Definition of Support

The following sections describe what is meant in practical terms by support in the context of CMS software, and CMS physicists' workstations and PCs.

CMS Software Librarian

The coordination of support for the various platforms and software versions is the major task of the CMS Software Librarian. In practice, today, this person administers the CVS repository for CMSIM, and is able to answer or redirect detailed questions about CMSIM. As the breadth and scope of CMS software increases, the role of the Librarian will become a full time activity for a permanent member of staff at CERN.

At the time of a release of a new version of CMS software, the Librarian must ensure the coordination of the Package Coordinators and Platform Coordinators involved in providing particular OS versions, so that the release of a CMS software package is made simultaneously on all supported platforms. The Librarian has the authority to delay the release for a variety of reasons, notably if there is a missing version. The Librarian, at his or her discretion, may refuse a contribution to a release according to various quality criteria to be defined.

CMS Software Package Coordinators

The Package Coordinators are responsible for providing all the files necessary for the release (see below), and assistance before, during, and after the release with questions related to the build they provided. However, all such assistance is coordinated via the Librarian, and end users will normally not be encouraged to contact the Package Coordinator, but rather to go via the Librarian. The Package Coordinators are also responsible for maintaining the formal testing suite for the package, the results from which are used to ensure the correctness and quality of the code.

CMS Hardware Platform Coordinators

The Platform Coordinators are each responsible for building and first testing of the CMS software packages on a particular hardware platform. The coordinators will be located at Institutes that support a particular platform. They are also responsible for defining the CMS environment for the platform, including scripts to set up this environment.

CMS Software Release Sequence

A release is sequenced as follows:

1. Physicist/Programmers working on a package check in code to the DEV area of the relevant CVS repository, in consultation with the Package Coordinator.
2. On a particular signal (e.g. once every month, or at the request of the SCB), the Librarian instructs the Package Coordinator to freeze the package's DEV area in the repository.
3. The Librarian builds the DEV version of the package, on a convenient hardware platform (currently probably one of HP/UX or Sun/Solaris), and applies the quality checks and standard tests that come with the package. Code that fails the quality and verification tests is not accepted, and the Package Coordinator informed accordingly (who in turn informs the culprit Physicist/Programmer).
4. The results from the tests being satisfactory, the Librarian instructs the Platform Coordinators to build the package on all the supported platforms.
5. The Platform Coordinators build the package, and apply the quality tests. Any problems found are reported back to the Librarian.
6. The Librarian collects any problem reports, categorizes and prioritizes them, and passes them back to the Package Coordinator. If there are no problem reports, then the Librarian announces a new version of the package exists, and the repository is managed accordingly (as described in "CMS Software Release Structure" below). The release sequence then ends.
7. The Package Coordinator liaises with the Physicist/Programmers to resolve any problems with the software, checking in any required changes to the "frozen" DEV area in the repository.
8. The Package Coordinator informs the Librarian when the problems are resolved, and the sequence begins again at point 3.

CMS Software Release Structure

The release structure is defined in terms of the familiar OLD/PRO/DEV levels. These are described as follows:

• DEV is the version containing the latest development versions of code modules. Although these are likely to be buggy, they contain the latest algorithms and structures being worked on. The DEV version will be frequently updated in place, and users should make private copies if they need to target or freeze on a particular version at a certain time. As time progresses, the DEV version will become more stable until, eventually it will be released as PRO.
• PRO is the current recommended production version which is stable and which has minimal or no uncorrected known bugs. The PRO version is created from the very latest stable DEV version at the time of the release.
• OLD is simply the previously released PRO version. At the time of a release, the PRO files are thus moved into the OLD area, PRO is recreated using the stable DEV, and a new DEV is started. The previous OLD version is archived and from that time on, unsupported.

Hardware

Hardware support is not covered in depth in this document. Existing support structures in the Institutes, and at CERN, should be benefitted from for advice and help on:

• Recommended workstation and PC models and components
• Configuring workstations and PCs
• Purchase and attachment of peripherals
• Repair of faulty or damaged equipment.

In particular, in the case of CERN, CMS users bringing workstations or PCs onto the CERN site are referred to the CN/DCI Group Web page that describes system software and hardware support for UNIX workstations at CERN, and the PC Shop page that describes supported PC configurations.

(Note that, both CMS and ATLAS are in the process of defining acceptable PC hardware configurations that will be proposed for support to the responsible group in CN Division.)

The preferred platforms are currently Sun and HP workstations. This means that users bringing these types of machine onto the CERN site to use in CMS can expect additional assistance than otherwise.

Current CMS Software

CMSIM and CMSCAN

CMSIM and CMSCAN are the only fully supported software packages. CMSIM consists of CMKIN, CMRAW, CMTRG, CMRHT, and CMREC. We define fully supported as the availability via ftp or from the CMSIM Distribution Web page, in a timely fashion, of:

• A binary executable which has been checked for correctness to the satisfaction of the CMS Software Librarian
• The full checked-out source tree from which the above binary was compiled and linked, together with a build script or makefile
• A documentary file describing the compiler versions and environment recommended and used for the build
• A tar file including the binary, sources and documentation

CMSIM is thus currently supported on the following Operating Systems:

• HP/UX 10 (built on SHIFTCMS by the CERN Group)
• Solaris 2.5.1 (built on CMS WorkGroupServer by the CERN Group)
• AIX 4.1 (built for CERNSP users by the ???)
• Irix 5.3 (built on L3 SGI machines by the ETH-Zurich Group)
• Digital UNIX 5.3 (built by the FNAL Group)
• Windows/NT 4.00 (built on Intel using MS Fortran PowerStation 4.0, MS Visual C++ 4.0 by the SCRI Group at Florida State)

CMSIM is explicity not currently supported on OpenVMS, OS2, VM or Linux.

CMSJET

CMSJET is widely used in CMS. However, no formal support is offered for this program, and interested users are thus invited to contact the CERN Group for further information.

Removal of Package/Platform Support

The list of CMS supported platforms and packages will be reviewed once per year by the SCB. Support for either a package or a platform may be withdrawn, based on criteria to be decided by the SCB, no earlier than six months from the time of the relevant decision in the SCB.

Future CMS Software

This category includes the OO Reconstruction and Analysis programs being developed and the OO program development support tools used by CMS. None of this software is currently formally supported by CMS. Interested users are invited to contact the CMS Software group at CERN for further information.