MPAS-Dev · danrosen25 · Feb 5, 2026
diff --git a/containers/README.md b/containers/README.md
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+# MPAS Containers
+
+This directory contains containerized environments for MPAS.
+
+## Purpose
+
+Containers provide reproducible, isolated environments with pre-installed compilers, libraries, and software. This eliminates the need to install compilers, MPI libraries, and NetCDF libraries on your local system.
+
+## Available Containers
+
+| Container | Location | Purpose |
+|-----------|----------|---------|
+| [Docker Development Container](#docker-development-container) | [docker/dev/](docker/dev) | Pre-built development environment |
+
+---
+
+### Docker Development Container
+
+The Docker Development Container includes:
+- **ubuntu:rolling**: base image
+- **gcc,g++,gfortran**: compilers
+- **spack**: package manager
+- **mpich**: MPI implementation
+- **netcdf-c**: NetCDF C library
+- **netcdf-fortran**: NetCDF Fortran library
+- **parallel-netcdf**: PnetCDF library
+- **parallelio**: PIO library
+- **esmf**: Earth System Modeling Framework
+- preconfigured environment variables
+
+See [README](docker/dev/README.md) for more details.
+For more information about Docker, see the [Docker Documentation](https://docs.docker.com/).
diff --git a/containers/docker/dev/Dockerfile b/containers/docker/dev/Dockerfile
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+FROM ubuntu:rolling
+
+# Set environment variables
+ENV SPACK_ROOT=/opt/spack \
+    DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
+
+# Install system dependencies required by spack
+RUN <<INSTALL_PACKAGES
+    apt-get update
+    apt-get install -yqq \
+        build-essential \
+        ca-certificates \
+        curl \
+        file \
+        g++-14 \
+        gcc-14 \
+        gfortran-14 \
+        git \
+        gpg \
+        gzip \
+        libc6-dev \
+        libcurl4-openssl-dev \
+        libssl-dev \
+        m4 \
+        make \
+        openssh-client \
+        pkg-config \
+        python3 \
+        python3-dev \
+        tar \
+        unzip \
+        wget \
+        zlib1g-dev
+    apt-get clean
+INSTALL_PACKAGES
+
+# Clone spack repository
+RUN <<INSTALL_SPACK
+    mkdir -p ${SPACK_ROOT}
+    git clone --depth=2 --branch=releases/v1.1 https://github.com/spack/spack.git ${SPACK_ROOT}
+INSTALL_SPACK
+
+# Set up spack environment
+ENV PATH="${SPACK_ROOT}/bin:${PATH}"
+
+# Install MPAS dependencies with gcc 12
+RUN <<SETUP_SPACK
+    . ${SPACK_ROOT}/share/spack/setup-env.sh
+    spack compiler find
+    spack install \
+        mpich@4.3%gcc \
+        netcdf-c@4.9%gcc \
+        netcdf-fortran@4.6%gcc \
+        parallel-netcdf@1.14%gcc \
+        parallelio@2.6%gcc \
+        esmf@8.9%gcc
+    spack clean --all
+SETUP_SPACK
+
+# Create environment
+RUN <<SETUP_ENV
+    mkdir -p /etc/profile.d
+    mkdir -p /home/mpas-dev
+SETUP_ENV
+
+# Copy spack setup script
+COPY --chmod=0755 mpas_spack.sh /etc/profile.d/mpas_spack.sh
+
+# Copy README file
+COPY --chmod=0644 README.md /home/mpas-dev/README.md
+
+# Set bash as default shell
+SHELL ["/bin/bash", "-c"]
+
+# Set working directory
+WORKDIR /home/mpas-dev
+
+# Default command
+CMD ["/bin/bash", "-l"]
diff --git a/containers/docker/dev/README.md b/containers/docker/dev/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+# MPAS Development Environment
+
+This container includes all necessary libraries to build and develop MPAS.
+For more details on MPAS, see [MPAS documentation](https://www.mmm.ucar.edu/models/mpas).
