Modules Environment
Encyclopedia
The Environment Modules system is a tool to help users manage their Unix
or Linux
shell environment, by allowing groups of related environment-variable settings to be made or removed dynamically. It has been around since the early nineties, but seems to be used mainly at large computer centers, where it's used to deploy multiple versions of different software tools to users.
The modules system is based on modulefiles, which specify groups of environment settings that need to be made together. Modulefiles can be installed in a central location for general use, or in a user directory for personal use. The module command can then be used to "load" or "unload" these modules in your environment, to list the available or loaded modules, show what settings they make, etc.
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
or Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
shell environment, by allowing groups of related environment-variable settings to be made or removed dynamically. It has been around since the early nineties, but seems to be used mainly at large computer centers, where it's used to deploy multiple versions of different software tools to users.
The modules system is based on modulefiles, which specify groups of environment settings that need to be made together. Modulefiles can be installed in a central location for general use, or in a user directory for personal use. The module command can then be used to "load" or "unload" these modules in your environment, to list the available or loaded modules, show what settings they make, etc.
External links
- http://modules.sourceforge.net/ - home page for the Environment Modules project
- John L. Furlani, Modules: Providing a Flexible User Environment Proceedings of the Fifth Large Installation Systems Administration Conference (LISA V), pp. 141-152, San Diego, CA, September 30 - October 3, 1991.