diff --git a/.github/workflows/deploy.yml b/.github/workflows/deploy.yml index 51c834b24f..1a3a9aec00 100644 --- a/.github/workflows/deploy.yml +++ b/.github/workflows/deploy.yml @@ -9,18 +9,18 @@ on: permissions: read-all jobs: build: - runs-on: ubuntu-22.04 + runs-on: ubuntu-24.04 permissions: # Need to be able to write to the deploy branch contents: write steps: - name: checkout - uses: actions/checkout@a5ac7e51b41094c92402da3b24376905380afc29 # v4.1.6 + uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1 with: fetch-depth: 0 # need to fetch all history to ensure correct Git revision dates in docs - name: set up Python - uses: actions/setup-python@a26af69be951a213d495a4c3e4e4022e16d87065 # v5.6.0 + uses: actions/setup-python@5fda3b95a4ea91299a34e894583c3862153e4b97 # v7.0.0 with: python-version: '3.10' @@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ jobs: # Make sure to also deploy auto-generated API docs for test suite # For that, we need the repo to be available under eessi/test-suite - name: checkout test suite - uses: actions/checkout@a5ac7e51b41094c92402da3b24376905380afc29 # v4.1.6 + uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1 with: repository: eessi/test-suite # Path is needed, otherwise this will overwrite the checkout action that cloned the docs repo diff --git a/.github/workflows/script_module_list.yml b/.github/workflows/script_module_list.yml index 23f9734e7d..ab01483688 100644 --- a/.github/workflows/script_module_list.yml +++ b/.github/workflows/script_module_list.yml @@ -15,15 +15,15 @@ permissions: read-all jobs: flake8-lint: - runs-on: ubuntu-22.04 + runs-on: ubuntu-24.04 name: Lint steps: - name: Check out source repository - uses: actions/checkout@93ea575cb5d8a053eaa0ac8fa3b40d7e05a33cc8 # v3.1.0 + uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1 - name: Set up Python environment - uses: actions/setup-python@13ae5bb136fac2878aff31522b9efb785519f984 # v4.3.0 + uses: actions/setup-python@5fda3b95a4ea91299a34e894583c3862153e4b97 # v7.0.0 with: - python-version: "3.7" + python-version: '3.10' - name: Run flake8 uses: py-actions/flake8@84ec6726560b6d5bd68f2a5bed83d62b52bb50ba # v2.3.0 with: @@ -31,9 +31,9 @@ jobs: path: "scripts/available_software" pytest-tests: - runs-on: ubuntu-22.04 + runs-on: ubuntu-24.04 steps: - - uses: actions/checkout@93ea575cb5d8a053eaa0ac8fa3b40d7e05a33cc8 # v3.1.0 + - uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1 - name: Install dependencies run: | python -m venv venv diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml index 25def90012..187913ecf9 100644 --- a/.github/workflows/test.yml +++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml @@ -5,15 +5,15 @@ on: [push, pull_request] permissions: read-all jobs: build: - runs-on: ubuntu-22.04 + runs-on: ubuntu-24.04 steps: - name: checkout - uses: actions/checkout@a5ac7e51b41094c92402da3b24376905380afc29 # v4.1.6 + uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1 with: fetch-depth: 0 # need to fetch all history to ensure correct Git revision dates in docs - name: set up Python - uses: actions/setup-python@a26af69be951a213d495a4c3e4e4022e16d87065 # v5.6.0 + uses: actions/setup-python@5fda3b95a4ea91299a34e894583c3862153e4b97 # v7.0.0 with: python-version: '3.10' @@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ jobs: # Make sure to also test deployment of auto-generated API docs for test suite # For that, we need the repo to be available under eessi/test-suite - name: checkout test suite - uses: actions/checkout@a5ac7e51b41094c92402da3b24376905380afc29 # v4.1.6 + uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1 