• Created by Unknown User (mamg), last modified on Nov 18, 2025

1. MARS configuration and binaries

The MARS syntax relevant in this context is: 

mars [-t] [-p|-n] <request_file>

1.1. Configuration (prod and test)

The current deployment supports two distinct configurations: prod (default) and test.
Users can select test configuration by adding the -t flag to the mars command

MARS configurations are stored in:

<prefix>/mars/configs/[prod|test]

The production MARS client configuration has 3 primary options, which are set via the database keyword:

  • database=fdb 
    • The production local fdb for each EuroHPC
  • database=databridge 
    • The production data bridge remote fdb for each EuroHPC
  • database=databridge-fdb 
    • The production data bridge remote fdb for each EuroHPC but served with the FDB protocol.

In addition, the ClimateDT group have 2 additional FDBs on LUMI & MN5 which were used initially to compare the healpix grid output to both lat-lon and native grid output.

The production MARS client configuration has 2 additional options for this:

  • database=latlon 
    • The production local fdb for ClimateDT data with lat-lon grid.
  • database=native 
    • The production local fdb for ClimateDT data with native grid.

1.2. Version of the binaries (prev, current and next)

The current deployment supports versioning. MARS binaries are installed in:

<prefix>/mars/versions/<version_number>/bin

The MARS script calling the MARS client is installed in:

<prefix>/mars/bin

MARS is configured to use three different versions: prod (default - current stable version) | prev (previous stable version) | next (candidate new version)
The user can select the desired version by adding a flag to the mars/fdb script

  • <no flags>: mars script selects the default production version of the binaries
  • -p (prev): mars script selects the previous version of the binaries
  • -n (next): mars script selects the candidate version of the binaries

The flag -t can be combined with [-p | -n] flags.

Please see the Versions of MARS Client installed at EuroHPC sites for information on the installation.

The mapping between the previous/current/next production|test versions is specified in the script

<prefix>/mars/configs/[prod|test]/etc/versions.sh

2. FDB configuration and binaries

The fdb syntax can be found at the documentation here.

2.1. Configuration

The production FDB configuration files are stored in the top-level installation directory for each EuroHPC.

The production FDB configuration has 2 primary options, which are set via the FDB_HOME environment variable:

  • FDB_HOME=<prefix>/fdb 
    • The production local fdb for each EuroHPC
  • FDB_HOME=<prefix>/databridge
    • The production data bridge remote fdb for each EuroHPC

In addition, the ClimateDT group have 2 additional FDBs on LUMI & MN5 which were used initially to compare the healpix grid output to both lat-lon and native grid output.

The production FDB configuration has 2 additional options for this:

  • FDB_HOME=<prefix>/latlon 
    • The production local fdb for ClimateDT data with lat-lon grid.
  • FDB_HOME=<prefix>/native 
    • The production local fdb for ClimateDT data with native grid.

2.2. Version of the binaries

The current deployment supports versioning. FDB binaries are installed in

<prefix>/mars/versions/<version_number>/bin

FDB is configured to use a single current version. This is the supported production version and is installed in:

<prefix>/mars/versions/current/bin

Other versions of the FDB binaries can be used by specifying the appropriate version number.
Note however that only the production version will be supported in case of issues.


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