managetier3sw

name	managetier3sw
description	Use when installing, updating, or removing ATLAS software on a local Tier-3 cluster, laptop, or desktop with manageTier3SW, configuring ATLASLocalRootBase for a non-CVMFS site, running local ATLAS software diagnostics, setting up local post-user scripts, or troubleshooting Tier-3 ATLAS software installations.

manageTier3SW

Overview

manageTier3SW installs, updates, and removes ATLAS software (ATLASLocalRootBase, AtlasSetup, PandaClient, ROOT, Rucio, etc.) on laptops, desktops, or Tier-3 clusters where CVMFS is not available. It mirrors the CVMFS software stack into a local directory managed by a non-privileged account, keeping the environment identical to what setupATLAS provides on lxplus. If CVMFS is available, prefer mounting /cvmfs/atlas.cern.ch directly — no local install is needed.

When to Use

• Installing ATLAS software locally on a machine without CVMFS
• Updating or removing ATLAS software versions on a Tier-3 site
• Configuring local overrides for ALRB (custom post-setup scripts, local config)
• Running diagnostics to validate a Tier-3 ATLAS software installation
• Troubleshooting missing RPMs, broken Frontier-squid, or stale tool versions

Key Concepts

Non-privileged account: Install under a dedicated service account (e.g. atlasadmin). manageTier3SW only modifies the atlasadmin home directory and $ATLAS_LOCAL_ROOT_BASE — no root privileges required for the software itself.

ATLAS_LOCAL_ROOT_BASE: The root of the local ATLAS software tree. All tools, releases, and configuration live under this path. Set this environment variable before sourcing atlasLocalSetup.sh.

Custom content naming: Any locally created content (scripts, configs, tool wrappers) must use names beginning with local to avoid conflicts with upstream updates.

Automatic cleanup: The updateManageTier3SW.sh cron job auto-removes obsolete software versions during updates, keeping the installation current without manual intervention.

Canonical Patterns

Initial Installation

Install in a dedicated non-privileged account:

# As the atlasadmin user
cd /path/to/atlasadmin
# Follow the manageTier3SW installation instructions for your OS
# The installer populates $ATLAS_LOCAL_ROOT_BASE

Keeping Software Up to Date

Schedule updateManageTier3SW.sh as a daily cron job to pull new releases and remove obsolete versions automatically:

# crontab entry (as atlasadmin)
0 3 * * * /path/to/updateManageTier3SW.sh

Local Configuration Overrides

Create a local config directory to customize ALRB behavior without modifying upstream files:

mkdir -p /path/to/localConfig
cp $ATLAS_LOCAL_ROOT_BASE/exampleLocalConfig/* /path/to/localConfig/
export ALRB_localConfigDir=/path/to/localConfig

Post-Setup Scripts

Create site-wide scripts that run after every user's setupATLAS call. Place them in $ATLAS_LOCAL_ROOT_BASE/config:

# $ATLAS_LOCAL_ROOT_BASE/config/localPostUserSetup.sh
# This runs after every setupATLAS invocation on this site
export MY_SITE_VAR="custom_value"

Users can bypass post-setup scripts when needed:

setupATLAS --noLocalPostSetup

Running Diagnostics

Validate the full installation after setup or updates:

setupATLAS
diagnostics                                # interactive diagnostics menu
checkOS                                    # verify required RPMs are installed
db-fnget                                   # test Frontier-squid connectivity
toolTest -m validate all -T                # validate all installed tools

Checking Installation Logs

Review what was installed and when:

ls $ATLAS_LOCAL_ROOT_BASE/logDir/installed

Gotchas

• CVMFS preferred: If /cvmfs/atlas.cern.ch is mountable, use it directly instead of manageTier3SW — CVMFS is self-updating and requires no local maintenance.
• Custom names must start with local: Any user-created files or scripts in the managed tree must be prefixed with local to prevent upstream updates from overwriting them.
• Cron job is essential: Without updateManageTier3SW.sh running regularly, the installation drifts from the current CVMFS state and accumulates obsolete versions.
• RPM dependencies: checkOS identifies missing system-level RPMs that ATLAS software requires. Install these with the system package manager (requires root privileges, unlike the ATLAS software itself).
• Frontier-squid: db-fnget tests the local Frontier-squid proxy used for conditions database access. A failed test means conditions data lookups will fall back to direct connections or fail entirely.
• All ATLAS energy/momentum values are in MeV.

Interop

• setupATLAS: Once manageTier3SW is installed, setupATLAS works identically to CVMFS-based sites — see the setupatlas skill.
• CVMFS: Sites with CVMFS access do not need manageTier3SW; mount /cvmfs/atlas.cern.ch and source atlasLocalSetup.sh directly.

Domain	Contact
Tier-3 software install	[e-mail]
ATLAS software (general)	[e-mail]

Docs

https://twiki.atlas-canada.ca/bin/view/AtlasCanada/ManageTier3SW