Add intial documentation on dev.eessi.io

docs/adding_software/adding_development_software.md

@@ -0,0 +1,155 @@
+# Adding software to `dev.eessi.io`
+
+!!! warning "`dev.eessi.io` is still in active development and focused on MultiXscale"
+
+    The `dev.eessi.io` repository and functionality is still in its earlie stages.
+    The repository, build, and deploy procedures are functional, but may change
+    often for the time being. 
+
+    Our focus is currently on including and supporting developers and applications in the 
+    [MultiXscale CoE](https://multixscale.eu).
+
+## What is `dev.eessi.io`?
+
+`dev.eessi.io` is the [development repository of EESSI](../repositories/dev.eessi.io.md).
+
+## Adding software
+
+Using `dev.eessi.io` is similar to using EESSI's production repository `software.eessi.io`.
+Software builds are triggered by a [bot](https://www.eessi.io/docs/bot/) listening to pull 
+requests in [GitHub repositories](https://github.com/search?q=org%3AEESSI+dev.eessi.io&type=repositories). 
+These builds require custom easyconfig and easystack files, which should be in specific directories.
+
+To see this in practice, refer to the [dev.eessi.io-example GitHub repository](https://github.com/EESSI/dev.eessi.io-example).
+ In this GitHub repository you will find templates for some software installations with the appropriate directory structure, that is:
+
+```
+dev.eessi.io-example
+├── easyconfigs
+└── easystacks
+```
+
+### Quick steps to build for `dev.eessi.io`
+
+- Obtain commit ID from GitHub or GitLab repository with source to build.
+- Fork the project's `dev.eessi.io` repository on GitHub, or checkout to a new branch if you can do so.
+- If needed, prepare an easyconfig template using `--software-commit` and add it to `easyconfigs/`
+- Add an easystack file in `easystacks/` that with the easyconfig file above, add the
+commit ID to `software-commit` under `options`.
+- Open a PR from the fork or branch to the main branch of the application's `dev.eessi.io` GitHub repository.
+- Instruct the bot to start a build by adding a comment with `bot: build`.
+- Confirm the build worked correctly. If so, you can deploy the software by adding the label `bot:build` to the pull request.
+- Once the staging PR is approved, the development build will become available on `dev.eessi.io` in a few minutes!
+
+### Installation details
+
+#### easyconfig files and `--software-commit`
+The approach to build and install software is similar to that of `software.eessi.io`. 
+It requires one or more easyconfig files. Easybuild files used for building for `dev.eessi.io`
+do not need to be a part of an [EasyBuild release](https://github.com/easybuilders/easybuild-easyconfigs), unlike builds for 
+`software.eessi.io`. In this case, the development easyconfigs can simply be placed under `project/easyconfigs`.
+
+To allow for development builds, we leverage the `--software-commit` functionality (requires [EasyBuild](https://easybuild.io/) v4.9.3 or higher). This lets us build a given application from
+a specific commit in repository. This can also be done from a fork, by changing the `github_account` field in the easyconfig file. 
+We've created a template for `ESPResSo` based on the standard eaasyconfig of the most recent version. The relevant fields are:
+
+``` python
+easyblock = 'CMakeMake'
+
+name = 'ESPResSo'
+version = 'devel'
+versionsuffix = '-%(software_commit)s'
+
+homepage = 'https://espressomd.org/wordpress'
+description = """A software package for performing and analyzing scientific Molecular Dynamics simulations."""
+
+github_account = 'espressomd'
+source_urls = ['https://github.com/%(github_account)s/%(name)s/archive/']
+
+sources = ['%(software_commit)s.tar.gz']
+```
+
+!!! warning "`--software-commit` disables `--robot`"
+
+    Using `--software-commit` disables the use of `--robot`, so make sure that you explicitly include
+    new dependencies that might need to be installed. Otherwise, the easyconfig files won't be found.
+
+One can also make new changes to the easyconfig file, for example, if the new functionality requires new build or 
+runtime dependencies, patches, configuration options, etc. It's a good idea to try installing from a specific commit locally first,
+to at least see if everything is parsed correctly and confirm that the right sources are being downloaded.
+
+
+While the process to build for `dev.eessi.io` is similar to the one for the [production repository](../repositories/software.eessi.io.md) there 
+are a few additional details to keep in mind.
+
+#### Versions
+
+Installations to the EESSI production repository refer to specific versions of applications, however, Development builds can't follow the same 
+approach as they are most often not pegged to a release. Because of this, it is possible to add a descriptive "version" name to the `version` field
+in the easyconfig file for a given (set of) installations. 
+
+Note that some applications are built with custom easyblocks which may
+use the `version` field to determine how the installation is meant to work (e.g., versions >2 need to copy files from to a new directory). Make sure
+that you account for this, otherwise you may install software differently than intended. If you encounter issues, you can open an issue in our
+[support portal](https://gitlab.com/eessi/support#eessi-support-portal).
+
+#### Installing dependencies
+
+Installations in `dev.eessi.io` are done _on top_ of `software.eessi.io`. That means if your development build depends on some application that is
+already installed in `software.eessi.io`, then that will simply be used. However, if you need to add a new dependency, then this must included as 
+part of the build. That means including an easystack file for it, and adding it to the right easystack file.
+
+#### Using commit IDs or tags for `--software-commit`
+
+Installing with `--software-commit` requires that you include either a commit ID or a tag. The installation procedure will use the commit ID or tag to 
+obtain the source from the right state. Because tags can be changed to point to a different commit ID, we recommend you avoid using them but stick with
+the commit ID itself. You can then include this in the `versionsuffix` on your easyconfig file, to generate a unique (if ugly) module name.
+
+#### Patch files
+
+If your specific development build requires patch files, you should add these to the `easyconfigs/` directory. If the necessary patch is part of an
+EasyBuild release, then this may not be necessary, as these will be directly taken from EasyBuild. If it is a new patch that is not on an EasyBuild
+release, then include it in the `easyconfigs/` directory.
+
+#### Checksums
+
+EasyBuild's easyconfig files typically contain [checksums](https://docs.easybuild.io/writing-easyconfig-files/?h=checksums#common_easyconfig_param_sources_checksums)
+ as their use is highly recommended. By default, EasyBuild will compute the checksums of sources and patch files it needs for
+  a given installation, and compare them with the values in the easyconfig file. Because builds for `dev.eessi.io` change much
+   more often, hard coded checksums become a problem, as they'd need to be updated with every new build. For this reason, we
+    recommend not including checksums in your development easyconfig files (unless you need to, for a specific reason).
+
+#### Easystack files 
+After an easyconfig file has been created and added to the `easyconfigs` subdirectory, an [easystack file](https://docs.easybuild.io/easystack-files) that picks it up
+needs to be in place so that a build can be triggered.
+
+!!! note "Naming convention for easystack files"
+
+    The easystack files must follow a naming convention and be named something
+    like: `software-eb-X.Y.Z-dev.yml`, where X.Y.Z correspond to the EasyBuild
+    version used to install the software. Following our example for 
+    `ESPREsSo`, it would look like: 
+
+    ``` yml
+    easyconfigs:
+      - ESPResSo-devel-foss-2023a-software-commit.eb:
+          options:
+            software-commit: 2ba17de6096933275abec0550981d9122e4e5f28 # release 4.2.2
+    ```
+
+The `ESPResSo-devel-foss-2023a-software-commit.eb` would be the easyconfig file added in our example step above. 
+Note the option passing the `software-commit` for the development version that should be built.
+For the sake of this example, the chosen commit actually corresponds to the 4.2.2 release.
+
+### Triggering builds
+
+We use the [EESSI build-test-deploy bot](../bot.md) to handle software builds.
+All one needs to do is open a PR with the changes adding the easyconfig and easystack 
+files and commenting `bot: build`. This can only be done by previously authorized users. 
+The current build cluster builds only for the `zen2` CPU microarchitecture, but this is likely to change.
+
+Once a build is complete and the `bot:deploy` label is added, a staging PR can be merged to deploy the
+application to the `dev.eessi.io` cvmfs repository. On a system with `dev.eessi.io` mounted, then all
+that is left is to `module use /cvmfs/dev.eessi.io/versions/2023.06/modules/all` and try out the software!
+
+There is currently no initialisation script or module for `dev.eessi.io`, but this feature is coming soon.

