1. Newbies guide

This guide provides basic instructions on how set up and run a standard NorESM case by executing 4 steps:

  • create a new case (the create_newcase script)

  • configure case (the case.setup script)

  • build case (the case.build script)

  • submit case (the case.submit script).

It is assumed that you have sucsessfully downloaded the model (see Downloading the model code), which means you have a copy of the model on your computer in a folder with a name of your choice. For simplicity we call this folder <noresm-base> in this guide.

1.1. Create a new case

The create_newcase script is an executable python script located in:

<noresm-base>/cime/scripts/

The script for creating a new case takes several command line arguments as input to know how to configure your case. Some of the most important arguments are as follows:

  • --case defines a casename of your choice and creates a folder by that name. The argument respects absolute and relative paths (e.g. --case ~/NorESM/cases/<casename>). It is good parctice to make a case folder named cases where your NorESM cases are stored, e.g. mkdir NorESM/cases/ in your home directory

  • --mach defines the machine you will run the model on. The model NorESM2 has been configured to be run on a set of different machines (see list at Running on different platforms). If you are running the model on a machine not listed you will need to configure the model beyond this newbie guide.

  • --res defines the resolution of your run. See Experiments for more details.

  • --compset defines what compset you will be using. A list of compsets for fully-coupled configurations can be found in the file <noresm_base>/cime_config/config_compsets.xml (see Atmosphere for compsets for AMIP-type simulations)

To investigate the full list of arguments, enter the <noresm_base>/cime/scripts/ folder and run create_newcase with the --help argument:

cd <noresm_base>/cime/scripts/
./create_newcase --help

To create a new case, enter the scripts directory and run the create_newcase scripts:

cd <noresm_base>/cime/scripts/
./create_newcase --case <casepath>/<casename> --mach <machine> --res f19_tn14 --compset <compset>

You have now created the case folder <casepath>/<casename>! Go to the case folder to start configuring your experiment.

1.1.1. More advanced examples

The following example creates the case N1850_f19_tn14_test01 on the machine Fram:

./create_newcase --case ~/NorESM/cases/N1850_f19_tn14_test01 --compset N1850 --res f19_tn14 --machine fram --project snic2019-1-2 --user-mods-dir cmip6_noresm_DECK

Here we store the case with the casename N1850_f19_tn14_test01 in a subdirectory NorESM/cases/ in the home directory on fram. We use the N1850 compset, which configures the case as a 1850 pre-industrial control simulation. The argument --project should correspond to the id of the project used in the batch system accounting on Fram. The argument --user-mods-dir provides the path to a folder containing files that will further configure your case (like user namelists, shell scripts with xmlchange commands or SourceMods). The default location for this folder is under <noresm_base>/cime_config/usermods_dirs/.

The following example creates a case (also called N1850_f19_tn14_test01), but on the machine Tetralith:

./create_newcase --case ~/NorESM/cases/N1850_f19_tn14_test01 --walltime 24:00:00 --compset N1850 --res f19_tn14 --machine tetralith --project snic2019-1-2 --output-root /proj/bolinc/users/${USER}/NorESM2/noresm2_out

Note that here we use the argument --output-root, which is only required if the noresm_run_dir (the running directory of the mode) differs from default running directory <path_to_run_dir>/noresm/.

1.2. Configure the case

The case folder <casepath>/<casename>/ is where you configure your case by changing enviroment files (such as the <casepath>/<casename>/env_run.xml file; see Experiment settings and modifications), changing the user namelists for the different model components (files named user_nl_<component> where <component> is a model component such as cam), or even add your own code changes to SourceMods/src.<component>/. But for now we stick to the standard out-of-the-box set up and configure the case as follows:

cd <casepath>/<casename>
./case.setup

1.3. Build the case

After your configuration is finished you can start bulding your case by invoking the case.build script from your case folder:

./case.build

Which may take a while.

1.4. Submit your case

When your case has finished building you are ready to submit and run your case. This is done by invoking the case.submit script from your case folder:

./case.submit

If your model simulation was successful, you should find the following line in slurm.out (or similar) in your case folder

Tue Feb 9 21:41:33 CET 2016 -- CSM EXECUTION BEGINS HERE Wed Feb 10 13:37:56 CET 2016 -- CSM EXECUTION HAS FINISHED
(seq_mct_drv): =============== SUCCESSFUL TERMINATION OF CPL7-CCSM ===============

And you are finished!