with: repository: eessi/test-suite # Path is needed, otherwise this will overwrite the checkout action that cloned the docs repo diff --git a/.github/workflows/test_overview_available_software.yml b/.github/workflows/test_overview_available_software.yml index e2e958efd9..65cd5430f7 100644 --- a/.github/workflows/test_overview_available_software.yml +++ b/.github/workflows/test_overview_available_software.yml @@ -7,12 +7,12 @@ on: jobs: check_targets: name: check targets in overview.md and json_data.json - runs-on: ubuntu-22.04 + runs-on: ubuntu-24.04 steps: - - uses: actions/checkout@a5ac7e51b41094c92402da3b24376905380afc29 # v4.1.6 + - uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1 - name: set up Python - uses: actions/setup-python@82c7e631bb3cdc910f68e0081d67478d79c6982d # v5.1.0 + uses: actions/setup-python@5fda3b95a4ea91299a34e894583c3862153e4b97 # v7.0.0 with: python-version: '3.10' architecture: x64 diff --git a/.github/workflows/update_available_software.yml b/.github/workflows/update_available_software.yml index d051a758f3..1510610507 100644 --- a/.github/workflows/update_available_software.yml +++ b/.github/workflows/update_available_software.yml @@ -7,12 +7,12 @@ on: jobs: update_available_software: if: github.repository_owner == 'EESSI' # Prevent running on forks - runs-on: ubuntu-22.04 + runs-on: ubuntu-24.04 steps: - - uses: actions/checkout@a5ac7e51b41094c92402da3b24376905380afc29 # v4.1.6 + - uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1 - name: set up Python - uses: actions/setup-python@82c7e631bb3cdc910f68e0081d67478d79c6982d # v5.1.0 + uses: actions/setup-python@5fda3b95a4ea91299a34e894583c3862153e4b97 # v7.0.0 with: python-version: '3.10' architecture: x64 diff --git a/docs/blog/posts/2026/09/EESSI-growth-number-of-modules-202609.webp b/docs/blog/posts/2026/09/EESSI-growth-number-of-modules-202609.webp new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..10d974600d Binary files /dev/null and b/docs/blog/posts/2026/09/EESSI-growth-number-of-modules-202609.webp differ diff --git a/docs/blog/posts/2026/09/EFP-logo.webp b/docs/blog/posts/2026/09/EFP-logo.webp new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..f5e8bba52c Binary files /dev/null and b/docs/blog/posts/2026/09/EFP-logo.webp differ diff --git a/docs/blog/posts/2026/09/MultiXscale-logo.webp b/docs/blog/posts/2026/09/MultiXscale-logo.webp new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..a839eae9a7 Binary files /dev/null and b/docs/blog/posts/2026/09/MultiXscale-logo.webp differ diff --git a/docs/blog/posts/2026/09/overview-available-software.webp b/docs/blog/posts/2026/09/overview-available-software.webp new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..45155aba20 Binary files /dev/null and b/docs/blog/posts/2026/09/overview-available-software.webp differ diff --git a/docs/blog/posts/2026/09/status-page.webp b/docs/blog/posts/2026/09/status-page.webp new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..5a4ae301cb Binary files /dev/null and b/docs/blog/posts/2026/09/status-page.webp differ diff --git a/docs/blog/posts/2026/09/vote-hpcwire-award-again.md b/docs/blog/posts/2026/09/vote-hpcwire-award-again.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..ef13f567a8 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/blog/posts/2026/09/vote-hpcwire-award-again.md @@ -0,0 +1,583 @@ +--- +authors: [boegel] +date: 2026-09-28 +slug: vote-hpcwire-award-again +--- + +# Why you should vote for EESSI (again) + +At the Supercomputing 2024 conference [EESSI won an HPCWire Readers' Choice Award](../../2024/11/hpcwire_award_2024.md).
