[ALPS]: Issues with Spack installation

[tianranc]

Category

ALPS Installation (problems installing ALPS packages)

Describe your question or issue

I tried the Spack installation on MacOS, and got errors in the middle of the installation.

My compilers are listed in the first picture. When installing, it made some progress (>30 minutes, 119/120 tasks completed), but eventually stopped at the following error (second pic), which seems to have to do with Boost. I downloaded and decompressed both boost_1_81 and boost_1_87 (third pic). Any thoughts on what might go wrong and how to fix it?

Environment (if installation or code‑related)

macOS Sequoia 15.4.1

alps@2.3.4-beta.2

Additional context

No response

[Ooolab]

Try the following by requiring a specific version of boost:

spack install alps ^boost@1.87

We will update spack package soon to address this.

[Ooolab]

And you don't need to download boost yourself. The spack package will do it automatically.

[tianranc]

Thank you, Fei! I tried spack install alps ^boost@1.87, and it worked!

One more question. When running spack install alps (whether with or without specific boost version) outside the spack directory, the installation failed and I ran into a ModuleNotFoundError. Pictures attached below. Only when I was running the command under the spack directory did the installation succeed.

I'm asking this because the Website doesn't mention whether we should install ALPS under the spack directory. Is it due to my computer's environment or should we actually install alps in the spack directory?

Website says:

[Ooolab]

@tianranc This is because you haven't told the system the spack package location. In your spack home directory, if you source the following script:

. share/spack/setup-env.sh

It will add the spack path to the system's search path for executables. You can then use spack at any directory for the installation.

[skilledwolf]

@Ooolab The original Boost staging failure should be fixed by ALPSim/spack-packages#1. It will need to be merged, and finally PR'd into the official spack repo. spack install alps should then work without pinning Boost or downloading it manually.

I'm not sure who usually handles that, but I'm happy to take care of it if someone gives me the green light.

[tianranc]

@Ooolab I did '. spack/share/spack/setup-env.sh' before compiling/installing (I followed the instructions on the website in order). The 'spack compiler find' works fine whether I'm inside or outside the spack directory, but not the 'spack install alps'. Which is what I found strange.

Does having the spack/ part in my command make the difference?

@tianranc This is because you haven't told the system the spack package location. In your spack home directory, if you source the following script:

. share/spack/setup-env.sh

It will add the spack path to the system's search path for executables. You can then use spack at any directory for the installation.

[Ooolab]

@tianranc Once the path is set up for spack, you can install packages from any directory. So, I figure you haven't set up the path correctly. @skilledwolf , any idea?

[Ooolab]

I am viewing this as a path setting problem, so it's unrelated to spack package issue. I am closing this now.

[gunnarmoller]

One minor point on spack install - currently the spack script does not seem to seem to default to the same python interpreter as the command line; hence I required explicit paths to run it successfully.

Providing and environment variable on the command line fails:
PYTHON=[PATH-TO-PYTHON]/python spack install alps
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/.../spack/bin/spack", line 45, in
from spack.main import main # noqa: E402
File "/.../spack/lib/spack/spack/main.py", line 32, in
import spack.cmd
File "/.../spack/lib/spack/spack/cmd/init.py", line 17, in
import spack.environment as ev
File "/.../spack/lib/spack/spack/environment/init.py", line 598, in
from .environment import (
File "/.../spack/lib/spack/spack/environment/environment.py", line 39, in
import spack.installer_dispatch
File "/.../spack/lib/spack/spack/installer_dispatch.py", line 10, in
import spack.sandbox
File "/.../spack/lib/spack/spack/sandbox.py", line 30, in
O_PATH = os.O_PATH
AttributeError: module 'os' has no attribute 'O_PATH'

On the other hand, invoking spack with the explicit interpreter works fine:

[PATH-TO-PYTHON]/python [PATH-TO-SPACK]/spack/bin/spack install alps

I suggest modifying the spack script to be aware to environment variables and user path settings.

[Ooolab]

@gunnarmoller Thanks for the detailed report! I looked into this, and it turns out to be a Spack-side matter rather than anything in the ALPS package:

1. Choosing the Python interpreter. Spack's bin/spack launcher does honour an environment variable for this, but it is SPACK_PYTHON, not PYTHON. So the following should do what you were after:

   SPACK_PYTHON=/path/to/python spack install alps
   

   If SPACK_PYTHON is unset, the launcher falls back to whichever python3 / python it first finds on PATH, which is why explicitly prefixing the interpreter also worked for you.

2. The os.O_PATH error. os.O_PATH only exists on Linux. Spack's new sandbox module (lib/spack/spack/sandbox.py, introduced in new_installer.py: landlock sandbox spack/spack#52334 on 2026-05-13) accessed it unconditionally, which broke Spack on macOS. This was fixed upstream in sandbox: fix type error on non-linux platforms spack/spack#52447 on 2026-05-27, and the fix is included in Spack v1.2.0 and later (the current release is v1.2.2). Updating your Spack checkout (git pull, or git checkout v1.2.2 inside the spack directory) should make the error go away regardless of which interpreter is used.

