Configuring MPI.jl to Use System Binaries

Performance can often be improved by configuring MPI.jl to use system MPI libraries. This section provides guidance on how to do this on Debian Linux operating systems (e.g. Ubuntu/PopOS) assuming that MPI.jl and MPIPreferences.jl have already been installed for EarthBox and the base Julia environment (see EarthBox Installation):

[1] Install required System libraries (OpenMPI)

A system-level OpenMPI MPI implementation can be installed on Debian Linux systems (Ubuntu/PopOS systems) using the following command:

sudo apt-get install openmpi-bin openmpi-common libopenmpi-dev libopenmpi3

[2] Use MPIPreferences to configure MPI.jl to use the system binary:

If you are working with a development version of the EarthBox project, navigate to the project directory and run the REPL with the project activated:

julia --project=.

Now change the MPI configuration to use system binaries:

using MPIPreferences
MPIPreferences.use_system_binary()

Which will generate output that looks like the following:

┌ Info: MPI implementation identified
│   libmpi = "libmpi"
│   version_string = "Open MPI v4.1.2, package: Debian OpenMPI, ident: 4.1.2, repo rev: v4.1.2, Nov 24, 2021\0"
│   impl = "OpenMPI"
│   version = v"4.1.2"
└   abi = "OpenMPI"
┌ Info: MPIPreferences changed
│   binary = "system"
│   libmpi = "libmpi"
│   abi = "OpenMPI"
│   mpiexec = "mpiexec"
│   preloads = Any[]
└   preloads_env_switch = nothing

[3] Re-instantiate your project:

Pkg.resolve()
Pkg.instantiate()