+ +On 14 September 2026, [**EESSI got nominated *again* for the HPCWire Readers' Choice Award**](hpcwire-readers-choice-awards-2026.md). + +We have not been sitting still, EESSI has continued to evolve significantly since late 2024. + +In this blog post we take a look at the progress that has been made, highlighting some of the recent developments, enhancements, and milestones. + +Read on to see what has changed in EESSI since November 2024, and why we think that EESSI deserves your vote more than ever before... :smiling_face_with_3_hearts: + + + + +--- + + +## MultiXscale as catalyst { #multixscale } + +
+![MultiXscale logo](MultiXscale-logo.webp){width=30%} +
+ +Before taking a deep dive into the progress that EESSI has made in the last two years, +we should highlight once again that the MultiXscale EuroHPC Centre-of-Excellence +has had a significant positive impact on EESSI since the project started in January 2023. +It has enabled us to mature EESSI from a proof-of-concept to a **production-ready** service. + +The first iteration of the MultiXscale project will wrap up in December 2026, with a successor +beginning in January 2027. The technical part of the project has been forked off to become a +new EuroHPC Transversal Centre-of-Excellence, nicknamed *EESSIER*, which will also kick off +in January 2027. +It will focus on increasing the adoption of EESSI, further developing the service, +and integrating EESSI with various existing well-established tools. + +More on this in future blog posts... +--- + + +## Integration in the EuroHPC Federation Platform { #efp } + +
+![EFP logo](EFP-logo.webp){width=40%} +
+ +The work on integrating EESSI in the EuroHPC Federation Platform (EFP) +as the base for its *Federated Software Catalog* started in 2025. Although we knew that this effort was about +to start soon when the vote for the *HPCWire Readers' Choice Award 2024* was open, we could not talk about it yet back then. + +The immediate impact of this effort is that EESSI will be available on *all current and future +EuroHPC supercomputers*. +In addition, it will also be made available on other EuroHPC infrastructure, including the +EuroHPC Quantum Computers +and AI Factories. + +At the time of writing, EESSI was ready-to-use on 9 of the 10 currently online EuroHPC supercomputers: Arrhenius, +Deucalion, Discoverer, Karolina, Leonardo, LUMI, MareNostrum 5, MeluXina, and Vega. We are working with the team +at Jülich Supercomputing Centre to also make EESSI available on JUPITER soon, taking into account +the system-specific aspects, such as the diskless worker nodes. + +The ubiquity of EESSI on EuroHPC infrastructure will likely result in more interest from other HPC sites +beyond the EuroHPC Hosting Entities. An overview of systems that we know have EESSI available already can be +consulted on the [dedicated page](../../../../systems.md) in our documentation. + +For more information on the integration of EESSI in the EuroHPC Federation Platform, see the dedicated +[blog post](../../2026/03/efp-webinar.md) we wrote back in March 2026, and the +*Federated Software Catalog* +section of the EFP documentation. + +!!! tip "Open position in HPC team at Ghent University" + + There is currently an + open position in the HPC team at Ghent University for an *HPC Software and Support Engineer* person to help us out with this work. + + If you are interested or if you know someone who may be interested: applications are open until 11 October 2026! + +--- + + +## Expansion of `software.eessi.io` { #repo-expansion } + +The main production CernVM-FS repository [`software.eessi.io`](../../../../repositories/software.eessi.io.md), +which was created mid 2023 in the context of [MultiXscale](#multixscale), +has grown significantly in the past 2 years. + +Next to version `2023.06` which initially was the only EESSI version that was available, +two additional versions have been added: `2025.06` (which was kickstarted in June 2025), +and `2026.06` (June 2026). + +``` { .no-copy } +$ ls /cvmfs/software.eessi.io/versions +2023.06 2025.06 2026.06 +``` + +Each EESSI version comes with is own [compatibility layer](../../../../compatibility_layer.md) +(which