Re: [easybuild] Packages lacking intel fortran runtime

[Mikael Öhman]

Hi Alan,

I tried making the changes in my intel/2018a modules, and it seemed to work
exactly great.
Though, now when I tried to build a new EB package, I get hit with some
errors that toolchain definitions don't match.
Adding icc and ifort back into the intel-module seems to have fixed it, so
thanks for the tip.
(I hadn't fully grasped the nuances in toolchain vs compiler)

I would certainly vote in favor of the iccifort bundle.


On Thu, Apr 12, 2018 at 5:46 PM, Alan O'Cais  wrote:

> Hi Mikael,
>
> On 12 April 2018 at 16:53, Mikael Öhman  wrote:
>
>> Hi everyone,
>>
>> It seems to be that there is a consensus that moving the path extension
>> to iccifort would be the solution for the core issue here?
>> I.e.
>> 1. Move the path extension to iccifort
>>
> Yes, this is what we do.
>
>> 2. Have the intel module load iccifort instead of icc and ifort
>> independently
>>
> We also do this BUT you must also have icc and ifort included as
> dependencies otherwise things currently fail. I can't remember the details
> of why but I know that there is an implicit requirement for icc/ifort to be
> present in the intel easyconfig.
>
>>
>> I don't think hiding icc or ifort would be required as long as they don't
>> have the path extension.
>> I think this could be introduced into the standard HMNS without harming
>> backwards compatibility at all.
>>
> You can't introduce a change into the intel easyconfig that is just for
> HMNS, we would have to branch off for that. The real solution would be to
> bundle icc/ifort at install time, I really can't see a good reason to keep
> them separate (after X years there's still no toolchain that mixes Intel C
> with a fortran compiler from another source). With that approach iccifort
> becomes a compiler rather than a toolchain and all our troubles are over.
> We'd have to vote on that one though...
>
> Alan
>
>
>>
>> Existing modules will remain for those users who are currently loading
>> ifort + icc + impi. Newly installed toolchain versions will start giving
>> correct dependency information.
>> For those who wish to fix older versions, a module-only reinstall of the
>> intel toolchain should suffice.
>>
>> Best regards, Mikael
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Apr 12, 2018 at 4:35 PM, Alan O'Cais 
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Sorry guys, I can't believe I didn't remember this (given that I wrote
>>> it) but our custom MNS fixes this problem:
>>> https://github.com/easybuilders/JSC/blob/master/Custom_MNS/2
>>> 017b/custom_hierarchical_mns.py
>>> It ignores path extensions for icc/ifort (which are hidden for us
>>> anyway) and instead does the path extension for iccifort (which it also
>>> renames to Intel). It also puts the MPI implementations into a separate
>>> directory so that we can nicely present the tree.
>>>
>>> Alan
>>>
>>> On 12 April 2018 at 15:47, Alan O'Cais  wrote:
>>>
 Yeah it is sorry, I was writing without checking!

 On 12 April 2018 at 15:44, Mikael Öhman  wrote:

> Hi Alan,
>
> However, I don't understand how you can run into this problem.
>> Normally for any package the toolchain components are included as
>> dependencies in the final module: loading Caffe would also mean loading 
>> the
>> missing ifort module. I guess you must have a configuration that does not
>> include the toolchain deps in the final module? Removing this option 
>> would
>> also solve the problem (but you probably decided on that setting for a
>> reason).
>>
>
> Isn't this the default behavior with HMNS?
> I suppose the rationale is that with HMNS you'll have to load the
> compilers first to have access to the modules in the first place (though,
> clearly, there is a mismatch between the modulepath and dependencies in
> this case).
>
> Best regards, Mikael
>
>
>


 --
 Dr. Alan O'Cais
 E-CAM Software Manager
 Juelich Supercomputing Centre
 Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH
 52425 Juelich, Germany

 Phone: +49 2461 61 5213
 Fax: +49 2461 61 6656
 E-mail: a.oc...@fz-juelich.de
 WWW:http://www.fz-juelich.de/ias/jsc/EN

>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Dr. Alan O'Cais
>>> E-CAM Software Manager
>>> Juelich Supercomputing Centre
>>> Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH
>>> 52425 Juelich, Germany
>>>
>>> Phone: +49 2461 61 5213
>>> Fax: +49 2461 61 6656
>>> E-mail: a.oc...@fz-juelich.de
>>> WWW:http://www.fz-juelich.de/ias/jsc/EN
>>>
>>>
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH
>>> 52425 Juelich
>>> Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich
>>> Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498
>>> Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Dr. Karl 

Re: [easybuild] Packages lacking intel fortran runtime

[Alan O'Cais]

Hi Mikael,

On 12 April 2018 at 16:53, Mikael Öhman  wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> It seems to be that there is a consensus that moving the path extension to
> iccifort would be the solution for the core issue here?
> I.e.
> 1. Move the path extension to iccifort
>
Yes, this is what we do.

