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Removed functionality

Some of the functionality that was available in previous EasyBuild versions is now removed, after it was deprecated first in an earlier EasyBuild version (see Deprecation policy).

Overview of removed functionality since EasyBuild v4.0

In EasyBuild v4.0, some intrusive changes were made that break backward compatibility with earlier versions.

Note

In addition, please take into account the additional changes in EasyBuild v4.0, which are documented here.

For authors of easyconfig files:

For developers of easyblocks:

For EasyBuild framework developers:

use_fma custom easyconfig parameter for FFTW

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v3.2.0 (May 5th 2017)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v4.0
  • alternatives: use use_fma4 easyconfig parameter instead

The use_fma easyconfig parameter is no longer supported, and was replaced by the equivalent easyconfig parameter use_fma4.

use_fma was introduced in EasyBuild v3.1.0 allow configuring FFTW with --enable-avx-128-fma. Since it is only supported on systems with AMD processors that have the FMA4 feature, it was replaced by the more fittingly named use_fma4 parameter in EasyBuild v3.2.0.

Specifying source files as 2-element tuples to provide a custom extraction command

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v3.3.0 (June 22nd 2017)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v4.0
  • alternatives: use extract_cmd key in Python dictionary format instead

Specifying a custom extraction command for a particular source file by using a 2-element tuple in sources is no longer supported.

Instead, a Python dictionary containing the filename and extract_cmd keys should be used instead, see Alternative formats for sources.

So, this:

# source file is actually a gzipped tarball (filename should be .tar.gz)
# DEPRECATED FORMAT, don't use this anymore!
sources = [('example.gz', "tar xfvz %s")]

should be replaced with:

sources = [{
  'filename': 'example-%(version)s.gz',
  'extract_cmd': "tar xfvz %s",  # source file is actually a gzipped tarball (filename should be .tar.gz)
}]

use_easy_install and use_setup_py_develop custom easyconfig parameters for PythonPackage easyblock

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v3.5.1 (Jan 17th 2018)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v4.0
  • alternatives: use install_target easyconfig parameter instead

The custom easyconfig parameters use_easy_install and use_setup_py_develop for the PythonPackage easyblock are no longer supported. They are obsolete since the install_target custom easyconfig parameter was added in https://github.com/easybuilders/easybuild-easyblocks/pull/1341.

Rather than using use_easy_install = True, you should now use install_target = 'easy_install' instead.

Rather than using use_setup_py_develop = True, you should now use install_target = 'develop' instead.

copytree function

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v3.2.0 (May 5th 2017)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v4.0
  • alternatives: use copy_dir instead

The copytree function, which was a copy of the shutil.copytree function (introduced when Python 2.4 was still supported) is no longer supported. It has been replaced by the superior copy_dir function in the easybuild.tools.filetools module.

copy_dir graciously handles any exceptions that occur, and is aware of the EasyBuild dry run mode.

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v3.8.0 (Nov 2018)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v4.0
  • alternatives: (none required)

The skip_symlinks argument for the adjust_permissions function is no longer supported since adjust_permissions has been changed to always skip symbolic links (this was already the default behaviour); see also https://github.com/easybuilders/easybuild-framework/pull/2644 .

default_fallback named argument for get_easyblock_class

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v3.2.0 (May 5th 2017)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v4.0
  • alternatives: use error_on_missing_easyblock named parameter instead

The get_easyblock_class implementation was cleaned up to remove the support for falling back to the generic ConfigureMake easyblock in EasyBuild v3.2.0 (see https://github.com/easybuilders/easybuild-framework/pull/2178), following the disabling of the Automagic fallback to ConfigureMake in EasyBuild v2.0.