includes a recent version of glibc), and provides a collection of software installations which were built +with a particular set of compiler toolchains. More details on the differences between EESSI versions +are available in the [EESSI documentation](../../../../repositories/versions.md). + +Back in November 2024, EESSI provided about 8,000 software installations in total, +covering roughly 450 unique software projects (excluding extensions like Python packages, +R libraries, etc.) and targeting 9 different CPU microarchitectures. + +Today EESSI provides *over 44,000 software installations*, across the three +current EESSI versions and all CPU/GPU targets, covering over 875 unique software projects +(together with more than 3200 unique extensions) in total. + +![Growth in number of software installations available in EESSI](EESSI-growth-number-of-modules-202609.webp) + +That's more than a **5-fold increase** in the amount of available software installations, +and roughly *double* the number of unique software projects supported by EESSI, +compared to November 2024. + +The number of [CPU microarchitectures](../../../../software_layer/cpu_targets.md) +for which EESSI provides optimized software installations also has *doubled* to 18 in total, +with the addition of the following CPU targets: + +- Intel Ice Lake, Cascade Lake, and Sapphire Rapids; +- NVIDIA Grace; +- Arm A64FX; +- AMD Zen 5 (Turin) (since EESSI 2025.06); +- Intel Granite Rapids (only in EESSI 2026.06); +- AWS Graviton 4 (only in EESSI 2026.06); +- generic RISC-V (experimental in EESSI 2026.06); + + +While the vast majority of the software installations currently provided are CPU-only, +about 10% are installations that target one of the supported +[NVIDIA or AMD GPU targets](../../../../software_layer/gpu_targets.md). + +--- + + +## Overview of available software { #overview-software } + +The [overview of available software installations](../../../../available_software/index.md) +in the EESSI documentation has been revamped. + +Labels indicate in which EESSI version(s) the software is available, +and for which CPU and GPU targets installations are provided. + +
+ [![EFP logo](overview-available-software.webp){width=100%}](../../../../available_software/index.md) +
Screenshot of overview of available software, showing GROMACS
+
+ +For each supported software project a page with more details is available, +see for example the [page for GROMACS](../../../../available_software/detail/GROMACS.md). + +A [separate overview](../../../..//available_software_riscv/index.md) is available for software installations +targeting RISC-V CPUs. + +--- + + +## Development repository { #dev-repo } + +The separate CernVM-FS repository [`dev.eessi.io`](../../../../repositories/dev.eessi.io.md) +can be used to deploy *pre-release* builds of selected software projects, for a subset of the CPU targets +that EESSI supports. This allows for recent developments in that software to be tested (at scale) more easily, +prior to a final release. + +Usage of this repository is currently limited to partners in the MultiXscale project to deploy pre-release +versions of the software they develop +and the code coupling use cases +that MultiXscale focuses on. + +For example, ESPResSo has made a pre-release +of ESPResSo v5.1 available for testing via `dev.eessi.io`; see the + +relevant thread on the `espressomd-users` mailing list thread. + +--- + + +## Increased adoption by HPC community { #adoption } + +EESSI has been more broadly adopted in the HPC community. The [list of known systems where +EESSI is available](../../../../systems.md) has been expanded with over 20 additional HPC and +private cloud systems, next to the [EuroHPC supercomputers](#efp) already mentioned, including: + +- JUSUF at Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC); +- MUSICA at Austrian Scientific Computing (ASC); +- Olivia in Norway; +- the Experimental Technologies Platform (ETP) at SURF; +- Umbrella at TU Eindhoven; +- sciCORE at University of Basel; +- Komondor in Hungary; +- the Canadian Advanced Network for Astronomy Research (CANFAR); +- HPCC at ICER (Michigan State University, US) + +A detailed [blog