Free estimate
Menu

Case studies

Current software running on RHEL 7, past end of maintenance

The customer’s HPC cluster still ran RHEL 7, past its end of maintenance. We built the whole toolchain from source in a container, and current software we deployed from DVDs ran on the first attempt.

A customer's simulation software on its HPC cluster. We built the toolchain and the release, as a subcontractor.

First attemptran on the RHEL 7 cluster as delivered
Nothing to installthe release needs no compilers or libraries on the cluster

Starting point: current software for a RHEL 7 cluster

The customer used an HPC cluster that still ran Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (RHEL 7), past the end of its maintenance. The customer’s simulation framework is current software, and it had to run on that cluster as the cluster stood. Software built on a current system does not load on one that old, so the release had to be built for RHEL 7 itself.

  • The release had to arrive on DVDs, into an air-gapped environment.
  • Any of the customer’s developers had to be able to rebuild it.

Approach: every tool built from source in a container

  1. Built every tool from source in a matching container. The whole toolchain, from the compilers to Git, CMake, and the other build tools, was built inside a container that matches RHEL 7, so what it builds runs on RHEL 7.
  2. Built the framework with that toolchain. The framework and its dependencies were built with it, so the resulting programs load on the cluster with nothing to install.
  3. Tested on a surrogate cluster. The surrogate runs the same operating system and job scheduler as the customer’s cluster, so the full release was proven before the discs were cut.
  4. Published the toolchain as an image. Any developer can pull the pre-built image and reproduce the build from their own workstation.
  5. Kept one build for newer systems. The same build later produced RHEL 8 and RHEL 9 releases as the customer moved forward.

That is why we run your software anywhere: on current, legacy, and air-gapped systems.

Source code for the compilers, linker, Git, CMake, Python, libraries, and other tools goes into a container matching RHEL 7, where every tool is built from source; it builds your current software, which runs on RHEL 7, past the end of its maintenance, with nothing to install.source codecompilerslinkerGitCMakePythonlibrariesand otherscontainer matching RHEL 7every tool built from sourcebuildsyour currentsoftwareruns onRHEL 7past end of maintenancenothing to installSource code for the compilers, linker, Git, CMake, Python, libraries, and other tools goes into a container matching RHEL 7, where every tool is built from source; it builds your current software, which runs on RHEL 7 with nothing to install.source codecompilerslinkerGitCMakePythonlibrariesand otherscontainer matching RHEL 7every tool built from sourcebuildsyour currentsoftwareruns onRHEL 7past end of maintenancenothing to install
Fig. 1 We shipped a release for RHEL 7.

Results: deployed from DVDs, it ran on the first attempt

We deployed current software on the customer’s RHEL 7 HPC cluster, delivered on DVDs, and it ran on the first attempt.

Engineering write-up: Running modern software on an operating system past end of maintenance

Buy from us or team with us: Contracting

Send us the systems your software must run on.

Estimates are free. Send the scope through the contact form; we reply within one business day and send a written quote within five business days.

Get a free estimate