The default_fallback named argument for get_easyblock_class was replaced by error_on_missing_easyblock, to retain support for ignoring a missing matching easyblock rather than raising an error.

add_dependencies method in Toolchain class

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v3.8.0
  • removed in: EasyBuild v4.0
  • alternatives: pass list of dependencies to deps named argument of prepare method instead

The add_dependencies method in the Toolchain class is no longer supported, to provide more flexibility in the EasyBuild framework w.r.t. handling of dependencies (see https://github.com/easybuilders/easybuild-framework/pull/2674).

Instead, the list of dependencies should be passed to the Toolchain.prepare method, via the deps named argument.

Overview of removed functionality since EasyBuild v3.0

In EasyBuild v3.0, some intrusive changes were made that break backward compatibility with earlier versions.

For EasyBuild users & authors of easyconfig files:

For developers of easyblocks:

For EasyBuild framework developers:

error and exception log methods no longer raise an exception

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v2.1.0 (April'15)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v3.0
  • alternative(s): use raise EasyBuildError(...) instead

The error() and exception() log methods defined by EasyBuild (in the easybuild.tools.build_log module) did not match the semantics of the standard Python log methods, in the sense that they used to also raise an exception next to logging messages.

This caused problems when 3rd party libraries (e.g., gc3pie) were being used by EasyBuild, since they may be using these log methods without expecting an exception being raised.

The custom definitions for the error() and exception() log methods was removed in EasyBuild v3.0.

Hence, these log methods should no longer be used to report errors since they will not raise an exception anymore once. Note that this applies both to the EasyBuild framework and to (custom) easyblocks.

To report errors, an EasyBuildError should be raised instead. For example:

# make sure config.sh script is there
if not os.path.exists(os.path.join(self.builddir, 'config.sh')):
    raise EasyBuildError("config.sh script is missing in %s", self.builddir)

get_blas_lib function provided by LAPACK easyblock has been removed

The get_blas_lib function provided by the LAPACK easyblock was removed, mainly because it included a hardcoded list of BLAS libraries.

It was replaced by 'inlining' similar code into the easyblocks that rely on it (e.g. ScaLAPACK, cfr. https://github.com/easybuilders/easybuild-easyblocks/pull/1014), which only refers to the BLAS libraries that are relevant in that context.

get_netcdf_module_set_cmds function provided by netCDF easyblock was removed

The get_netcdf_module_set_cmds function provided by the netCDF easyblock was removed, because it returned setenv statements to be included in module files that are only compatible with module files in Tcl syntax; i.e. it did not take into account the --module-syntax configuration option.

The use of get_netcdf_module_set_cmds should be replaced by using set_netcdf_env_vars to define the NETCDF* environment variables, in combination with self.module_generator.set_environment to obtain setenv statements that are compatible with the module syntax (Tcl or Lua) being used.

See for example the changes made to the WRF and WPS easyblocks in https://github.com/easybuilders/easybuild-easyblocks/commit/7a05cbd823769e343b951002b4735dc7632e19c0.

Overview of removed functionality since EasyBuild v2.0

In EasyBuild v2.0, some intrusive changes were made that break backward compatibility with earlier versions.

For EasyBuild users:

For authors of easyconfig files:

For developers of easyblocks:

For EasyBuild framework developers:

Python version compatibility

Compatibility with Python 2.6 is removed.

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v4.1.0 (Nov'19)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v4.4.0
  • alternative(s): upgrade to Python v2.7.x or v3.5+

Support for running EasyBuild on top of Python 2.6 was removed in EasyBuild version 4.4.0.

You should upgrade to a newer version of Python (see also Compatibility with Python 2 and Python 3).

Compatibility with Python 2.4 is removed.

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v1.14.0 (July'14)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v2.0
  • alternative(s): upgrade to Python v2.6.x or v2.7.x

Ever since EasyBuild v1.0, the codebase has been Python 2.4 compatible. One reason for this is that EasyBuild was being used on a daily basis on Scientific Linux 5, in which the Python 2.4.x is the system default.