post](../../2026/04/eessi-musica.md) was published last April on why MUSICA choose EESSI as the base for their software stack. + +Since October 2025, an additional public Stratum 1 mirror server for EESSI (`ral-uk-s1.eessi.science`) is hosted by the +Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) in the UK. + +--- + + +## Improved user experience { #improved-ux } + +Next to the [revamped overview of available software](../../../../available_software/index.md), +additional efforts were made to improve the overall user experience of EESSI. + +### Module-based initialisation { #module-init } + +A [module-based way to initialise EESSI](../../../../using_eessi/setting_up_environment.md) +has been implemented, which quickly became the recommended way to set up your shell environment to start using EESSI. + +An `EESSI` module that corresponds to the EESSI version gets loaded, which allows both for easily *swapping* +between EESSI versions, and for *resetting* the shell environment by unloading the module: + +``` { .shell .no-copy} +# initialise shell environment for EESSI version 2023.06 +$ source /cvmfs/software.eessi.io/versions/2023.06/init/lmod/bash +Module for EESSI/2023.06 loaded successfully +EESSI has selected aarch64/neoverse_n1 as the compatible CPU target for EESSI/2023.06 +EESSI did not identify an accelerator on the system +(for debug information when loading the EESSI module, set the environment variable EESSI_MODULE_DEBUG_INIT) + +$ module list + +Currently Loaded Modules: + 1) EESSI/2023.06 + +# check which GROMACS modules are provided by EESSI 2023.06 +$ module avail gromacs + +---- /cvmfs/software.eessi.io/versions/2023.06/software/linux/aarch64/neoverse_n1/modules/all ---- + GROMACS/2024.1-foss-2023b GROMACS/2024.3-foss-2023b + GROMACS/2024.3-foss-2023b-PLUMED-2.9.2 GROMACS/2024.4-foss-2023b (D) + + Where: + D: Default Module +... + +# see which other EESSI versions are available +$ module avail eessi/ + +--------------------------- /cvmfs/software.eessi.io/init/modules --------------------------- + EESSI/2023.06 (L,D) EESSI/2025.06 EESSI/2026.06 + + Where: + L: Module is loaded + D: Default Module +... + +# swap to EESSI 2025.06, see +$ module swap EESSI/2025.06 + +Module for EESSI/2025.06 loaded successfully + +The following have been reloaded with a version change: + 1) EESSI/2023.06 => EESSI/2025.06 + +# check which GROMACS modules are provided by EESSI 2025.06 +$ module avail gromacs + +---- /cvmfs/software.eessi.io/versions/2025.06/software/linux/aarch64/neoverse_n1/modules/all ---- + GROMACS/2025.2-foss-2025a GROMACS/2025.4-foss-2025b GROMACS/2026.2-foss-2025b (D) + + Where: + D: Default Module +... +``` + + +### EESSI CLI tool { #cli-tool } + +A custom command-line tool for EESSI +was created during the [pre-FOSDEM hackathon](../02/FOSDEM-2026.md) last February. + +Start by installing it from PyPI: + +```.shell +# install EESSI CLI tool in a Python venv +python3 -m venv venv-eessi-cli +source venv-eessi-cli/bin/activate +pip install eessi click +``` + +It facilitates the use of EESSI by providing an intuitive `eessi` shell command: + +``` { .shell .no-copy} +$ eessi --version +eessi version 0.1.1 + +# show available subcommands +$ eessi --help + + Usage: eessi [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]... + + User-friendly command line interface to EESSI - https://eessi.io + +╭─ Options ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮ +│ --help -h Show this message and exit. │ +│ --version -v Show version of eessi CLI. │ +│ --install-completion Install completion for the current shell. │ +│ --show-completion Show completion for the current shell, to copy it or │ +│ customize the installation. │ +╰────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯ +╭─ Commands ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮ +│ check Check CernVM-FS setup for accessing EESSI │ +│ init Initialize shell environment for using EESSI │ +│ shell Create subshell in which EESSI is available and initialised │ +╰────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯ + +# check status of EESSI repositories +$ eessi check +📦 Checking for EESSI repositories... + ✅ OK /cvmfs/dev.eessi.io is