2.5. System-Level Packages

The Problem: A lack of sudo privileges on clusters prevents the installation of system-level software (e.g., specific compilers, rendering engines).

The Solution: Build a container with its own Operating System and install the required tools inside during the build phase.

Example

Installing GDAL

GDAL: A complex C++ library for processing geospatial data.

1. Definition File (gdal_env.def):

Bootstrap: docker
From: ubuntu:24.04

%post
    apt-get update -y
    DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive \
    apt-get install -y \
    gdal-bin libgdal-dev
    apt-get clean

2. Build & Use:

apptainer build --ignore-fakeroot-command gdal_env.sif gdal_env.def
apptainer shell gdal_env.sif