====== Apptainer ======
* Category: Vendor provision
* Access method: Loaded from Linux module software
* License: Open Source
* Command Line: **Yes**
* Desktop GUI: **Yes** (no specific support for GUI, but can be used at the desktop without issue)
Apptainer is a software container tool. It allows you to encapsulate an application and all the necessary supporting tools and libraries, enabling you to run the application without needing to locally install all of the supporting tools. You can move the container from machine to machine - for example from your desktop to a server, or HPC - without needing to make any changes to the application, or needing administrative permissions.
On an HPC, this is an ideal way of having a repeatable environment to run code between vastly different systems and ensure reproducibility.
* For more information, see https://apptainer.org/
Apptainer **replaces** the use of Singularity, which should now be considered deprecated.
===== Running =====
=== Versions ===
$ module avail apptainer
=== Loading ===
$ module load apptainer
=== Testing ===
$ module load apptainer
$ module list
Currently Loaded Modules:
1) squashfuse/0.6.1 2) apptainer/1.4.1
$ apptainer
Usage:
apptainer [global options...]
Available Commands:
build Build an Apptainer image
cache Manage the local cache
capability Manage Linux capabilities for users and groups
checkpoint Manage container checkpoint state (experimental)
completion Generate the autocompletion script for the specified shell
config Manage various apptainer configuration (root user only)
delete Deletes requested image from the library
exec Run a command within a container
inspect Show metadata for an image
instance Manage containers running as services
key Manage OpenPGP keys
keyserver Manage apptainer keyservers
oci Manage OCI containers
overlay Manage an EXT3 writable overlay image
plugin Manage Apptainer plugins
pull Pull an image from a URI
push Upload image to the provided URI
registry Manage authentication to OCI/Docker registries
remote Manage apptainer remote endpoints
run Run the user-defined default command within a container
run-help Show the user-defined help for an image
search Search a Container Library for images
shell Run a shell within a container
sif Manipulate Singularity Image Format (SIF) images
sign Add digital signature(s) to an image
test Run the user-defined tests within a container
verify Verify digital signature(s) within an image
version Show the version for Apptainer
Run 'apptainer --help' for more detailed usage information.
=== Application Help Pages ===
* [[advanced:apptainer|Apptainer help guide]] - Our local support page for Apptainer on Comet
===== Requests =====
Requests for new/alternate versions of this package should be submitted via the [[https://nuservice.ncl.ac.uk|NUIT ITService]] website using the **HPC Software - Installation** category.
Software requests will be collated, prioritized and submitted to our HPC support vendor.
----
[[:advanced:software_list|Back to Software List]]