Loading precompiled binaries from cvmfs is not possible?

[Ni-Langguth]

I published two test packages (using ali-bot) to one of our cvmfs test repositories using the aliPublish.conf file below and manually published the BASE/1.0 file below to the same location as the test packages: /cvmfs/sft-nightlies-test.cern.ch/lcg/bits/x86_64-el9-gcc13-opt/Modules/modulefiles, as instructed in the documentation.

Then I added the path to my MODULEPATH, checked with module avail whether the modules were available and tried loading/unloading with module load and module unload, which worked:

export MODULEPATH="/cvmfs/sft-nightlies-test.cern.ch/lcg/bits/x86_64-el9-gcc13-opt/Modules/modulefiles:$MODULEPATH"
[nlanggut@pcepsft17 bits]$ module avail
---------------- /cvmfs/sft-nightlies-test.cern.ch/lcg/bits/x86_64-el9-gcc13-opt/Modules/modulefiles -----------------
alibuild-recipe-tools/0.2.5-1  BASE/1.0  ninja/fortran-v1.11.1.g9-1  

------------------------------------------- /usr/share/Modules/modulefiles -------------------------------------------
dot  module-git  module-info  modules  null  use.own  

Key:
modulepath  
[nlanggut@pcepsft17 bits]$ module load ninja/fortran-v1.11.1.g9-1 
Loading ninja/fortran-v1.11.1.g9-1
  Loading requirement: BASE/1.0
[nlanggut@pcepsft17 bits]$ which ninja
/cvmfs/sft-nightlies-test.cern.ch/lcg/bits/x86_64-el9-gcc13-opt/Packages/ninja/fortran-v1.11.1.g9-1/bin/ninja
[nlanggut@pcepsft17 bits]$ module unload ninja/fortran-v1.11.1.g9-1 
Unloading ninja/fortran-v1.11.1.g9-1
  Unloading useless requirement: BASE/1.0

Then I tried doing the same with bits, specifying my architecture manually and querying which modules were available with bits q, trying to load a module with bits load, which is where I ran into an issue:

[nlanggut@pcepsft17 bits]$ bits -a x86_64-el9-gcc13-opt q
VO_ALICE@BASE::1.0
VO_ALICE@alibuild-recipe-tools::0.2.5-1
VO_ALICE@BASE::1.0
VO_ALICE@ninja::fortran-v1.11.1.g9-1
[nlanggut@pcepsft17 bits]$ bits -a x86_64-el9-gcc13-opt load VO_ALICE@ninja::fortran-v1.11.1.g9-1
Use bits list to list loaded modules.
Loading ninja/fortran-v1.11.1.g9-1
  Loading requirement: BASE/1.0
PATH=/afs/cern.ch/user/n/nlanggut/bits/bits/sw/x86_64-el9-gcc13-opt/ninja/fortran-v1.11.1.g9-1/bin:/afs/cern.ch/user/n/nlanggut/.cargo/bin:/afs/cern.ch/user/n/nlanggut/scripts:/afs/cern.ch/user/n/nlanggut/.cargo/bin:/afs/cern.ch/user/n/nlanggut/.local/bin:/afs/cern.ch/user/n/nlanggut/bin:/usr/sue/bin:/usr/share/Modules/bin:/usr/lib64/ccache:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/var/lib/snapd/snap/bin:/opt/puppetlabs/bin; export PATH;
__MODULES_LMALTNAME=BASE/1.0\&as\|BASE/default\&as\|BASE/latest:ninja/fortran-v1.11.1.g9-1\&as\|ninja/default\&as\|ninja/latest; export __MODULES_LMALTNAME;
__MODULES_LMPREREQ=ninja/fortran-v1.11.1.g9-1\&BASE/1.0; export __MODULES_LMPREREQ;
_LMFILES_=/afs/cern.ch/user/n/nlanggut/bits/bits/sw/MODULES/x86_64-el9-gcc13-opt/BASE/1.0:/cvmfs/sft-nightlies-test.cern.ch/lcg/bits/x86_64-el9-gcc13-opt/Modules/modulefiles/ninja/fortran-v1.11.1.g9-1; export _LMFILES_;
LOADEDMODULES=BASE/1.0:ninja/fortran-v1.11.1.g9-1; export LOADEDMODULES;
BASEDIR=/afs/cern.ch/user/n/nlanggut/bits/bits/sw/x86_64-el9-gcc13-opt; export BASEDIR;
__MODULES_LMTAG=BASE/1.0\&auto-loaded; export __MODULES_LMTAG;
test 0;
[nlanggut@pcepsft17 bits]$ bits -a x86_64-el9-gcc13-opt list
No Modulefiles Currently Loaded.
[nlanggut@pcepsft17 bits]$ which ninja
/usr/bin/which: no ninja in (/afs/cern.ch/user/n/nlanggut/.cargo/bin:/afs/cern.ch/user/n/nlanggut/scripts:/afs/cern.ch/user/n/nlanggut/.cargo/bin:/afs/cern.ch/user/n/nlanggut/.local/bin:/afs/cern.ch/user/n/nlanggut/bin:/usr/sue/bin:/usr/share/Modules/bin:/usr/lib64/ccache:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/var/lib/snapd/snap/bin:/opt/puppetlabs/bin)