> 2. Have the intel module load iccifort instead of icc and ifort
> independently
>
We also do this BUT you must also have icc and ifort included as
dependencies otherwise things currently fail. I can't remember the details
of why but I know that there is an implicit requirement for icc/ifort to be
present in the intel easyconfig.

>
> I don't think hiding icc or ifort would be required as long as they don't
> have the path extension.
> I think this could be introduced into the standard HMNS without harming
> backwards compatibility at all.
>
You can't introduce a change into the intel easyconfig that is just for
HMNS, we would have to branch off for that. The real solution would be to
bundle icc/ifort at install time, I really can't see a good reason to keep
them separate (after X years there's still no toolchain that mixes Intel C
with a fortran compiler from another source). With that approach iccifort
becomes a compiler rather than a toolchain and all our troubles are over.
We'd have to vote on that one though...

Alan


>
> Existing modules will remain for those users who are currently loading
> ifort + icc + impi. Newly installed toolchain versions will start giving
> correct dependency information.
> For those who wish to fix older versions, a module-only reinstall of the
> intel toolchain should suffice.
>
> Best regards, Mikael
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 12, 2018 at 4:35 PM, Alan O'Cais 
> wrote:
>
>> Sorry guys, I can't believe I didn't remember this (given that I wrote
>> it) but our custom MNS fixes this problem:
>> https://github.com/easybuilders/JSC/blob/master/Custom_MNS/
>> 2017b/custom_hierarchical_mns.py
>> It ignores path extensions for icc/ifort (which are hidden for us anyway)
>> and instead does the path extension for iccifort (which it also renames to
>> Intel). It also puts the MPI implementations into a separate directory so
>> that we can nicely present the tree.
>>
>> Alan
>>
>> On 12 April 2018 at 15:47, Alan O'Cais  wrote:
>>
>>> Yeah it is sorry, I was writing without checking!
>>>
>>> On 12 April 2018 at 15:44, Mikael Öhman  wrote:
>>>
 Hi Alan,

 However, I don't understand how you can run into this problem. Normally
> for any package the toolchain components are included as dependencies in
> the final module: loading Caffe would also mean loading the missing ifort
> module. I guess you must have a configuration that does not include the
> toolchain deps in the final module? Removing this option would also solve
> the problem (but you probably decided on that setting for a reason).
>

 Isn't this the default behavior with HMNS?
 I suppose the rationale is that with HMNS you'll have to load the
 compilers first to have access to the modules in the first place (though,
 clearly, there is a mismatch between the modulepath and dependencies in
 this case).

 Best regards, Mikael



>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Dr. Alan O'Cais
>>> E-CAM Software Manager
>>> Juelich Supercomputing Centre
>>> Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH
>>> 52425 Juelich, Germany
>>>
>>> Phone: +49 2461 61 5213
>>> Fax: +49 2461 61 6656
>>> E-mail: a.oc...@fz-juelich.de
>>> WWW:http://www.fz-juelich.de/ias/jsc/EN
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Dr. Alan O'Cais
>> E-CAM Software Manager
>> Juelich Supercomputing Centre
>> Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH
>> 52425 Juelich, Germany
>>
>> Phone: +49 2461 61 5213
>> Fax: +49 2461 61 6656
>> E-mail: a.oc...@fz-juelich.de
>> WWW:http://www.fz-juelich.de/ias/jsc/EN
>>
>>
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH
>> 52425 Juelich
>> Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich
>> Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498
>> Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Dr. Karl Eugen Huthmacher
>> Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender),
>> Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt,
>> Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>
>>
>


-- 
Dr. Alan O'Cais
E-CAM Software Manager
Juelich Supercomputing Centre
Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH
52425 Juelich, Germany

Phone: +49 2461 61 5213
Fax: +49 2461 61 6656
E-mail: a.oc...@fz-juelich.de
WWW:http://www.fz-juelich.de/ias/jsc/EN

Re: [easybuild] Packages lacking intel fortran runtime

[Mikael Öhman]

Hi everyone,

It seems to be that there is a consensus that moving the path extension to
iccifort would be the solution for the core issue here?
I.e.
1. Move the path extension to iccifort
2. Have the intel module load iccifort instead of icc and ifort
independently

I don't think hiding icc or ifort would be required as long as they don't
have the path extension.
I think this could be introduced into the standard HMNS without harming
backwards compatibility at all.