available + ✅ OK /cvmfs/riscv.eessi.io is available + ✅ OK /cvmfs/software.eessi.io is available + +🔎 Inspecting EESSI repository software.eessi.io... +... + +# start a new subshell in which EESSI 2025.06 is ready to use +$ eessi shell --eessi-version 2025.06 +Found EESSI repo @ /cvmfs/software.eessi.io/versions/2025.06! +archdetect says aarch64/neoverse_n1 +archdetect could not detect any accelerators +Using aarch64/neoverse_n1 as software subdirectory. +... +Environment set up to use EESSI (2025.06), have fun! +``` + +For more information, see the README. + +!!! note "Work in progress" + + The EESSI CLI tool is very much a work in progress, but we think even this initial version is already promising. + +--- + + +## Tooling & infrastructure { #tooling-infra } + +The tools and infrastructure we use to make EESSI available and maintain it efficiently +have been significantly enhanced compared to November 2024. + +### CernVM-FS { #cvmfs } + +The [CernVM-FS servers](../../../../filesystem_layer.md) have been kept up-to-date to +benefit from the various improvements and bug fixes that are developed by the CernVM-FS team. + +The disk space that is required to store a full copy of all EESSI CernVM-FS repositories +(`software.eessi.io`, `dev.eessi.io`, and `riscv.eessi.io`) has steadily grown to ~1.3TB. + +The growth rate in terms of disk space which was about 1 GB per day in November 2024 has +increased to roughly 2 GB per day. + +Our feature request to support partial replication of CernVM-FS repositories has been +implemented by the CernVM-FS team in CernVM-FS 2.14; see the +CernVM-FS documentation +for more documentation. This allows for significantly reducing the disk space that is required +for hosting a (private) Stratum 1 mirror server, for example by excluding all software installations +for Arm CPUs. + + +### EasyBuild { #easybuild } + +Significant enhancements and various bug fixes were implemented in EasyBuild, +which is used to build and install software in the EESSI [software layer](../../../../software_layer.md). +While most of these efforts were done by the EasyBuild community, a non-trivial part was done in the context of EESSI. + +EasyBuild v5.0.0 was released in March 2025. +It provides support for easily creating an interactive +debug shell for failing shell commands, and includes several changes that were motivated by EESSI, +like enabling RPATH linking by default. + +Other noteworthy improvements that got developed in EasyBuild since November 2024 include support for installing +*over 850 (!) additional* software projects, three updates to the +common toolchains (`2025a`, `2025b`, and `2026.1`), +a CUDA device code sanity check, support for installing AMD ROCm components, significantly faster installations due to limiting +the number of `module` commands being run when setting up the build environment, and toolchains based on LLVM, NVHPC, ROCm and/or MPICH. +All this alongside a broad spectrum of software updates and many more small changes. + +Highlights per EasyBuild release can be consulted in the +GitHub releases page, and all details can be found through the +EasyBuild release notes. + + +### EESSI build-and-deploy bot { #bot } + +The [EESSI build-and-deploy bot](../../../../bot.md), which builds *all* software installations included +in the EESSI software layer, was continuously improved. +6 additional releases +of the bot were made since November 2024. + +Major enhancements include the support for GPU builds, signing and verifying of tarballs with software installations, +and bundling of staging PRs resulting in a more efficient human-in-the-loop ingestion procedure. +In addition, support for using the bot not only with GitHub but also GitLab is being actively developed. + +Additional bot instances were spun up at various sites, including at Jülich Supercomputing Centre for Grace Hopper, +at Barcelona Supercomputing Centre for RISC-V CPUs, and NVIDIA GPU build bots at SURF, Ghent University, +and University of Groningen. + +The main build cluster in AWS, which covers 12 of the 18 [CPU targets](../../../../software_layer/cpu_targets.md) +EESSI currently supports, has executed over 11,000 build jobs to