Starting with EasyBuild v2.0 support for Python 2.4 is removed, and only ensure compatibility with Python 2.6.x or a more recent Python 2.x.

This will enable us to gradually also make the codebase compatible with Python 3.x, which is difficult to do without removing support for Python 2.4.

EasyBuild configuration

Old-style EasyBuild configuration is removed.

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v1.3.0 (Apr'13)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v2.0
  • alternatives: new-style configuration (see Configuring EasyBuild)

Early versions of EasyBuild v1.x provided support for configuring EasyBuild via a Python module that was automagically executed when available.

Since EasyBuild v1.3 a safer and more consistent way of configuring EasyBuild is supported, which aligns the EasyBuild command line options, $EASYBUILD_X environment variables and key-value style configuration files.

More information about the new(er) and recommended configuration style is available Configuring EasyBuild.

For detailed information with respect to porting from the old to the new configuration style, see Legacy configuration.

Location of default configuration file

The default configuration file location $HOME/.easybuild/config.cfg is no longer considered.

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v1.11.0 (Feb'14)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v2.0
  • alternatives: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/easybuild/config.cfg (equivalent to $HOME/.config/easybuild/config.cfg)

The default path for the new-style configuration path is $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/easybuild/config.cfg (or $HOME/.config/easybuild/config.cfg if $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is not set), see List of used configuration files.

The previous default path $HOME/.easybuild/config.cfg that was in place since EasyBuild v1.3.0 is no longer considered.

Automagic fallback to ConfigureMake

The automagic fallback to the ConfigureMake easyblock is removed.

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v1.16.0 (Dec'14)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v2.0
  • alternative(s): specify easyblock = 'ConfigureMake' in easyconfig file

If the easyblock easyconfig was not specified, EasyBuild tries to find a matching easyblock based on the software name. In EasyBuild v1.x, the generic ConfigureMake easyblock was used if no matching easyblock could be found.

This behavior is now removed; instead, easyconfigs that require using the ConfigureMake easyblock must include the following:

easyblock = 'ConfigureMake'

Easyconfig parameters

Some easyconfig parameters are removed.

Options for build command

The premakeopts and makeopts easyconfig parameters are removed.

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v1.13.0 (May'14)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v2.0
  • alternative(s): use prebuildopts/buildopts instead

For consistency in terminology, the premakeopts and makeopts generic easyconfig parameters are removed, in favor of their alternative parameters, prebuildopts and buildopts, resp.

(see also Configure/build/install command options)

Note

Since EasyBuild v1.13.0, buildopts is automatically defined with the value of makeopts, unless buildopts was specified by itself. When both values are specified, buildopts takes precedence of makeopts (analogous for prebuildopts/premakeopts).

Shared library extension

The shared_lib_ext 'constant' in easyconfigs is no longer defined.

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v1.5.0 (June'13)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v2.0
  • alternative(s): use SHLIB_EXT instead

The shared_lib_ext "magic" variable representing the extension for shared libraries (.so on Linux, .dylib on OS X) is no longer defined; the easyconfig constant SHLIB_EXT should be using instead.

Software license

The license easyconfig parameter is removed.

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v1.11.0 (Feb'14)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v2.0
  • alternative(s): use license_file or software_license instead

The license easyconfig parameter, which was specific to the IntelBase generic easyblock and thus relevant for Intel tools, is removed. The generic license_file easyconfig parameter should be used instead, to specify the location of the license file (or server).

This change was made to avoid confusion with the software_license generic easyconfig parameter, which can be used to specify the license under which the software was released (e.g., GPLv2, BSD, etc.). Here, the specified value must be a known license type (see eb --avail-easyconfig-licenses).

Note

The software_license easyconfig parameter will become mandatory at some point.

BEAGLE dependency in MrBayes easyblock replaced by beagle-lib

The MrBayes easyblock no longer considers BEAGLE as a valid dependency.

