There have been several major updates during the last CARC maintenance period. Please refer to this page for more information and instructions on how to adjust to the new changes. We will also be updating the user guides to reflect these changes.
Rocky 8 Linux operating system
CARC systems have transitioned from CentOS 7 to Rocky 8 Linux. With the discontinuation of CentOS 7, Rocky 8 was developed as a new open-source platform to fill the role of CentOS. Rocky 8 is based off of RHEL 8 (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) in the same way that CentOS 7 was based off of RHEL 7. You will likely not encounter any major changes and data storage will not be impacted by the migration. The main impact will be on software; see below for further details.
Software modules
We have upgraded our compiler from GCC 11.3.0 to GCC 13.3.0. The default module that is loaded upon login has changed to usc/13.3.0. The software modules have been reorganized within the default module, but it will still be a similar experience to the previous one.
Apptainer software container
We switched from SingularityCE to Apptainer for two useful new features:
- Building container images unprivileged directly on CARC clusters
- Running containers within containers
Existing container images and scripts should continue to work without any changes. To load the corresponding module, run:
module purge
module load apptainer
SSH keys
Upon log in, all users will receive a message like the following:
C:\Users\user>ssh user@endeavour2.usc.edu
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@ WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED! @
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SOMEONE IS DOING SOMETHING NASTY!
...
Do not be alarmed; run the following set of commands to generate new SSH keys.
Mac/Linux
Mac and Linux users should run these commands on their computers before connecting to CARC:
ssh-keygen -f ~/.ssh/known_hosts -R discovery.usc.edu
ssh-keygen -f ~/.ssh/known_hosts -R discovery1.usc.edu
ssh-keygen -f ~/.ssh/known_hosts -R discovery2.usc.edu
ssh-keygen -f ~/.ssh/known_hosts -R endeavour.usc.edu
ssh-keygen -f ~/.ssh/known_hosts -R endeavour1.usc.edu
ssh-keygen -f ~/.ssh/known_hosts -R endeavour2.usc.edu
ssh-keygen -f ~/.ssh/known_hosts -R hpc-transfer.usc.edu
ssh-keygen -f ~/.ssh/known_hosts -R hpc-transfer1.usc.edu
ssh-keygen -f ~/.ssh/known_hosts -R hpc-transfer2.usc.edu
ssh-keygen -f ~/.ssh/known_hosts -R knoll.usc.edu
Windows
Windows users should run these commands in the powershell:
ssh-keygen -f $env:USERPROFILE/.ssh/known_hosts -R discovery.usc.edu
ssh-keygen -f $env:USERPROFILE/.ssh/known_hosts -R discovery1.usc.edu
ssh-keygen -f $env:USERPROFILE/.ssh/known_hosts -R discovery2.usc.edu
ssh-keygen -f $env:USERPROFILE/.ssh/known_hosts -R endeavour.usc.edu
ssh-keygen -f $env:USERPROFILE/.ssh/known_hosts -R endeavour1.usc.edu
ssh-keygen -f $env:USERPROFILE/.ssh/known_hosts -R endeavour2.usc.edu
ssh-keygen -f $env:USERPROFILE/.ssh/known_hosts -R hpc-transfer.usc.edu
ssh-keygen -f $env:USERPROFILE/.ssh/known_hosts -R hpc-transfer1.usc.edu
ssh-keygen -f $env:USERPROFILE/.ssh/known_hosts -R hpc-transfer2.usc.edu
ssh-keygen -f $env:USERPROFILE/.ssh/known_hosts -R knoll.usc.edu
New /project2 storage system
We have introduced a new storage system called /project2. /project2 is an all-flash storage system with over 10 PB of total storage space. Twice as many file servers as /project make use of the increased performance of flash storage.
As before, PIs will receive 10 TB for free across their projects. /project is very near to capacity and will only be available for a few more years, therefore all new projects or requests for increased storage allocations will be on /project2 going forward. Because /project2 boasts better performance, we also encourage users to proactively transfer their data from /project to the new system.
Because /project2 offers better performance, the new rate for storage allocations over 10 TB is $60/TB/year. Please keep this in mind when deciding to transfer data or request new allocations. If PIs choose to keep their current /project storage allocation, they are free to do so at the original $40/TB/year rate.
