Created 'Set up Spack for model builds' page inside 'Getting Started'

docs/getting_started/index.md

@@ -23,4 +23,15 @@
             </span>
         </div>
     </a>
+    <a href="/getting_started/spack" class="horizontal-card">
+        <div class="card-image-container">
+            <img class="img-contain white-background with-padding" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/spack/spack@develop/share/spack/logo/spack-logo-text.svg" alt="spack">
+        </div>
+        <div class="card-text-container">
+            <span class="bold">Set up Spack for model builds</span>
+            <span>
+                Spack is a flexible package manager used to build ACCESS models.
+            </span>
+        </div>
+    </a>
 </div>

docs/getting_started/spack.md

@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+# Set up Spack for model builds
+
+[Spack](https://spack.io/about/) is a build-from-source package manager, specifically designed to simplify the installation of scientific software on supercomputers.
+
+## Prerequisites
+To use _Spack_ on _Gadi_, you must have an NCI account.<br>
+For instructions on how to set up an account, refer to [Set Up your NCI Account](/getting_started/set_up_nci_account).
+
+## Set up Spack on Gadi
+
+### Create a directory for the Spack distribution
+
+!!! tip
+    This step is optional, but it is recommended you have a selected directory where to keep your _Spack_ distribution.
+
+The complete _Spack_ distribution is approximately 120 MB in size. For this reason, we reccommend placing its directory somewhere in `/g/data`. An example can be `/g/data/$PROJECT/$USER/spack_distribution`.
+
+To create the directory mentioned above and navigate into it, run the following command:
+```
+mkdir -p /g/data/$PROJECT/$USER/spack_distribution && cd $_
+```
+
+### Get Spack executable and configuration files
+
+To get the _Spack_ executable and configuration files, run the following commands to clone the respective GitHub repositories:
+
+```
+git clone -c feature.manyFiles=true https://github.com/ACCESS-NRI/spack.git --branch releases/v0.22 --single-branch --depth=1
+git clone https://github.com/ACCESS-NRI/spack-packages.git --branch main
+git clone https://github.com/ACCESS-NRI/spack-config.git --branch main
+```
+
+### Link Spack configuration files
+
+To link the _Spack_ configuration files to the _Spack_ instance, run the following command:
+
+```
+ln -s -r -v spack-config/v0.22/gadi/* spack/etc/spack/
+```
+
+!!! success
+    Your _Spack_ setup is complete!
+
+### Test Spack
+
+To test _Spack_ we will create an environment (in this example it will be the on to build ACCESS-OM2 executables) and build the relevant packages. Then, we will uninstall all the packages and remove the environment.
+
+All the steps listed above can be performed by running the following commands (where `<spack_distribution_directory>` is the [directory for the Spack distribution](#create-a-directory-for-the-spack-distribution)):
+```
+. <spack_distribution_directory>/spack-config/spack-enable.bash
+curl -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ACCESS-NRI/ACCESS-OM2/main/spack.yaml -o access-om2-spack.yaml
+spack env create access-om2 access-om2-spack.yaml
+spack env activate -p access-om2
+spack find
+spack install --verbose
+spack find
+spack uninstall --remove --all -y
+spack env deactivate
+spack env rm access-om2 -y
+rm access-om2-spack.yaml
+```
+
+### More information
+To know more about _Spack_ usage, please familiarise yourself with the [Basic Usage instructions](https://spack.readthedocs.io/en/latest/basic_usage.html) and [Environments](https://spack.readthedocs.io/en/latest/environments.html).<br>
+We also reccommend you check the [Spack 101 Tutorial](https://spack-tutorial.readthedocs.io/en/latest/).

mkdocs.yml

@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ markdown_extensions:
   - pymdownx.mark
   - pymdownx.tilde
   - pymdownx.snippets
+  - pymdownx.highlight
   - pymdownx.emoji:
       emoji_index: !!python/name:materialx.emoji.twemoji
       emoji_generator: !!python/name:materialx.emoji.to_svg
@@ -98,6 +99,7 @@ nav:
     - getting_started/index.md
     - Set Up your NCI Account: getting_started/set_up_nci_account.md
     - Australian Research Environment (ARE): getting_started/are.md
+    - Set up spack for model builds: getting_started/spack.md
 
   - Models: 
     - Models: models/index.md