[Halld-offline] Going back to the old BMS_OSNAME [Re: Changing BMS_OSNAME]

[Mark Ito]

Folks,

Alex A. discovered a problem with the new BMS_OSNAME scheme that is 
definitely there, but whose solution is unclear at present. It has to do 
with building on the native CentOS 7 of the ifarm using libraries from 
the build in the CentOS 7 container. Going forward, the new scheme 
depends on this combination working, so this is a non-trivial problem.

As a result, we are going to drop back to the old BMS_OSNAME scheme, 
i.e., revert Build Scripts back to version 2.34. This has already been 
done at JLab.

Note that any conversions you may have performed on your directories 
using change_bms_osname.sh do not need to be reversed to work with the 
reverted/old scheme. There will be soft links that you created in the 
conversion to service the new scheme, but those links are completely 
ignored in the old scheme.

TL;DR

Before this change was proposed, tests were performed where the software 
was run on the ifarm, using *both* binaries *and* shared libraries from 
the container build. The reverse scenario was also tested, i.e., running 
in the container using software built on the native ifarm. The newly 
discovered problem scenario is where new *binaries are built on ifarm* 
against *libraries from the container* and then run on the ifarm. So not 
all mixtures appear to work. It is not known why.

Also, this implies a lot of possible combinations to test. Indeed if we 
need to keep track of working and non-working combos, that kind of 
defeats the advantage of having a single build for the ifarm and container.

Since we do not have a solution in hand we think it is better to cut our 
losses now while we work on understanding the problem. We will likely 
try again in the intermediate term when a revised strategy has been 
developed.

Build Scripts versions 3.0 and 3.1 have been deleted from the GitHub repo.

Sorry for the confusion.

   -- Mark

On 6/8/22 5:00 PM, Mark Ito wrote:
>
> Folks,
>
> Elton discovered a bug in the change_bms_osname.sh script. The shebang 
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shebang_(Unix)> was malformed! That 
> went unnoticed during testing. It would have affected you if you are 
> running the tcsh shell.
>
> The problem is fixed in Build Scripts 3.1 
> <https://github.com/JeffersonLab/build_scripts/releases/tag/3.1> which 
> is now installed at JLab.
>
>   -- Mark
>
> On 6/8/22 11:55 AM, Mark Ito wrote:
>>
>> The change went through at 8 this morning as planned. If you see 
>> problems, please let me know.
>>
>> On 6/7/22 4:27 PM, Mark Ito wrote:
>>>
>>> Reminder: the definition of BMS_OSNAME will change at JLab tomorrow 
>>> morning.
>>>
>>> On 6/6/22 3:10 PM, Mark Ito wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Folks,
>>>>
>>>> We are changing the value of the BMS_OSNAME environment variable. 
>>>> Some user-owned directories will need patching to work with the new 
>>>> scheme. A script to do the patching will be available (see below). 
>>>> This action was discussed and endorsed at recent Software Meetings.
>>>>
>>>> The change occurs when we update from Build Scripts version 2.34 to 
>>>> version 3.0.*This will occur at JLab at 8:00 am, on Wednesday, June 8.*
>>>>
>>>> Note*: *there is a test version of the new Build Scripts checked 
>>>> out at /group/halld/Software/build_scripts-3.0 for those who would 
>>>> like to test the new arrangement.
>>>>
>>>> This change will affect you if you have any private builds of 
>>>> certain GlueX packages (e.g., halld_recon, halld_sim) or if you 
>>>> have personal plugins in your HALLD_MY directory. Also people who 
>>>> maintain their own GLUEX_TOP directories will have to apply a 
>>>> patch. You will know that you have been affected if you start to 
>>>> suddenly get file-not-found-like errors.
>>>>
>>>> The script to patch your directories is 
>>>> $BUILD_SCRIPTS/change_bms_osname.sh. The usage message is
>>>>
>>>> usage: change_bms_osname.sh <target>
>>>>      
>>>> where target is one of
>>>>
>>>>    "jlab": convert the /group/halld/Software/builds tree at JLab (script must be
>>>>            executed from a directory named "builds")
>>>>    "gluex_top": convert a GLUEX_TOP tree (GLUEX_TOP must be defined in the
>>>> 	       environment)
>>>>    "halld_my": convert a HALLD_MY tree (HALLD_MY must be defined in the
>>>>                environment)
>>>>    "jana": convert a jana tree (JANA_HOME must be defined in the environment)
>>>>    "hdds": convert a hdds tree (HDDS_HOME must be defined in the environment)
>>>>    "halld_recon": convert a halld_recon tree (HALLD_RECON_HOME must be defined in
>>>> 		 the environment)
>>>>    "halld_sim": convert a halld_sim tree (HALLD_SIM_HOME must be defined in the
>>>> 	       environment)
>>>>    "gluex_root_analysis": convert a gluex_root_analysis tree (ROOT_ANALYSIS_HOME
>>>> 			 must be defined in the environment)
>>>>
>>>> So, for example, if you want to patch your private build of 
>>>> halld_sim, the command is
>>>>
>>>> $BUILD_SCRIPTS/change_bms_osname.sh halld_sim
>>>>
>>>> The script uses the definition of HALLD_SIM_HOME that it finds in 
>>>> your environment to identify the directory to be patched.
>>>>
>>>> Basically, since BMS_OSNAME appears in the directory structure for 
>>>> our packages, links have to be added, from new name to old name, to 
>>>> keep the built package viable after the change.
>>>>
>>>> A table of old and new BMS_OSNAME definitions is attached.
>>>>
>>>>   -- Mark
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Halld-offline mailing list
>>>> Halld-offline at jlab.org
>>>> https://mailman.jlab.org/mailman/listinfo/halld-offline
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