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v1.6.0 (Jul'14)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v2.0
  • alternative(s): use beagle-lib instead

Due to a misnomer in the easyconfig files for beagle-lib (formerly named BEAGLE), the custom easyblock for MrBayes now no longer considers BEAGLE as a dependency.

The library required by MrBayes must now be provided as a dependency named beagle-lib.

EasyBuild API changes

Some changes in the EasyBuild API were made, which potentially affects easyblocks and the EasyBuild framework itself.

Easyblocks API (EasyBlock class from easybuild.framework.easyblock)

The API for easyblocks was modified slightly, to correct for a couple of historic mistakes.

Return type of extra_options method

The list-of-tuples return type of the extra_options method must now be a dict instead.

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v1.12.0 (Apr'14)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v2.0
  • alternative(s): ensure/assume dict return type

The return type of the extra_options static method in the EasyBlock class has been changed to a dictionary (dict), rather than a list of key-value tuples.

Custom easyconfig parameters should be added via a dict-typed value to the extra_options function of parent easyblock.

For example (taken from the generic easyblock Binary):

@staticmethod
def extra_options(extra_vars=None):
    """Extra easyconfig parameters specific to Binary easyblock."""
    extra_vars = EasyBlock.extra_options(extra_vars)
    extra_vars.update({
        'install_cmd': [None, "Install command to be used.", CUSTOM],
    })
    return extra_vars
Extension filter template

The name and version templates in exts_filter are removed.

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v1.2.0 (Feb'13)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v2.0
  • alternative(s): use ext_name and ext_version instead

Only the ext_name, ext_version and src template strings can be used in the exts_filter extension filter easyconfig parameter; the name and version template strings are removed.

For example (default extension filter for Python packages):

exts_filter = ("python -c 'import %(ext_name)s'", "")
Module path of default class for extensions

Specifying the module path in exts_defaultclass is no longer possible.

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v0.5 (Apr'12)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v2.0
  • alternative(s): (none required, module path is derived from specified class name)

Explicitly specifying the module path for the default class to use for extensions (via exts_defaultclass) is no longer possible. Only the class name should be specified, the corresponding module path is derived from it.

Module path for easyblocks

Deriving the module path for easyblocks from the software name is removed.

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v1.4.0 (May'13)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v2.0
  • alternative(s): use easyblock class name according to encoding scheme (e.g., EB_Foo)

Determining the location of Python modules representing easyblocks based on the software name (name) is removed.

EasyBuild must be able to determine the easyblock module path solely based on the name of the easyblock Python class.

Easyblocks with a class name that is already honoring the encoding scheme implemented by the encode_class_name function will not be affected.

easybuild.tools.modules Python module

The API of the easybuild.tools.modules module has been updated, certain aspects of the old API are removed.

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v1.8.0 (Oct'13) & v1.15.0 (Sept'15)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v2.0
  • alternative(s): use equivalents available in new API (see below)

The API of the easybuild.tools.modules Python module has been changed extensively when implementing support for alternative module naming schemes:

  • the modules class variable and the add_module/remove_module methods are removed; modules should be (un)loaded using the load and unload methods instead
  • the mod_paths and modulePath named arguments for the run_module method are removed; the class instance should be created with a specific list of module paths instead
  • the Modules class to obtain a class instance representing a modules tool interface is removed; the modules_tool function should be used instead

Additionally, the exists method which only takes a single module name is removed; it is replaced by the exist method, which takes a list of module names (since EasyBuild v1.15.0 (Sept'15)).

Easyblocks should not be using easybuild.tools.modules directly, and hence should be unaffected.

$SOFTX environment variables in generated module files

$SOFTX environment variables set by module files generated with EasyBuild v0.x will no longer be taken into account.

