Building simple container

Let's start with a simple example.

Here is a definition file to install the Paraview program in virtual environment conveniently provided by the Ubuntu distribution via the docker hub repository.

paraview.def

Bootstrap: docker
From: ubuntu:20.04

%post
  export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive

  apt-get update && apt-get -y dist-upgrade && \
  apt-get install -y paraview && \
  apt-get clean

  # Patch for old kernels like the one on Rackham running CentOS 7 - 2024.02.23
  # strip --remove-section=.note.ABI-tag /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libQt5Core.so.5

%runscript
  paraview "$@"

$ sudo singularity build paraview.sif paraview.def

This will download 301 MB and install 500 new packages... It might take some time to complete, but once you are done you will have a container that will run almost everywhere - there is always a catch.

Instead of paraview, modify the definition file to install and run your, not necessarily graphical, program. Few tips: gnuplot, grace, blender, povray, rasmol ...