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Configuration System

Omnibenchmark uses a configuration file to store settings such as paths and environment variables. This document describes both the user-facing aspects and the programmatic interface for developers.

File Location

The configuration file is stored at:

  • Linux: ~/.config/omnibenchmark/omnibenchmark.cfg
  • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/omnibenchmark/omnibenchmark.cfg

Format

The configuration file uses the INI format with sections and key-value pairs:

[section1]
key1 = value1
key2 = value2

[section2]
key3 = value3

Common Sections and Keys

Omnibenchmark uses the following standard configuration sections:

  • easybuild: Contains settings for Easybuild integration
  • MODULEPATH: Path to module installations

  • ROBOTPATH: Path to easyconfigs repository

  • dirs: Contains paths for dataset storage and git module caching

  • datasets: Path to store benchmark datasets
  • git_modules: Path to cache cloned git repositories (default: .omnibenchmark/git)

Programmatic Access

The configuration system provides a Python API for reading and writing configuration values.

Reading Configuration Values

from omnibenchmark.config import config

# Get a value with a default if key doesn't exist
value = config.get('section', 'key', default='default_value')

Writing Configuration Values

from omnibenchmark.config import config

# Set a value
config.set('section', 'key', 'new_value')

# Save changes to disk
config.save()

Accessing Configuration Options

from omnibenchmark.config import config

# Get all sections
sections = config.sections()

# Get all keys in a section
keys = config.options('section')

Creating a Custom Configuration Accessor

In most cases, you should use the global config instance. However, you can create a custom accessor if needed:

from omnibenchmark.config import ConfigAccessor
from pathlib import Path

# Create a custom config accessor with a specific path
custom_config = ConfigAccessor(Path('/path/to/custom/omnibenchmark.cfg'))

# Use it the same way as the global config
value = custom_config.get('section', 'key', default='default_value')

Implementation Details

The configuration system is implemented in omnibenchmark/config.py. It provides:

  • Platform-specific paths for configuration files
  • A ConfigAccessor class that provides dict-like access to the configuration
  • Initialization of necessary directories
  • Graceful handling of missing sections or keys

When adding new configuration options to Omnibenchmark, be sure to update this documentation with the new sections and keys.