chapar-config-scope-change

name	chapar-config-scope-change
description	Modify Chapar Spack configuration scopes under etc/system, etc/user, include.yaml, externals, mirrors, providers, modules, or install-tree settings. Use for config layering and OS-specific scope changes.

Chapar Config Scope Change

Use this playbook when editing persistent Spack scopes under etc/.

Scope Hierarchy

Chapar follows normal Spack precedence:

defaults > system > site > user > spack > environment > command line

Chapar uses:

etc/system/base/                 # shared machine/site policy
etc/system/{rocky9,rocky10}      # OS-specific system externals/policy
etc/user/base/                   # shared user policy
etc/user/{rocky9,rocky10}        # OS-specific user paths/modules/cache
envs/hpcsim/                     # environment-level hpcsim roots/policy

OS routing is controlled by:

etc/system/include.yaml
etc/user/include.yaml
envs/hpcsim/spack.yaml

Rules

• Model only expected externals: OS/bootstrap compilers, glibc on Rocky, unavoidable platform runtime pieces, ccache where enabled.
• Do not model ordinary link-time libraries (OpenSSL, zlib, libpng, curl, OpenBLAS, HDF5, NetCDF) as OS externals unless explicitly justified with matching dev metadata.
• CUDA should be built by Spack for hpcsim GPU packages, not modeled as a host external.
• Do not add OS Intel oneAPI compiler/MPI RPMs or GitHub CLI RPMs to hpcsim Rocky builder bootstrap policy. Use Spack for Intel MPI and any future Intel compiler dependency unless the user explicitly changes that policy.
• OS-specific overrides use include.yaml with when: conditionals.
• Keep paths per-platform; do not mix Rocky 9/Rocky 10 stores or caches.
• Site-specific release, buildcache, ccache, group, and public root paths belong in ignored envs/hpcsim/hpcsim-site.env, not tracked YAML.

Inspection

source ./etc/init.sh
spack config scopes -p
spack arch
spack config blame packages
spack config blame config
spack config blame mirrors
spack config blame modules

Editing Procedure

1. Decide if the change is system, user, or environment policy.
2. Decide if it is shared or OS-specific.
3. Edit the narrowest appropriate YAML file.
4. Preserve existing YAML style: 2-space indentation, sorted sections where practical.
5. Validate with config blame and hpcsim concretization when relevant.

Validation

source ./etc/init.sh
spack config scopes -p
spack config blame packages
spack -e envs/hpcsim concretize -f
git diff --check