docs/repositories/dev.eessi.io.md

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# Development repository (`dev.eessi.io`)
+
+## What is `dev.eessi.io`?
+
+`dev.eessi.io` is the development repository of EESSI. With it, developers can deploy pre-release builds of their software to EESSI. 
+This way, development versions of software can easily be tested on systems where the `dev.eessi.io` CernVM-FS repository is available.
+
+On a system with `dev.eessi.io` mounted access is possible with `module use /cvmfs/dev.eessi.io/versions/2023.06/modules/all`. Then, all that is left is
+try out the development software!
+
+## Question or problems
+
+If you have any questions regarding EESSI, or if you experience a problem in accessing or using it,
+please [open a support request](../support.md). If you experience issues with the development repository, feel free to use the #dev.eessi.io channel 
+of the EESSI Slack.
+
+## Infrastructure status
+
+The status of the CernVM-FS infrastructure for the production repository is shown at [https://status.eessi.io](https://status.eessi.io/).

mkdocs.yml

@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ nav:
         - Production: repositories/software.eessi.io.md
         - RISC-V: repositories/riscv.eessi.io.md
         - Pilot: repositories/pilot.md
+        - Development repository: repositories/dev.eessi.io.md
   - Installation and configuration:
     - Is EESSI already installed?: getting_access/is_eessi_accessible.md
     - Native: getting_access/native_installation.md
@@ -63,6 +64,7 @@ nav:
       - Contribution policy: adding_software/contribution_policy.md
       - Open PR: adding_software/opening_pr.md
       - Debugging: adding_software/debugging_failed_builds.md
+      - Development repository: adding_software/adding_development_software.md
     - For maintainers:
       - BTD bot: bot.md
       - Building software: adding_software/building_software.md