Since both points are handled by upstream Spack, there is nothing to change in the ALPS Spack recipe, but please let us know if the problem persists after updating.

[gunnarmoller]

Hi @Ooolab, thanks for diagnosing this - in this case, I think all that's needed is to mention the specific SPACK_PYTHON=xxx environment variable on the ALPS website. Of course, it's a not a big issue to type out the paths, but still an inconvenience.

Here is a follow-up error turned up by the actual spack run failing to diagnose my intel mkl installation, a default install provided by the relevant ubuntu packages - from the log file:

-- LAPACK DEBUG::Compiler id GNU
-- LAPACK DEBUG::Compiler version 13.3.0
-- LAPACK DEBUG::Processor x86_64
-- LAPACK DEBUG::ENV{MKL}
-- LAPACK DEBUG::ENV{MKLROOT} /opt/intel/oneapi/mkl/2025.2
-- LAPACK DEBUG::ENV{MKL_HOME}
-- LAPACK DEBUG::MKL_VERSION #define __INTEL_MKL_BUILD_DATE 20250620;#define INTEL_MKL 2025;#define INTEL_MKL_MINOR 0;#define INTEL_MKL_UPDATE 2;#define INTEL_MKL_PATCH 0.#define __INTEL_MKL_BUILD_DATE 20250620;#define INTEL_MKL 2025;#define INTEL_MKL_MINOR 0;#define INTEL_MKL_UPDATE 2;#define INTEL_MKL_PATCH 0.#define __INTEL_MKL_BUILD_DATE 20250620;#define INTEL_MKL 2025;#define INTEL_MKL_MINOR 0;#define INTEL_MKL_UPDATE 2;#define INTEL_MKL_PATCH 0
-- Performing Test CMAKE_HAVE_LIBC_PTHREAD
-- Performing Test CMAKE_HAVE_LIBC_PTHREAD - Success
-- Found Threads: TRUE
CMake Error at config/FindLapack.cmake:159 (if):
if given arguments:

"#define __INTEL_MKL_BUILD_DATE 20250620" "#define __INTEL_MKL__          2025" "#define __INTEL_MKL_MINOR__    0" "#define __INTEL_MKL_UPDATE__   2" "#define __INTEL_MKL_PATCH__    0.#define __INTEL_MKL_BUILD_DATE 20250620" "#define __INTEL_MKL__          2025" "#define __INTEL_MKL_MINOR__    0" "#define __INTEL_MKL_UPDATE__   2" "#define __INTEL_MKL_PATCH__    0.#define __INTEL_MKL_BUILD_DATE 20250620" "#define __INTEL_MKL__          2025" "#define __INTEL_MKL_MINOR__    0" "#define __INTEL_MKL_UPDATE__   2" "#define __INTEL_MKL_PATCH__    0" "MATCHES" "1[0-1]\\.[0-3]\\.[0-9]+"

Unknown arguments specified
Call Stack (most recent call first):
CMakeLists.txt:394 (find_package)

-- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!
Command exited with status 1:
Otherwise seems to be running exclusively on spack staged directories:

.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/cmake-3.31.12-ljbrkf2pnwkdiprsap7rq4ztztgknhvf/bin/cmake -G 'Unix Makefiles' -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:STRING=.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/alps-2.3.4-beta.2-4wgvt4qxnbdlu47wfynea4zph7sftwxf -DCMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH_USE_LINK_PATH:BOOL=ON '-DCMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH:STRING=.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/alps-2.3.4-beta.2-4wgvt4qxnbdlu47wfynea4zph7sftwxf/lib;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/alps-2.3.4-beta.2-4wgvt4qxnbdlu47wfynea4zph7sftwxf/lib64' '-DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH:STRING=.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/boost-1.90.0-wzet4rlsx6sszqcbfq2anbvpdimfcgp2;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/cmake-3.31.12-ljbrkf2pnwkdiprsap7rq4ztztgknhvf;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/compiler-wrapper-1.1.0-xg3dfnk6ehbrwwvkxzr2dlk6enfhrv56;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/fftw-3.3.11-3ch5huia7rcaq7gnmqs2sxcxfmmbglri;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/gmake-4.4.1-tfy34cmpqma4gjjd76m47ur364ttjmtl;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/hdf5-1.14.6-oago6kqoxsdomzzyw2zf6bhrnciappo7;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/openblas-0.3.34-ll7khooelgfy3ftnoz7hqkqzlumsugnm;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/py-matplotlib-3.11.1-hzbsklimodkyzaycfm55urozdvoztset;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/py-numpy-2.5.2-gysjfbseqwk5cpdczyc35u4mb2uti7rd;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/py-scipy-1.18.1-gt3zphd7cqvypfpyxoxlbekxa66ey7tb;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/python-3.14.5-glss24hsu5ine7dvue2yzgmjgzt5yws4;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/python-venv-1.0-23qxtgbagqbr433ijcyf5nga6kitwl2f;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/openmpi-5.0.10-lslxwimp7da7uljunwi2apmcu7b4sjne;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/expat-2.8.3-thoydqqpx6pu5yiguq2hiqdenq55ghpu;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/gdbm-1.26-bhysqxrszbgab6lu7hxtxnlyf5uxldwj;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/gettext-1.0-xiabzayzwo3pi5ru4ud5m57gxukpx7sk;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/libffi-3.5.2-y5g3aw4m76h5fmiosxpvv4e7idkhuhcv;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/sqlite-3.53.1-rop3qxbkcuk3mlkdfwlqko57zrwovr25;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/util-linux-uuid-2.41-wapd65inr7hy4dqxoav5ifgw33epbll6;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/zstd-1.5.7-g25crn63sgv3pamfeyywkg34z3k4ofxw;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/numactl-2.0.19-45hesfyiwlruwicji3exde3442gdwjrd;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/prrte-4.1.0-3a2cs434wmterbp2ypztydhskwvxmizk;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/libbsd-0.12.2-5ll3vllqkmikeln34hdju7kngua2alz2;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/bzip2-1.0.8-re6rjivcidytwih4lilmxveip7yvjxkf;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/readline-8.3-ymytfcu33gm6gv7i4l4p37s4milgcs7g;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/pmix-6.1.0-dc23egi2twxzkbgoi5rrhqgnels7hwcs;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/libmd-1.1.0-ca5vuh73nv7bykumcpq7ik3egwhdzgaa;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/hwloc-2.13.0-diickrsjgyaozaiwtd2rpotkskrcna36;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/libevent-2.1.12-2y6u45szq7ma5yhqx54mftnb3he2yxxo;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/libpciaccess-0.17-4o57rf6bes3u2jotbduuqa5neljpr7ux;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/libxml2-2.15.3-67v6lmgfjb6wj3gyfc5v6s7v57rgz7xv;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/ncurses-6.6-3zlo6h7mnuewstavxv7vdayrdh33lcf4;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/openssl-3.6.1-hwylrkwcrc56pb4tre27zaour5uuoaoh;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/libiconv-1.18-xze5ftugwfb7e3kevdluvjz6bfhhh2ea;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/xz-5.8.3-ccdwyi5dy37air4qjpba4a2r3adxto3g;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/zlib-ng-2.3.3-nujvgjfv6v7xf76ktjoxhgm6kviyslsu;.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/gcc-runtime-13.3.0-jaowdcoy545tcxyt66nzebq3ixezzp7t' -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE:STRING=Release -DCMAKE_VERBOSE_MAKEFILE:BOOL=ON -DCMAKE_INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION:BOOL=OFF -DCMAKE_POLICY_DEFAULT_CMP0090:STRING=NEW -DCMAKE_FIND_USE_PACKAGE_REGISTRY:BOOL=OFF -DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS:BOOL=ON -DPYTHON_EXECUTABLE:PATH=.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/python-venv-1.0-23qxtgbagqbr433ijcyf5nga6kitwl2f/bin/python3 -DPython_EXECUTABLE:PATH=.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/python-venv-1.0-23qxtgbagqbr433ijcyf5nga6kitwl2f/bin/python3 -DPython3_EXECUTABLE:PATH=.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/python-venv-1.0-23qxtgbagqbr433ijcyf5nga6kitwl2f/bin/python3 '-DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS:STRING=-std=c++14 -fpermissive -DBOOST_NO_AUTO_PTR -DBOOST_FILESYSTEM_NO_CXX20_ATOMIC_REF -DBOOST_TIMER_ENABLE_DEPRECATED' -DBoost_SRC_DIR:STRING=/tmp/gunnar/spack-stage/spack-stage-alps-2.3.4-beta.2-4wgvt4qxnbdlu47wfynea4zph7sftwxf/spack-src/boost_source_files -DBoost_USE_STATIC_LIBS:BOOL=ON -DBoost_USE_STATIC_RUNTIME:BOOL=OFF -DMPI_CXX_COMPILER:STRING=.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/openmpi-5.0.10-lslxwimp7da7uljunwi2apmcu7b4sjne/bin/mpic++ -DMPI_C_COMPILER:STRING=.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/openmpi-5.0.10-lslxwimp7da7uljunwi2apmcu7b4sjne/bin/mpicc -DCMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH_USE_LINK_PATH:BOOL=ON -DCMAKE_BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_RPATH:BOOL=ON -DHDF5_DIR:STRING=.../src/spack/opt/spack/linux-icelake/hdf5-1.14.6-oago6kqoxsdomzzyw2zf6bhrnciappo7 /tmp/gunnar/spack-stage/spack-stage-alps-2.3.4-beta.2-4wgvt4qxnbdlu47wfynea4zph7sftwxf/spack-src

On another system, spack ran into trouble earlier on compiling some of the dependencies.