nf-core/configs: Palmetto HPC Configuration

Configuration profile for the Clemson University Palmetto HPC cluster.

This profile is maintained by the Research Computing and Data Engagment team at Clemson University. Contact us at ithelp@clemson.edu for questions or issues.

Using the profile

To use this profile, specify it when running any nf-core pipeline:

## Load Nextflow module
module load nextflow
nextflow run nf-core/<pipeline-name> -profile palmetto

This will automatically apply all cluster-specific settings including executor, resource limits, and container configurations.

Sub-profiles

The following sub-profiles are available for specialized resources:

  • palmetto,cleanup: Removes your pipeline’s work directory after a successful run

Example:

nextflow run nf-core/<pipeline-name> -profile palmetto,cleanup

Prerequisites

Before running pipelines with this profile:

  1. Ensure you have access to the Clemson University HPC cluster
  2. Load the Nextflow module: module load nextflow
  3. Verify Singularity is available: singularity --version

First-time setup

At least the first time you run a piepline, it may take several minutes to download container images. If you would like to reuse these images, please set $NXF_SINGULARITY_CACHEDIR in your ~/.bashrc to a folder in your /home or /project folder.

Cluster details

  • Scheduler: SLURM
  • Default queue: work1
  • Container engine: Singularity
  • Resource limits:
    • Maximum CPUs: 192 cores
    • Maximum memory: 750GB
    • Maximum walltime: 72 hours

Reference genomes

This profile includes paths to local iGenomes reference genomes at /datasets/igenomes/. Pipelines will automatically use local copies instead of downloading references, saving time and bandwidth.

Known issues

  • Jobs requesting more than 24 hours may experience longer queue times
  • The /home filesystem has a 250GB quota. Use /scratch for large datasets
  • Container builds are not supported. Contact support if you need custom containers

Troubleshooting

Quota exceeded errors

Move your work directory to /scratch if you exceed /home quota:

cd /scratch/$USER
nextflow run nf-core/<pipeline-name> -profile palmetto

Support

For issues related to this profile or the Clemson University HPC cluster:

For issues with nf-core pipelines, see the nf-core website.

Config file

See config file on GitHub

conf/palmetto
// Clemson University - Palmetto HPC cluster
// nf-core institutional config
// Scheduler: SLURM | Containers: Apptainer/Singularity
//
// To activate: nextflow run <pipeline> -profile palmetto
//
params {
config_profile_name = 'PALMETTO'
config_profile_description = 'nf-core config for the Clemson University Palmetto HPC cluster'
config_profile_contact = 'Research Computing and Data Engagement (ithelp@clemson.edu)'
config_profile_url = 'https://docs.rcd.clemson.edu'
// Use local igenomes database
igenomes_ignore = true
igenomes_base = '/datasets/igenomes/'
max_memory = 750.GB
max_cpus = 192
max_time = 72.h
partition = 'work1'
}
validation.ignoreParams = ["work1"]
env.TMPDIR = "/local_scratch/slurm.${System.getenv('SLURM_JOBID')}"
cleanup = false
executor {
queueSize = 256
pollInterval = '1 min'
queueStatInterval = '5 min'
submitRateLimit = '10 sec'
}
// Set $NXF_SINGULARITY_CACHEDIR in your ~/.bashrc
// to stop downloading the same image for every run
singularity {
enabled = true
autoMounts = true
}
apptainer {
autoMounts = true
}
process {
resourceLimits = [
cpus: params.max_cpus,
memory: params.max_memory,
time: params.max_time
]
executor = 'slurm'
queue = { params.partition }
scratch = true
maxRetries = 3
}
//
// This profile will clean up your work directory after a
// successful run, intermediate files will not consume storage space
//
// To activate: nextflow run <pipeline> -profile palmetto,cleanup
//
profiles {
cleanup {
cleanup = true
}
}