Existing modules will remain for those users who are currently loading
ifort + icc + impi. Newly installed toolchain versions will start giving
correct dependency information.
For those who wish to fix older versions, a module-only reinstall of the
intel toolchain should suffice.

Best regards, Mikael


On Thu, Apr 12, 2018 at 4:35 PM, Alan O'Cais  wrote:

> Sorry guys, I can't believe I didn't remember this (given that I wrote it)
> but our custom MNS fixes this problem:
> https://github.com/easybuilders/JSC/blob/master/Custom_MNS/2017b/custom_
> hierarchical_mns.py
> It ignores path extensions for icc/ifort (which are hidden for us anyway)
> and instead does the path extension for iccifort (which it also renames to
> Intel). It also puts the MPI implementations into a separate directory so
> that we can nicely present the tree.
>
> Alan
>
> On 12 April 2018 at 15:47, Alan O'Cais  wrote:
>
>> Yeah it is sorry, I was writing without checking!
>>
>> On 12 April 2018 at 15:44, Mikael Öhman  wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Alan,
>>>
>>> However, I don't understand how you can run into this problem. Normally
 for any package the toolchain components are included as dependencies in
 the final module: loading Caffe would also mean loading the missing ifort
 module. I guess you must have a configuration that does not include the
 toolchain deps in the final module? Removing this option would also solve
 the problem (but you probably decided on that setting for a reason).

>>>
>>> Isn't this the default behavior with HMNS?
>>> I suppose the rationale is that with HMNS you'll have to load the
>>> compilers first to have access to the modules in the first place (though,
>>> clearly, there is a mismatch between the modulepath and dependencies in
>>> this case).
>>>
>>> Best regards, Mikael
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Dr. Alan O'Cais
>> E-CAM Software Manager
>> Juelich Supercomputing Centre
>> Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH
>> 52425 Juelich, Germany
>>
>> Phone: +49 2461 61 5213
>> Fax: +49 2461 61 6656
>> E-mail: a.oc...@fz-juelich.de
>> WWW:http://www.fz-juelich.de/ias/jsc/EN
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Dr. Alan O'Cais
> E-CAM Software Manager
> Juelich Supercomputing Centre
> Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH
> 52425 Juelich, Germany
>
> Phone: +49 2461 61 5213
> Fax: +49 2461 61 6656
> E-mail: a.oc...@fz-juelich.de
> WWW:http://www.fz-juelich.de/ias/jsc/EN
>
>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH
> 52425 Juelich
> Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich
> Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498
> Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Dr. Karl Eugen Huthmacher
> Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender),
> Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt,
> Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt
> 
> 
> 
> 
>
>

Re: [easybuild] Packages lacking intel fortran runtime

[Alan O'Cais]

Sorry guys, I can't believe I didn't remember this (given that I wrote it) but 
our custom MNS fixes this problem:
https://github.com/easybuilders/JSC/blob/master/Custom_MNS/2017b/custom_hierarchical_mns.py
It ignores path extensions for icc/ifort (which are hidden for us anyway) and 
instead does the path extension for iccifort (which it also renames to Intel). 
It also puts the MPI implementations into a separate directory so that we can 
nicely present the tree.

Alan

On 12 April 2018 at 15:47, Alan O'Cais 
> wrote:
Yeah it is sorry, I was writing without checking!

On 12 April 2018 at 15:44, Mikael Öhman 
> wrote:
Hi Alan,

However, I don't understand how you can run into this problem. Normally for any 
package the toolchain components are included as dependencies in the final 
module: loading Caffe would also mean loading the missing ifort module. I guess 
you must have a configuration that does not include the toolchain deps in the 
final module? Removing this option would also solve the problem (but you 
probably decided on that setting for a reason).

Isn't this the default behavior with HMNS?
I suppose the rationale is that with HMNS you'll have to load the compilers 
first to have access to the modules in the first place (though, clearly, there 
is a mismatch between the modulepath and dependencies in this case).

