERLU_DIR as the root location of the installation for a given programming environment.

Version history

  • Module superlu/5.2.2 recompiled May 2023 (PE 22.12)
  • Module superlu/5.2.2 installed October 2021 (PE 21.04)
  • Module superle/5.2.1 installed January 2021

SuperLU_DIST

  • module load superlu-dist

This modules provides the distributed memory parallel library SuperLU_DIST both with and without OpenMP.

Compiling and linking SuperLU_DIST

Use the standard compiler wrappers: 

$ cc my_superlu_dist_application.c
or 
$ cc -fopenmp my_superlu_dist_application.c
to compile the and link against the appropriate libraries.

The superlu-dist module defines the environment variable SUPERLU_DIST_DIR as the root of the installation for the current programming environment.

Version history

  • Module superlu-dist/8.1.2 installed as default May 2023 (PE 22.12)
  • Module superlu-dist/6.4.0 recompiled May 2023 (PE 22.12)
  • Module superlu-dist/6.4.0 installed October 2021 (PE 21.04)
  • Module superlu-dist/6.1.1 installed January 2021

Compiling your own version

The build used for Archer2 can be replicated by using the scripts provided at the Archer2 repository.

SuperLU

The current Archer2 supported version may be built via 

$ git clone https://github.com/ARCHER2-HPC/pe-scripts.git
$ cd pe-scripts
$ git checkout modules-2022-12
$ ./sh/tpsl/superlu.sh --prefix=/path/to/install/location
where the --prefix option controls the install destination.

SuperLU_DIST

SuperLU_DIST is configured using Metis and Parmetis, so these should be installed first: 

$ ./sh/tpsl/metis.sh --prefix=/path/to/install/location
$ ./sh/tpsl/parmetis.sh --prefix=/path/to/install/location
$ ./sh/tpsl/superlu_dist.sh --prefix=/path/to/install/location
will download, compile, and install the relevant libraries. The install location should be the same for all three packages. See the Archer2 github repository for further options and details.

Resources

The Supernodal LU project home page

The SuperLU User guide (pdf). This describes both SuperLU and SuperLU_DIST.

The SuperLU github repository

The SuperLU_DIST github repository