aliPublish.conf

---
s3_endpoint_url: https://s3.cern.ch
s3_bucket: bucketofpieces
base_url: https://s3.cern.ch/bucketofpieces/
base_prefix: TARS

http_ssl_verify: True

architectures:
  x86_64-el9-gcc13-opt:
    CVMFS: x86_64-el9-gcc13-opt
include:
  ninja: True

cvmfs_repository: sft-nightlies-test.cern.ch
cvmfs_package_dir: /cvmfs/sft-nightlies-test.cern.ch/lcg/bits/%(arch)s/Packages/%(package)s/%(version)s
cvmfs_modulefile: /cvmfs/sft-nightlies-test.cern.ch/lcg/bits/%(arch)s/Modules/modulefiles/%(package)s/%(version)s

BASE/1.0

#%Module1.0#####################################################################
##
## lcg.bits - versions modulefile
##

proc ModulesHelp { } {
        global version
        puts stderr "Common base module for LCG modules."
}

set     version         1.0

module-whatis   "ALICE versions module for ALICE software."

set base_path [string map "Modules/modulefiles/BASE/$version Packages" $ModulesCurrentModulefile]
if { $base_path == $ModulesCurrentModulefile } {
  set base_path /cvmfs/sft-nightlies-test.cern.ch/lcg/bits/x86_64-el9-gcc13-opt/Packages
}

## -- BASE DIRECTORYS --
setenv          BASEDIR              $base_path

set     osname          [uname sysname]
set     osarchitecture  [uname machine]

if { $osarchitecture == "x86_64" } {
        setenv  ALICE_TARGET       linuxx8664gcc
        setenv  ALICE_TARGET_EXT   linuxx8664gcc
        setenv  SYSTEM_LIBPATH     lib64
} elseif { $osarchitecture == "i686" } {
        setenv  ALICE_TARGET    linux
        setenv  ALICE_TARGET_EXT   linux
        setenv  SYSTEM_LIBPATH     lib
} else {
        puts stderr "\tYour architecture is $osarchitecture. Please use x86_64 or i686 architecture"
        break
}

[pbuncic]

You should never mess with modules or MODULEPATH, simply use 'bits enter' to enter a subshell with properly configured environment (which replaces 'alienv enter' from aliBuild). Here is an example of ROOT:

pbuncic@bits:~/Software/Bits/alice.bits$ bits q | grep ROOT
VO_ALICE@ROOT::latest
VO_ALICE@ROOT::latest-o2
pbuncic@bits:~/Software/Bits/alice.bits$ bits enter ROOT/latest
Loading ROOT/latest
  Loading requirement: BASE/1.0 libffi/v3.2.1-alice1-local1 lz4/v1.9.3-local1
    hdf5/1.14.6-local1 AliEn-Runtime/v2-19-le-local1 sqlite/v3.47.2-local1
    Python/v3.10.19-local1 Python-modules/1.0-local1 boost/v1.83.0-alice2-local1
    protobuf/v29.3-local1 Clang/v20.1.7-local1 utf8proc/v2.6.1-local1
    xsimd/8.1.0-local1 arrow/v20.0.0-alice1-local1 GSL/v2.8-local1
    lhapdf/v6.5.2-local1 HepMC/HEPMC_02_06_10-local1 Vc/1.4.5-local1
    TBB/v2021.5.0-local1 nlohmann_json/v3.11.3-local1 abseil/20240722.0-local1
    pythia/v8315-alice1-local1 XRootD/v5.8.4-local1 FFTW3/v3.3.9-local1
Currently Loaded Modulefiles:
 1) BASE/1.0                       14) arrow/v20.0.0-alice1-local1
 2) libffi/v3.2.1-alice1-local1    15) GSL/v2.8-local1
 3) lz4/v1.9.3-local1              16) lhapdf/v6.5.2-local1
 4) hdf5/1.14.6-local1             17) HepMC/HEPMC_02_06_10-local1
 5) AliEn-Runtime/v2-19-le-local1  18) Vc/1.4.5-local1
 6) sqlite/v3.47.2-local1          19) TBB/v2021.5.0-local1
 7) Python/v3.10.19-local1         20) nlohmann_json/v3.11.3-local1
 8) Python-modules/1.0-local1      21) abseil/20240722.0-local1
 9) boost/v1.83.0-alice2-local1    22) pythia/v8315-alice1-local1
10) protobuf/v29.3-local1          23) XRootD/v5.8.4-local1
11) Clang/v20.1.7-local1           24) FFTW3/v3.3.9-local1
12) utf8proc/v2.6.1-local1         25) ROOT/latest
13) xsimd/8.1.0-local1

Key:
auto-loaded
Use bits list to list loaded modules. Use exit to exit this environment.
[ROOT/latest] ~/Software/Bits/alice.bits $> which root
/home/pbuncic/Software/Bits/sw/ubuntu2510_x86-64/ROOT/v6-36-04-alice3-local1/bin/root
[ROOT/latest] ~/Software/Bits/alice.bits $> root -b
   ------------------------------------------------------------------
  | Welcome to ROOT 6.36.04                        https://root.cern |
  | (c) 1995-2025, The ROOT Team; conception: R. Brun, F. Rademakers |
  | Built for linuxx8664gcc on Dec 16 2025, 14:43:19                 |
  | From tags/v6-36-04-alice3@v6-36-04-alice3                        |
  | With c++ (Ubuntu 15.2.0-4ubuntu4) 15.2.0                         |
  | Try '.help'/'.?', '.demo', '.license', '.credits', '.quit'/'.q'  |
   ------------------------------------------------------------------

root [0] .q
[ROOT/latest] ~/Software/Bits/alice.bits $> exit
exit

[Ni-Langguth]

Alright, so I reset everything I did with module and cloned the alice.bits repo to my docker, just to recreate exactly what you are doing before I try it with our lcg packages.

It seems to me like there is a step missing here, because when I do bits q, I only get the BASE/1.0 module. How can I communicate to bits that it should look in the cvmfs repository where ALICE publish their packages?

[root@lcgapp-alma9-physical alice.bits]# bits q
VO_ALICE@BASE::1.0

[Ni-Langguth]

Hi @pbuncic how is it going? Can I help with anything?

[pbuncic]

In your bits build directory, such as alice.bits, where you have bits.rc or .bitsrc files, you should use 'bits q' to list available packages and bits enter <package/version> to create a subshell with all environment defined. Outside of that directory, if you wish to use packages and modules published to CVMFS you can now use bitsenv command:

bitsenv <-m /cvmfs/alice.cern.ch> [-p ] (this is needed only once and will store the path to the directory where module files can be found following the ALICE convention, see /cvmfs/alice.cern.ch).

After that you should be able to do

bitsenv q
bitsenv enter <package1,package2,...>

[Ni-Langguth]

There might be some problem with the --architecture flag? Autodetect doesn't work and it won't let me specify. The message printed also refers to bits, not bitsenv.