date. + + +### Retired pilot repository { #pilot-repo } + +The original [EESSI pilot CernVM-FS repository (`pilot.eessi-hpc.org`)](../../../../repositories/pilot.md) +was fully retired in July 2025. + +It has served well as a proof-of-concept for EESSI since mid 2020, but was no longer actively +maintained since the inception of the `software.eessi.io` production CernVM-FS repository in 2023. + + +### Splitting off the `software-layer-script` GitHub repository { #repo-split } + +In June 2025, the scripts used for building, maintaining, and using the EESSI software layer +were split off from the `software-layer` GitHub repository +into a separate `software-layer-scripts` repository. + +This was done to make it easier for contributors by having less content in the `software-layer` repository, +which is most frequently targeted when opening pull requests (PRs) to [add more software to EESSI](../../../../adding_software/overview.md). +In addition, this makes it easier for EESSI maintainers to review contributions, since most of those PRs will be "innocent" in the sense +that they can not involve any changes to the scripts that are used to build and install additional software. + +Since November 2024, about 800 PRs have been merged into the `software-layer` repository. +Roughly 90% of those only touched the easystack files +which are used to build and manage the set of software that is available in the `software.eessi.io` CernVM-FS repository. + +In the `software-layer-scripts` repository, over 220 PRs were merged since its inception in June 2025, +which finetuned the scripts or added additional logic to the hooks +we use to customize EasyBuild when it is being used to build software for EESSI. + + +### EESSI test suite { #test-suite } + +The [EESSI test suite](../../../../test-suite/index.md) was further developed, resulting in +10 additional releases. + +[More *portable* tests](../../../../test-suite/available-tests.md) were added, including for BLAS, LAMMPS, lbmpy, +LPC3D, MetalWalls, numpy, OpenFOAM, and waLBerla. + +In July 2026, version 1.0.0 +of the EESSI test suite was released, after the transition of the existing +tests to an easier to maintain implementation based on the `EESSI_Mixin` class was completed. + +Through the EESSI dashboard, you can consult the +results of the periodic runs of this test suite that we perform across various systems. + +For more information on the EESSI test suite, see MultiXscale +deliverable D1.5 *Portable test suite for shared software stack*. + + +### Status page { #status-page } + +The EESSI status page was further enhanced to provide more information, +including a historicial overview of uptime of the Stratum-0 and Stratum-1 CernVM-FS servers over the last 90 days. + +
+ ![EFP logo](status-page.webp){width=100%} +
Screenshot of EESSI status page *(26 September 2026)*
+
+ +--- + + +## Integrations with other tools & infrastructure { #integrations } + +EESSI has been integrated with various tools and infrastructure, including: + +- AWS ParallelCluster; +- Azure HPC OnDemand Platform; +- the LEXIS Platform; +- the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) (see [blog post](../../2025/10/eessi-eosc.md)); +- Kubernetes (see [blog post](../../2025/12/eessi-k8.md)); +- Spack (see [blog post](../../2026/02/Spack-on-top-of-EESSI-best-of-both-worlds.md)); + +In addition, we have experimented with EESSI on systems with a Cray Slingshot interconnect, +see also our recent [blog post](../../2026/05/eessi-cray-slingshot11-part2.md). + +--- + + +## Governance and roadmap { #governance-roadmap } + +Fueled by the guidelines of the High Performance Software Foundation (HPSF), +we have instigated proper governance for EESSI. + +An interim EESSI Steering Committee first met in January 2025. +Its main task was to formalize and document the governance of the EESSI project, +and to establish a Steering Committee that would be able to +represent to EESSI community going forward. + +The governance was finalized in August 2025, after requesting +feedback from the EESSI community. It consists of a series of documents: + +- [Charter](../../../../governance/charter.md) +- [Governance](../../../../governance/governance.md) +- [Policies](../../../../governance/policies.md) +- [Code