Overriding Software Versions

Most of the software titles installed in the SBGrid Suite have several versions available. Typically, we try to provide at least three versions of each software package, although very old or very new applications may have fewer versions.

To list the available versions of a software title, you can use the sbgrid utility. Running sbgrid -l will list the versions for your current platform. From a linux machine, a search for CCP4 versions looks like this:

$ sbgrid -l ccp4
  Version information for: /programs/i386-linux/ccp4

Default version:                    6.1.13
In-use version:                     6.1.13
Other available versions:           6.1.3 6.0.2 5.0.2
Overrides use this shell variable:  CCP4_L

Running sbgrid -L will print the available versions for the three current platforms (OS X PowerPC and Intel, Linux).

$ sbgrid -L gnuplot
  Version information for: /programs/i386-linux/gnuplot

Default version:                    4.2.6
In-use version:                     4.2.6
Other available versions:           4.4.0 
Overrides use this shell variable:  GNUPLOT_L

  Version information for: /programs/i386-mac/gnuplot

Default version:                    4.2.6
Other available versions:           4.4.0 
Overrides use this shell variable:  GNUPLOT_M

  Version information for: /programs/powermac/gnuplot

Default version:                    4.2.6
Other available versions:           4.4.0 
Overrides use this shell variable:  GNUPLOT_P

To override the default version of a software title, you need to create an override file. The shell configuration scripts will read this file and override the default version.

The override file is named .sbgrid.conf and should be placed in your $HOME directory. The syntax for overrides is a simple key=value pair. E.g. it should look like this:

APPLICATION_L=1.2

APPLICATION_L is the name of the application followed by an underscore and the shorthand initial for the architecture. The last field on the line is the software version number you want to use. The initials for each software branch are:

To quickly open the overrides file in your default $EDITOR, you can run sbgrid-overrides -e.

When you open a new shell, you will see a message about the overridden version. Note that a site administrator can create sitewide or machine-specific overrides as well.

The example output below shows CCP4 on linux being changed from the default version:

 Configuration options in effect for this shell:
  Variable             Setting         Configuration
   CCP4_L               6.1.2           personal