Jason / Volta / Ventura Module Commands Guide

Overview

The clusters use Lmod to manage software environments. Modules let users load only the software they need, including EDA toolchains, CUDA, PDKs, and other site-managed applications.

On this setup, loading a core module such as siemens, pdk, or cadence_ece can expose additional module trees. That is why module avail may show more modules after a package family is loaded.

Basic Module Commands

Command	What it does
`module avail`	List modules currently visible in the active module path.
`ml av`	Short form of `module avail`.
`module spider`	Search all known modules, even if they are not currently visible.
`module keyword <word>`	Search module names and descriptions for matching keywords.
`module load <name>`	Load a module into the current shell environment.
`module list`	Show modules currently loaded.
`module unload <name>`	Unload a module from the current shell environment.
`module purge`	Unload all currently loaded modules.
`module overview`	Show a compact summary of available module families.
`module --default avail`	Show only default modules when the list is long.

Core Modules Currently Available

From the core module tree on Jason, users currently see modules such as:

cadence
cadence_ece
cadence_suite
cuda/11.6
cuda/11.8
cuda/12.8
pdk
siemens
site
synopsys
synopsys_suite
vsaero

Core EDA families

cadence, cadence_ece, cadence_suite, siemens, synopsys, synopsys_suite

PDK access

pdk exposes process design kits such as NCSU, SKY130, GF180MCU, and others.

GPU software

cuda/11.6, cuda/11.8, and cuda/12.8 are available, with cuda/12.8 as the default in the sample output.

Example: Viewing Available Core Modules

module avail

Example output:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ /export/modulefiles/Core ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   cadence    cadence_ece    cadence_suite    cuda/11.6    cuda/11.8    cuda/12.8 (L,D)    pdk    siemens    site    synopsys    synopsys_suite    vsaero

  Where:
   L:  Module is loaded
   D:  Default Module

In this output, L means the module is already loaded, and D means it is the default version.

Example: Loading a Module Family

Users can load a package family such as the ECE Cadence environment:

module load cadence_ece

Example output:

NCSU PDK loaded.
CDK_DIR=/ventura/apps/pdk/ncsu/cdk-1.6.0.beta
-------------------------------------------------------------------
  Cadence ECE Teaching Environment Loaded
  Commands: virtuoso, spectre, genus, innovus, pvs, pegasus, xrun
  CDK_DIR: /ventura/apps/pdk/ncsu/cdk-1.6.0.beta
  Run 'cadence_init_project' once per project directory
  This creates cds.lib (project) and ~/.cdsinit (user config)
  Support: wnguyen@sdsu.edu
-------------------------------------------------------------------

After loading cadence_ece, the environment automatically brings in the NCSU PDK and sets CDK_DIR=/ventura/apps/pdk/ncsu/cdk-1.6.0.beta.

Example: Additional Modules After Loading Core Families

Once core package families are loaded, running ml av can show additional module trees such as Siemens tools and individual PDK modules.

ml av

Example output:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /export/modulefiles/siemens -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   calibre/2026.1    modelsim/2026.1    questa/2026.1    solido/2026.1    tanner/2023.2

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ /export/modulefiles/pdk -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   freepdk45    gf180mcu    gpdk045    ncsu (L)    sky130    tsmc65    tsmc90

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ /export/modulefiles/Core ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   cadence    cadence_ece (L)    cadence_suite    cuda/11.6    cuda/11.8    cuda/12.8 (L,D)    pdk (L)    siemens (L)    site (L)    synopsys    synopsys_suite    vsaero

This behavior is expected. Users may not see submodules such as calibre/2026.1 or sky130 until the related parent module tree becomes active.

Common Workflows

Load CUDA

module load cuda/12.8
nvcc --version

Load Cadence ECE environment

module load cadence_ece
cadence_init_project
virtuoso &

Load Siemens tree and a specific tool

module load siemens
module load calibre/2026.1
calibre -gui

Load PDK tree and select a PDK

module load pdk
module avail
module load sky130

Useful Search Commands

Task	Command
Find every CUDA-related module	`module spider cuda`
Find all Cadence-related entries	`module keyword cadence`
See only defaults	`module --default avail`
Compact overview of families	`module overview`

Tips for Users

Use module purge before switching between major toolchains.
Use module list to confirm what is currently loaded.
Not seeing a tool version in module avail? Try loading its parent family first, then run module avail again.
Use module spider when you want to search beyond the currently active module path.
For Cadence class projects, run cadence_init_project once in each project directory.