Welcome, Course Objectives, and Participant Introductions

1. Welcome

Welcome to the training session on Containerization, CI/CD, and Benchmarking Solutions for HPC. This session marks the beginning of our three-day journey to equip you with practical tools and methodologies to optimize and manage high-performance computing environments. We are excited to have you here and look forward to engaging, interactive sessions that will build your skills and foster collaboration.

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2. Course Objectives

The primary objectives of this training session are to:

  • Containerize HPC Applications: Learn how to build, manage, and optimize container images using Docker and Singularity/Apptainer.

  • Implement CI/CD Workflows: Gain practical experience in automating builds, tests, and deployments with GitHub Actions, GitLab Runners, and JacamarCI.

  • Design Benchmarking Pipelines: Understand how to set up and execute benchmarking pipelines using tools like feelpp.benchmarking and reframe-hpc.

These objectives are designed to ensure that you can apply the concepts learned directly to your HPC projects and research initiatives.

3. Participant Introductions

We value the diversity of experience and expertise in this training. To kick off our session, we will have a round of introductions where each participant can share:

  • Name and Affiliation: Tell us your name and the organization or institution you represent.

  • Background in HPC and CI/CD: Briefly describe your experience with HPC environments, containerization, and CI/CD workflows.

  • Expectations: What do you hope to gain from this training session? Feel free to share specific topics or skills you’re eager to explore.

This interactive segment is not only a way for us to get to know each other but also an opportunity to tailor discussions and exercises to better fit your backgrounds and expectations.

4. Session Format and Logistics

Our session will include:

  • Brief lectures to introduce key concepts.

  • Interactive discussions to engage and address your questions.

  • Hands-on exercises to solidify the learning experience.

  • Q&A:

4.1. Computing

4.1.1. Supercomputer

The objective of the hands-on exercises is to provide you with practical experience in containerizing applications, setting up CI/CD workflows, and designing benchmarking pipelines and deploy on HPC systems.

We will be using the following > Karolina HPC system for the exercises.

The project ID for the training is dd-24-88.

4.1.2. Runners

We will also be using GitLab Runners for some of the exercises. The runners are labeled with training and karolina. We will get back to that later.

4.2. Tools & Technical Setup

For today’s exercises, we will be using GitHub Codespaces and GitHub Classroom:

  • GitHub Classroom:

    • Used for distributing assignments and managing code repositories.

    • Ensure you have received the GitHub Classroom invitation and have access to the relevant repositories.

    • This platform will help you submit assignments and receive feedback seamlessly during the session.

  • GitHub Codespaces:

    • Provides a cloud-based development environment that ensures everyone has a consistent setup.

    • Make sure you have a GitHub account and that you have accepted the invitation to use Codespaces.

    • No local installation of development tools is necessary, though you may choose to use your local environment if preferred.