When creating an instance on Nimbus, you choose an image. This is the operating system that will be on your instance once it is created. Ubuntu is the main set of images that Nimbus staff actively provide, but we also provide Centos. You can also upload your own operating system, but then you are responsible for maintaining that image, and updating it when newer versions become available.
Which one should I use?
If you are unsure, we recommend that you choose from the Ubuntu images we provide. Consult the table below to guide you on which one to use. To view the current list of public images in the Nimbus dashboard, click Compute → Images or this link https://nimbus.pawsey.org.au/project/images
In the table below there are collections of additional software packages installed. They are as follows:
- Pawsey extras: Docker, MC, Singularity
- Bio extras: Bicontainers, CernVM-FS, Nextflow, Python3, Pip, Singularity-HPC, Spack
- CUDA: Nvidia software to support the use of vGPU instances
| Image name | Purpose | Description |
|---|---|---|
Pawsey - Ubuntu 20.04 - 2024-05 Pawsey - Ubuntu 22.04 - 2024-05 | These are general purpose images for most people to use on Nimbus. The Long Term Support (LTS) releases are supported upstream for longer, so you will be able to keep using instances with these versions for longer than others. Use the latest version unless you have reason to use an older one. | Operating system: Ubuntu |
Pawsey GPU CUDA 11 - Ubuntu 20.04 - 2024-05 | This is the Pawsey Ubuntu 20.04 image with support for GPU added, available for projects with a GPU allocation. | Operating system: Ubuntu |
Pawsey GPU CUDA 12 - Ubuntu 22.04 - 2024-05 | This is the Pawsey Ubuntu 22.04 image with support for GPU added, available for projects with a GPU allocation. | Operating system: Ubuntu |
| Pawsey Bio - Ubuntu 22.04 - 2024-05 | This is an image based on Ubuntu 22.04 for bioinformatics users who require pre-installed popular software on their instances. For more information, see here. | Operating system: Ubuntu |
Pawsey - CentOS Stream 9 - 2024-05 | These are general purpose images. CentOS changed to use the Stream versions from 2021 onward. | Operating system: CentOS |