Design and Implementation of a Menu Based OSCAR Command Line Interface

The open source cluster application resources (OSCAR) toolkit is used to build and maintain HPC clusters. The OSCAR cluster installer provides a graphical user interface (GUI) "wizard" that directs the user through the installation process. This GUI is useful for general usage, but in some instances a more basic interface is desirable. Therefore, a command line interface (CLI) has been developed for the OSCAR installer. Through the CLI, the OSCAR installer is better equipped to support scripting, which aids more advanced testing scenarios and helps in cluster replication. Additionally, the CLI is better suited for remote installations using OSCAR. While a graphical user interface simplifies installation for occasional users, frequent users and the OSCAR developers will find the CLI beneficial. For developers, the CLI will make testing easier because it may now be scripted for automated testing. Furthermore, because the CLI creates logs of user input, the user may create an exact duplicate of a previous installation, which could be used in later rebuilds or for diagnostic purposes when reporting issues to the developers. This paper provides an overview of the design and capabilities of the OSCAR CLI along with a brief discussion of possible future work.