[nlanggut@pcepsft17 devel]$ bitsenv </cvmfs/sft-nightlies-test.cern.ch> [-p ]
 -- load environment for bits packages through modulefiles

Usage: /afs/cern.ch/user/n/nlanggut/devel/bits/bits \
         [--architecture|-a ARCHITECTURE] \
         [--work-dir|-w WORKDIR]          \
         [--no-refresh]                   \
         COMMAND...

  --no-refresh skips refreshing the modules directory.

  WORKDIR defaults to sw.
  ARCHITECTURE is automatically detected in most cases.

  COMMAND... might be:

    help
      This help screen.

    enter [--shellrc] [--dev] MODULE1[,MODULE2...]
      Enters a new shell with the given modules loaded.
      Return to the clean environment by exiting the shell with exit.
      Inside the environment you can use the native modulecmd.
      By default you enter the same shell type you are in. Override with environment variable MODULES_SHELL.
      The new shell will not load your shell startup file by default (e.g. ~/.bashrc) to avoid environment conflicts.
      If you want to retain your shell startup files use --shellrc.
      If you want to add environment variables for development use --dev
      Alternatively you can use the load command in the current shell.

    setenv MODULE1[,MODULE2...] -c cmdInEnvironment [PARAM1 [PARAM2...]]
      Executes the given command with environment defined by the given modules.
      Everything after -c is executed as-is.
      Exit code is preserved.
      Example: /afs/cern.ch/user/n/nlanggut/devel/bits/bits setenv AliRoot/v5-08-02-1 -c aliroot -b

    printenv or load [-q] MODULE1[,MODULE2...]
      Prints the environment in the current shell for the given modules (-q for quiet).
      This command does not set any environment and it must be executed through eval to be effective.
      Override shell with the environment variable MODULES_SHELL.
      Example: eval `/afs/cern.ch/user/n/nlanggut/devel/bits/bits load AliRoot/latest` (those are backquotes!)

    unload [-q] MODULE1[,MODULE2...]
      Prints the environment in the current shell for unloading the given modules (-q for quiet).
      This command does not set any environment and it must be executed through eval to be effective.
      Override shell with the environment variable MODULES_SHELL.
      Example: eval `/afs/cern.ch/user/n/nlanggut/devel/bits/bits unload AliRoot` (version can be omitted)

    q or query [REGEXP]
      List all available modules, or the ones matching REGEXP if provided.

    list
      List loaded modules.

    modulecmd [PARAM1 [PARAM2...]]]
      Pass all arguments as-is to the modulecmd command.
      Example: print AliRoot env for zsh: /afs/cern.ch/user/n/nlanggut/devel/bits/bits modulecmd zsh load AliRoot/v5-08-02-1
      Consult man modulecmd for more information.

    shell-helper
      Returns a script to be evald in your shell rc file to allow easier loading/unloading.
      In your shell rc put:
        BITS_WORK_DIR=<path_to_bits_sw_dir>
        eval "`bits shell-helper`"

ERROR: Cannot autodetect architecture
[nlanggut@pcepsft17 devel]$ bitsenv --architecture x86_64-el9-gcc13-opt </cvmfs/sft-nightlies-test.cern.ch> [-p ]
 -- load environment for bits packages through modulefiles

Usage: /afs/cern.ch/user/n/nlanggut/devel/bits/bits \
         [--architecture|-a ARCHITECTURE] \
         [--work-dir|-w WORKDIR]          \
         [--no-refresh]                   \
         COMMAND...

  --no-refresh skips refreshing the modules directory.

  WORKDIR defaults to sw.
  ARCHITECTURE is automatically detected in most cases.

  COMMAND... might be:

    help
      This help screen.

    enter [--shellrc] [--dev] MODULE1[,MODULE2...]
      Enters a new shell with the given modules loaded.
      Return to the clean environment by exiting the shell with exit.
      Inside the environment you can use the native modulecmd.
      By default you enter the same shell type you are in. Override with environment variable MODULES_SHELL.
      The new shell will not load your shell startup file by default (e.g. ~/.bashrc) to avoid environment conflicts.
      If you want to retain your shell startup files use --shellrc.
      If you want to add environment variables for development use --dev
      Alternatively you can use the load command in the current shell.