+
+## Available Libraries
+
+The following packages are installed via `spack` and loaded in the environment:
+
+- **mpich**: MPI implementation
+- **netcdf-c**: NetCDF C library
+- **netcdf-fortran**: NetCDF Fortran library
+- **parallel-netcdf**: PnetCDF library
+- **parallelio**: PIO library
+- **esmf**: Earth System Modeling Framework
+
+The following environment variables are available from a `bash -l` shell
+
+| Environment Variable  | Description                           |
+|-----------------------|---------------------------------------|
+| `SPACK_ROOT`          | Path to spack installation            |
+| `SPACK_ROOT`          | Path to spack installation            |
+| `MPICH_ROOT`          | Path to mpich installation            |
+| `NETCDF_C_ROOT`       | Path to netcdf-c installation         |
+| `NETCDF_FORTRAN_ROOT` | Path to netcdf-fortran installation   |
+| `PARALLEL_NETCDF_ROOT`| Path to parallel-netcdf installation  |
+| `PARALLELIO_ROOT`     | Path to parallelio installation       |
+| `ESMF_ROOT`           | Path to esmf installation             |
+| `LD_LIBRARY_PATH`     | Includes paths to installed libraries |
+| `PNETCDF`             | Set to PARALLEL_NETCDF_ROOT           |
+
+## Quick Start
+
+### Building the Docker image
+
+From the `containers/docker/dev` directory:
+
+```bash
+docker build -t mpas-dev .
+```
+
+### Running the Docker container
+
+Basic interactive shell:
+
+```bash
+docker run -it mpas-dev
+```
+
+Additional docker run arguments:
+
+| Argument                               | Description                                      |
+|----------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|
+| `-v <local_path>:/home/mpas-dev/<dir>` | Mount a local directory inside the container     |
+| `--rm`                                 | Automatically remove the container when it exits |
+| `--name <my-mpas-container>`           | Assign a name to the container                   |
+| `-e VAR=value`                         | Set runtime environment variable                 |
+
+### Checkout MPAS
+
+Clone the MPAS repository:
+
+```bash
+git clone https://github.com/MPAS-Dev/MPAS-Model.git
+cd MPAS-Model
+```
+
+### Build MPAS
+
+For the atmosphere core:
+
+```bash
+make -j4 gnu CORE="atmosphere"
+```
+
+For other cores, replace "atmosphere" with "init_atmosphere", "ocean", "landice", or "seaice".
+
+## Troubleshooting
+
+**Container exits immediately:**
+- Ensure you're using `-it` flags for interactive mode
+- Use `-l` with bash to force login shell and load environment
+
+**Out of disk space:**
+- Spack can use significant disk space. Check with `docker system df`
+- Remove unused images/containers: `docker system prune`
+
+**Can't find compiler/libraries:**
+- Make sure you're in a bash login shell: `docker run -it mpas-dev bash -l`
+- Manually source the spack setup: `source /etc/profile.d/spack.sh`
diff --git a/containers/docker/dev/mpas_spack.sh b/containers/docker/dev/mpas_spack.sh
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+#!/bin/bash
+. ${SPACK_ROOT}/share/spack/setup-env.sh
+spack load mpich
+spack load netcdf-c
+spack load netcdf-fortran
+spack load parallel-netcdf
+spack load parallelio
+spack load esmf
+export MPICH_ROOT=$(spack location -i mpich)
+export NETCDF_C_ROOT=$(spack location -i netcdf-c)
+export NETCDF_FORTRAN_ROOT=$(spack location -i netcdf-fortran)
+export PARALLEL_NETCDF_ROOT=$(spack location -i parallel-netcdf)
+export PARALLELIO_ROOT=$(spack location -i parallelio)
+export ESMF_ROOT=$(spack location -i esmf)
+export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${MPICH_ROOT}/lib:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}
+export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${NETCDF_C_ROOT}/lib:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}
+export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${NETCDF_FORTRAN_ROOT}/lib:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}
+export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${PARALLEL_NETCDF_ROOT}/lib:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}
+export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${PARALLELIO_ROOT}/lib:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}
+export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${ESMF_ROOT}/lib:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}
+export PNETCDF=${PARALLEL_NETCDF_ROOT}