Best regards, Mikael





--
Dr. Alan O'Cais
E-CAM Software Manager
Juelich Supercomputing Centre
Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH
52425 Juelich, Germany

Phone: +49 2461 61 5213
Fax: +49 2461 61 6656
E-mail: a.oc...@fz-juelich.de
WWW:http://www.fz-juelich.de/ias/jsc/EN



--
Dr. Alan O'Cais
E-CAM Software Manager
Juelich Supercomputing Centre
Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH
52425 Juelich, Germany

Phone: +49 2461 61 5213
Fax: +49 2461 61 6656
E-mail: a.oc...@fz-juelich.de
WWW:http://www.fz-juelich.de/ias/jsc/EN




Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH
52425 Juelich
Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich
Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498
Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Dr. Karl Eugen Huthmacher
Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender),
Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt,
Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt

Re: [easybuild] Packages lacking intel fortran runtime

[Alan O'Cais]

Yeah it is sorry, I was writing without checking!

On 12 April 2018 at 15:44, Mikael Öhman 
> wrote:
Hi Alan,

However, I don't understand how you can run into this problem. Normally for any 
package the toolchain components are included as dependencies in the final 
module: loading Caffe would also mean loading the missing ifort module. I guess 
you must have a configuration that does not include the toolchain deps in the 
final module? Removing this option would also solve the problem (but you 
probably decided on that setting for a reason).

Isn't this the default behavior with HMNS?
I suppose the rationale is that with HMNS you'll have to load the compilers 
first to have access to the modules in the first place (though, clearly, there 
is a mismatch between the modulepath and dependencies in this case).

Best regards, Mikael





--
Dr. Alan O'Cais
E-CAM Software Manager
Juelich Supercomputing Centre
Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH
52425 Juelich, Germany

Phone: +49 2461 61 5213
Fax: +49 2461 61 6656
E-mail: a.oc...@fz-juelich.de
WWW:http://www.fz-juelich.de/ias/jsc/EN




Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH
52425 Juelich
Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich
Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498
Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Dr. Karl Eugen Huthmacher
Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender),
Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt,
Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt

Re: [easybuild] Packages lacking intel fortran runtime

[Mikael Öhman]

Hi Alan,

However, I don't understand how you can run into this problem. Normally for
> any package the toolchain components are included as dependencies in the
> final module: loading Caffe would also mean loading the missing ifort
> module. I guess you must have a configuration that does not include the
> toolchain deps in the final module? Removing this option would also solve
> the problem (but you probably decided on that setting for a reason).
>

Isn't this the default behavior with HMNS?
I suppose the rationale is that with HMNS you'll have to load the compilers
first to have access to the modules in the first place (though, clearly,
there is a mismatch between the modulepath and dependencies in this case).

Best regards, Mikael

Re: [easybuild] Packages lacking intel fortran runtime

[Mikael Öhman]

Hej Joachim,

We have the same issue. From the last EasyBuild user meeting, I got a few
suggestions on how to try and fix the issue, but I was never successful
with these.

We try to educate out users to always use the toolchain packages whenever
possible "module load intel".

I think the nicest solution, which would make it similar to how foss
toolchain works, is to remove
prepend_path("MODULEPATH", "/apps/etc.etc/all/Compiler/intel/some.version")
from the icc and ifort modules into the their respective "iccifort" module.

This would make "module spider" only spit out 1 version, "module load
intel" still works correctly, and there is no way to achieve this without.

Unfortunately, I would have preferred if we could have simply gotten
"module spider" to show e.g. "intel/2017b" directly. But, the the way the
heirarchical structure is set up, I can't see any way to achieve this
(without drastic changes)


As an alternative approach, I also wrote some python code that reads out
the entire module tree, and gives a summary expressed only in terms of
toolchains; "intel/2017a" "foss/2018a" etc. I was thinking of publishing
this on our website and just direct users there instead of "module spider".

I also regret the decision to go with HMNS.


On Thu, Apr 12, 2018 at 3:22 PM, Joachim Hein 
wrote:

> Hi,
>
> There is a longstanding issue on our site regarding the intel fortran
> runtime for some packages.  I assume other sites have the same, but am not
> sure it was ever discussed here.
>
> We are using hierarchical modules in production.  If a package is build
> with an intel toolchain, you can load it by either loading the
>
>   icc, impi
>
> or
>
>  ifort, impi
>
> component of that toolchain.  If a package (e.g.
> Caffe-1.0-intel-2017a-Python-2.7.13.eb) requires the Fortran runtime but
> it is loaded via the icc route, you get runtime errors because of the
> missing libifport.so.
>
> A possible fix could be to load either of the ifort or intel modules
> inside the package (e.g. Caffe) module.  I assume that would need to be
> done in the easy-block or further down inside the easybuild framework.
>
> Any comments or insights?  Apologies if that was discussed before.
>
> Best wishes
>Joachim

Re: [easybuild] Packages lacking intel fortran runtime

[Alan O'Cais]

Hi Joachim,

We also have (a slightly customised) HMNS. For our users we hide the icc and 
ifort modules and only expose them to iccifort (which we rename to Intel using 
a custom naming scheme). This is one way to get around your issue.