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v1.3.0 (Apr'13)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v2.0
  • alternative(s): reinstall (ancient) module files which are only defining the $SOFTX environment variables

The get_software_root and get_software_version functions will only take $EBROOTFOO and $EBVERSIONFOO environment variables into account, as opposed to also considering the $SOFTROOTFOO and $SOFTVERSIONFOO environment variables (which were set in modules generated by EasyBuild v0.x). Likewise, adhering to the $SOFTDEVELFOO environment variables is removed.

This is only relevant to early adopters who are still using module files generated by EasyBuild v0.x.

Renamed/relocated functions

Some functions/methods have been renamed or relocated, their equivalents under a previous location/name are removed.

  • deprecated since: (depends on function/method, see below)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v2.0
  • alternative(s): use new location/name

A number of functions and methods that are part of the EasyBuild framework API have been renamed, mainly for consistency reasons.

  • the moduleGenerator handle to the ModuleGenerator object instance has been renamed to module_generator; hence, easyblock should be using self.module_generator rather than self.moduleGenerator (since EasyBuild v1.16.0 (Dec'14))
  • source_paths() (in easybuild.tools.config) replaces the removed source_path() (since EasyBuild v1.8.0 (Oct'13))
  • get_avail_core_count() (in easybuild.tools.systemtools) replaces the removed get_core_count() (since EasyBuild v1.9.0 (Nov'13))
  • get_os_type() (in easybuild.tools.systemtools) replaces the removed get_kernel_name (since EasyBuild v1.3.0 (Apr'13))
  • the det_full_ec_version function available from easybuild.tools.module_generator replaces the removed det_installversion function that was available from easybuild.framework.easyconfig.* (since EasyBuild v1.8.0 (Oct'13))

Some functions have moved to a different location:

  • the read_environment function is now provided by the easybuild.tools.environment module, rather than by easybuild.tools.config or easybuild.tools.utilities (since EasyBuild v1.7.0 (Sept'13))
  • the modify_env function is now provided by the easybuild.tools.environment module, rather than by easybuild.tools.filetools (since EasyBuild v1.7.0 (Sep'13))
  • the run_cmd, run_cmd_qa and parse_log_for_error functions are now provided by the easybuild.tools.run module, rather than by easybuild.tools.filetools (since EasyBuild v1.11.0 (Feb'14))

The get_log function provided by the easybuild.tools.build_log module has been removed entirely, no alternatives are provided (since none are needed). (since EasyBuild v1.3.0 (Apr'13))

Changes in (generic) easyblocks

srcdir replaces builddir as named argument in CMakeMake.configure_step

The named argument builddir in the configure_step method of the generic CMakeMake easyblock was replaced by srcdir .

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v1.4.0 (May'13)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v2.0
  • alternative(s): equivalent srcdir named argument

Since the builddir named argument in the configure_step method of the generic CMakeMake easyblock was a misnomer (it specifies the location of the source directory that should be provided to cmake), it was replaced with an equivalent named argument srcdir.

VersionIndependentPythonPackage replaces VersionIndependendPythonPackage

The generic easyblock VersionIndependendPythonPackage was replaced with the equivalent generic easyblock VersionIndependentPythonPackage .

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v1.11.0 (Feb'14)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v2.0
  • alternative(s): VersionIndependentPythonPackage

Because of to a typo in the name, the VersionIndependendPythonPackage generic easyblock was replaced by the equivalent VersionIndependentPythonPackage generic easyblock.

get_sitearch_suffix function in Perl easyblock is removed

The get_sitearch_suffix function in the Perl easyblock was replaced in favor of the more generic get_site_suffix function.

  • deprecated since: EasyBuild v1.7.0 (Sept'13)
  • removed in: EasyBuild v2.0
  • alternative(s): get_site_suffix('sitearch')

The get_sitearch_suffix function provided by the Perl easyblock, which can be (and is) imported in/used by other easyblocks, has been replaced by the more generic get_site_suffix function.

To obtain the same functionality as was provided by get_sitearch_suffix, use get_site_suffix('sitearch') instead.

Last update: October 18, 2023