OpenSees from Web Portal#
Hybrid Workflow with Web Portal + JupyterHub
DesignSafe provides a suite of Tapis-powered OpenSees applications accessible through its Web Portal, allowing users to run both sequential and parallel jobs on Stampede3 without writing SLURM scripts manually. This section introduces the available apps, how they work, and how to integrate them into a JupyterHub-driven workflow.
Available Applications#
App Name |
Description |
|---|---|
OpenSees-Express |
Sequential execution on a VM; great for small or test models. |
OpenSeesMP |
Parallel execution using MPI across multiple nodes for large simulations. |
OpenSeesSP |
Parallel static analysis (domain decomposition). |
These apps are backed by the Tapis platform, which handles job submission, staging, monitoring, and result retrieval from TACC systems.
Why Use the Web Portal?#
The Web Portal simplifies the entire HPC job submission process:
Upload input files via a browser
Select the app and main input script
Configure compute settings (cores, wall time, etc.)
Submit without writing a SLURM script
Under the hood, the Web Portal:
Generates a SLURM job file
Stages input files to Stampede3’s scratch space
Launches the job using Tapis + SLURM
Transfers output back to your My Data folder
Without Web Portal App |
With Web Portal App |
|---|---|
Manual SLURM script writing |
Script auto-generated |
Manual file transfers |
Input/output staged automatically |
Manual module setup |
Preconfigured compute environment |
Manual cleanup or downloads |
Output copied back to My Data |
Note
For short jobs, Web Portal queue times and data transfers may dominate runtime. Use accordingly.
Recommended Workflow: Web Portal + JupyterHub#
The most effective way to use DesignSafe’s web-portal apps is to combine them with JupyterHub for a complete workflow:
Use JupyterHub for interactive pre-processing: build and test your OpenSees models, edit input files, and visualize geometry.
Then launch your simulation using a DesignSafe web-portal app (e.g., OpenSeesMP), which submits the job via SLURM to Stampede3.
Once the job finishes, return to JupyterHub for post-processing: retrieve results, generate plots, compute summaries, or feed outputs into further analysis.
This hybrid workflow takes advantage of:
The user-friendly interface and automated HPC submission of the web portal,
And the flexibility and power of JupyterHub for coding, visualization, and iterative development.
Summary#
The OpenSees Web Portal Apps let you:
Submit OpenSees jobs to Stampede3 without learning SLURM
Easily switch between sequential and parallel workflows
Combine the power of Jupyter for scripting and visualization with the Web Portal for scalable HPC execution
Customize or automate workflows via Tapis (for advanced users)
Whether you’re running one job or one thousand, this hybrid approach saves time, reduces errors, and allows you to focus on the science.