However, I don't understand how you can run into this problem. Normally for any 
package the toolchain components are included as dependencies in the final 
module: loading Caffe would also mean loading the missing ifort module. I guess 
you must have a configuration that does not include the toolchain deps in the 
final module? Removing this option would also solve the problem (but you 
probably decided on that setting for a reason).

Alan


On 12 April 2018 at 15:22, Joachim Hein 
> wrote:
Hi,

There is a longstanding issue on our site regarding the intel fortran runtime 
for some packages.  I assume other sites have the same, but am not sure it was 
ever discussed here.

We are using hierarchical modules in production.  If a package is build with an 
intel toolchain, you can load it by either loading the

  icc, impi

or

 ifort, impi

component of that toolchain.  If a package (e.g. 
Caffe-1.0-intel-2017a-Python-2.7.13.eb) requires the Fortran runtime but it is 
loaded via the icc route, you get runtime errors because of the missing 
libifport.so.

A possible fix could be to load either of the ifort or intel modules inside the 
package (e.g. Caffe) module.  I assume that would need to be done in the 
easy-block or further down inside the easybuild framework.

Any comments or insights?  Apologies if that was discussed before.

Best wishes
   Joachim



--
Dr. Alan O'Cais
E-CAM Software Manager
Juelich Supercomputing Centre
Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH
52425 Juelich, Germany

Phone: +49 2461 61 5213
Fax: +49 2461 61 6656
E-mail: a.oc...@fz-juelich.de
WWW:http://www.fz-juelich.de/ias/jsc/EN




Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH
52425 Juelich
Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich
Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498
Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Dr. Karl Eugen Huthmacher
Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender),
Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt,
Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt

RE: [easybuild] Packages lacking intel fortran runtime

[Vanzo, Davide]

Hi Joachim!

Yes, we have encountered the same issue you described before. Our way of 
dealing with it is to expose to the users only the iccifort toolchain module, 
while icc and ifort are hidden.

Definitely not the most elegant solution if you still want to let the users 
select icc or ifort separately, but we do not have that need anyway.

--
Davide Vanzo, PhD
Application Developer
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Advanced Computing Center for Research and Education (ACCRE)
Vanderbilt University - Hill Center 201
(615)-875-9137
www.vanderbilt.edu/accre


On 2018-04-12 08:22:32-05:00 easybuild-requ...@lists.ugent.be wrote:

Hi,

There is a longstanding issue on our site regarding the intel fortran runtime 
for some packages.  I assume other sites have the same, but am not sure it was 
ever discussed here.

We are using hierarchical modules in production.  If a package is build with an 
intel toolchain, you can load it by either loading the

  icc, impi

or

 ifort, impi

component of that toolchain.  If a package (e.g. 
Caffe-1.0-intel-2017a-Python-2.7.13.eb) requires the Fortran runtime but it is 
loaded via the icc route, you get runtime errors because of the missing 
libifport.so.

A possible fix could be to load either of the ifort or intel modules inside the 
package (e.g. Caffe) module.  I assume that would need to be done in the 
easy-block or further down inside the easybuild framework.

Any comments or insights?  Apologies if that was discussed before.

Best wishes
   Joachim

[easybuild] Packages lacking intel fortran runtime

[Joachim Hein]

Hi,  

There is a longstanding issue on our site regarding the intel fortran runtime 
for some packages.  I assume other sites have the same, but am not sure it was 
ever discussed here.

We are using hierarchical modules in production.  If a package is build with an 
intel toolchain, you can load it by either loading the

  icc, impi 

or 

 ifort, impi

component of that toolchain.  If a package (e.g. 
Caffe-1.0-intel-2017a-Python-2.7.13.eb) requires the Fortran runtime but it is 
loaded via the icc route, you get runtime errors because of the missing 
libifport.so.

A possible fix could be to load either of the ifort or intel modules inside the 
package (e.g. Caffe) module.  I assume that would need to be done in the 
easy-block or further down inside the easybuild framework. 

Any comments or insights?  Apologies if that was discussed before.

Best wishes
   Joachim