of Conduct](../../../../governance/code_of_conduct.md) +- [Terms of Use](../../../../governance/terms_of_use.md) +- [Current Steering Committee](../../../../governance/steering_committee.md) + +In May 2026, the first [roadmap](../../../../roadmap.md) for EESSI was published, +which was composed and agreed upon by the EESSI Steering Committee. +The intention is to revise and amend it regularly. + +--- + + +## Webinars, events, and more { #webinars-events } + +Throughout all this, we kept the EESSI community and others who may be interested +in our work informed about our progress. + +Next to this [**EESSI blog**](../../../../blog/index.md), we have organised +bi-monthly online **EESSI update meetings**, +and held regular online [**EESSI Happy Hour**](../../../../training-events/happy-hours-sessions.md) sessions +from August 2025 through June 2026 (which we plan to resume on a monthly basis soon). + +The **EESSI webinars**, for example the most recent series in [spring 2026](../../../../training-events/2026/webinar-series-2026Q2.md), +should help people who are new to EESSI to quickly get up to speed on what its all about. +Similar webinars were presented in collaboration with EPICURE, see + +*Streaming Optimised Scientific Software: an Introduction to EESSI (Nov'24)* +and *Building Software With Ease: an Introduction to EasyBuild (Dec'24)*, +which also covered building software on top of EESSi with EasyBuild. + +At the recent editions of the **EasyBuild User Meeting** (EUM), one day out of three was focused on EESSI. +See the agenda of EUM'25 in Jülich (Germany) +and EUM'26 in Guimarães (Portugal) for slides and recordings, +and the extensive report of day 3 of EUM'26 in this EasyBuild blog post. + +We have held **Birds-of-a-Feather** sessions on EESSI at both the ISC and +Supercomputing conferences. At ISC'26 (June 2026), we had a **half-day tutorial** +on EESSI as a part of the official program, for which a dedicated tutorial website was set up. +See the [blog post](../../2026/06/eessi-at-isc26.md) on our activities at ISC'26 for more details. + +Several people have presented EESSI at a wide variety of events, including: + +- the SURF Advanced Computing User Day 2024 in Utrecht (Netherlands); +- the HiPEAC 2025 conference in Barcelona (Spain); +- Global Open OnDemand conference (GOOD) 2025 at Harvard University (US); +- the Belgian RSE Day 2025 in Leuven (Belgium); + +There was an *Easy EESSI at EMBL* project at the EMBL hackathon (Jan'26), see [the blog post](../../2026/01/EESSI-at-EMBL.md). +In May 2026, there was a EasyBuild, EESSI, Spack hackathon at CINECA in Bologna (Italy). + +In addition, we have actively participated in various **EuroHPC events**, +see for example our blog post covering our activities at the [EuroHPC User Days 2025](../../2025/10/eurohpc-user-day-2025.md). +EESSI was part of a webinar series on the EuroHPC Federation Platform, +see in particular the dedicated webinar on the Federated Software Catalog (Feb'26). + +We have also been featured in other places, for example as a +**EuroHPC Success Story** (April 2025), +and *twice* in the ***Supercomputing in Europe* podcast**: +in April 2025 +and in March 2026. + +Last but not least, EESSI had a strong presence at the most recent editions of the **FOSDEM** +free and open source software meetup in Brussels: + +- *Making Data Fun Again: Extending EESSI to improve Research Data Management* presentation in the HPC devroom @ FOSDEM'25 +- *Keeping the P in HPC: the EESSI Way* in the Software Performance devroom @ FOSDEM'26 +- *Status update on EESSI* in the HPC devroom @ FOSDEM'26 + +See also our [blog post on FOSDEM 2026](../../2026/02/FOSDEM-2026.md). + +--- + +## We need your vote! { #vote } + +We hope that all of the above makes it clear that we have made *a lot* of progress since November 2024, +and that we fully intend to further develop and mature EESSI, as well as foster further adoption. + +Please consider giving your vote to EESSI in the +HPCWire Readers' Choice Award 2026. + +See our [dedicated blog post](hpcwire-readers-choice-awards-2026.md) for specific guidelines.