    setenv MODULE1[,MODULE2...] -c cmdInEnvironment [PARAM1 [PARAM2...]]
      Executes the given command with environment defined by the given modules.
      Everything after -c is executed as-is.
      Exit code is preserved.
      Example: /afs/cern.ch/user/n/nlanggut/devel/bits/bits setenv AliRoot/v5-08-02-1 -c aliroot -b

    printenv or load [-q] MODULE1[,MODULE2...]
      Prints the environment in the current shell for the given modules (-q for quiet).
      This command does not set any environment and it must be executed through eval to be effective.
      Override shell with the environment variable MODULES_SHELL.
      Example: eval `/afs/cern.ch/user/n/nlanggut/devel/bits/bits load AliRoot/latest` (those are backquotes!)

    unload [-q] MODULE1[,MODULE2...]
      Prints the environment in the current shell for unloading the given modules (-q for quiet).
      This command does not set any environment and it must be executed through eval to be effective.
      Override shell with the environment variable MODULES_SHELL.
      Example: eval `/afs/cern.ch/user/n/nlanggut/devel/bits/bits unload AliRoot` (version can be omitted)

    q or query [REGEXP]
      List all available modules, or the ones matching REGEXP if provided.

    list
      List loaded modules.

    modulecmd [PARAM1 [PARAM2...]]]
      Pass all arguments as-is to the modulecmd command.
      Example: print AliRoot env for zsh: /afs/cern.ch/user/n/nlanggut/devel/bits/bits modulecmd zsh load AliRoot/v5-08-02-1
      Consult man modulecmd for more information.

    shell-helper
      Returns a script to be evald in your shell rc file to allow easier loading/unloading.
      In your shell rc put:
        BITS_WORK_DIR=<path_to_bits_sw_dir>
        eval "`bits shell-helper`"

ERROR: Unknown command: --architecture

[pbuncic]

In the example, I used <...> to mark mandatory arguments and [...] to mark optional arguments. So, you need to do

bitsenv -p x86_64-el9-gcc13-opt -m /cvmfs/sft-nightlies-test.cern.ch .....

assuming that in /cvmfs/sft-nightlies-test.cern.ch one can find packages and modules installed in x86_64-el9-gcc13-opt directory,

[Ni-Langguth]

bitsenv just says it's not supported now. Am I doing something wrong?

[nlanggut@pcepsft17 devel]$ bitsenv -h
Platform Scientific,x86_64-2.6-gnu-4.1.2 not supported
[nlanggut@pcepsft17 devel]$ ls /cvmfs/sft-nightlies-test.cern.ch/lcg/bits/x86_64-el9-gcc13-opt/
Modules  Packages
[nlanggut@pcepsft17 devel]$ bitsenv -p x86_64-el9-gcc13-opt -m /cvmfs/sft-nightlies-test.cern.ch/lcg/bits/x86_64-el9-gcc13-opt/
Platform Scientific,x86_64-2.6-gnu-4.1.2 not supported
[nlanggut@pcepsft17 devel]$ bitsenv q
Platform Scientific,x86_64-2.6-gnu-4.1.2 not supported
[nlanggut@pcepsft17 devel]$ bitsenv -p x86_64-el9-gcc13-opt -m /cvmfs/sft-nightlies-test.cern.ch/lcg/bits/
Platform Scientific,x86_64-2.6-gnu-4.1.2 not supported

I am on the most current commit of the main branch of bits at this time

[nlanggut@pcepsft17 bits]$ git branch
* main
[nlanggut@pcepsft17 bits]$ git remote -vv
origin  https://github.com/bitsorg/bits (fetch)
origin  https://github.com/bitsorg/bits (push)
[nlanggut@pcepsft17 bits]$ git pull
Already up to date.
[nlanggut@pcepsft17 bits]$ cd ..
[nlanggut@pcepsft17 devel]$ which bits
~/devel/bits/bits
[nlanggut@pcepsft17 devel]$ cd bits
[nlanggut@pcepsft17 bits]$ pwd
/afs/cern.ch/user/n/nlanggut/devel/bits
[nlanggut@pcepsft17 bits]$ git show
commit 8aa8d352687ada77a9a70d2941364febc4013d50 (HEAD -> main, origin/main, origin/HEAD)