SGI PerfBoost uses a wrapper library to run applications compiled against other MPI implementations under the SGI Message Passing Toolkit (MPT) product on SGI platforms. This chapter describes how to use PerfBoost software.
 | Note: The MPI C++ API is not supported with PerfBoost. |
To use PerfBoost with an SGI MPT MPI program, first load the perfboost environmental module (see Example 6-1). Then insert the perfboost command in front of the executable name along with the choice of MPI implementation to emulate. Launch the application with the SGI MPT mpiexec_mpt(1) or mpirun(1) command. Here is a list of MPI implementations and corresponding command line options:
| MPI Implementation | Command Line Option | |
| ||
| Platform MPI 7.1+ | -pmpi | |
| HP-MPI | -pmpi | |
| Intel MPI | -impi | |
| OpenMPI | -ompi | |
| MPICH1 | -mpich | |
| MPICH2 | -impi | |
| MVAPICH2 | -impi |
Example 6-1. Using the SGI perfboost Software
Here are some examples using perfboost:
% module load mpt % module load perfboost % mpirun -np 32 perfboost -impi a.out arg1 % mpiexec_mpt perfboost -pmpi b.out arg1 % mpirun host1 32, host2 64 perfboost -impi c.out arg1 arg2 |
The MPI environment variables that are documented in the MPI(1) man page are available to PerfBoost.
MPI environment variables that are not used by SGI MPT are currently not supported.
| PERFBOOST_VERBOSE | Setting the PERFBOOST_VERBOSE environment variable will enable a message when PerfBoost activates and also when the MPI application is completed through the MPI_Finalize() function. This message merely indicates that the PerfBoost library is active and also when the MPI application completes through the libperfboost. wrapper library. |
| Note: Some applications will re-direct stderr in which case the verbose messages may not appear in the application output. |
SGI PerfBoost supports the commonly used elements of the C & Fortran MPI APIs. If a function is not supported, the job will be aborted and an error printed showing the name of the missing function. Please contact SGI Customer Support Center at https://support.sgi.com/caselist to get a missing function scheduled for addition to PerfBoost.