How to install MPICH

1 minute read

Requirements

A copy of the distribution, mpich.tar.gz. Download the latest stable version of mpich from: https://www.mpich.org/downloads/
A C compiler. See how to install gcc.
A Fortran-77, Fortran-90, and/or C++ compiler if you wish to write MPI programs in any of these languages. See how to install gfortran.

Make sure you are using bash.
```
 echo $SHELL
```
If it is not bash, command: bash
Create a folder for mpich
```
 mkdir /home/you/mpich
```
Unpack mpich-x-y-z.tar.gz to that folder, where x-y-z is the version
```
 tar xfz mpich-x-y-z.tar.gz
```

Create 2 other folders

 mkdir /home/you/mpich/build
 mkdir /home/you/mpich/mpich-install

Enter the build directory and run the configuration script. It is important to write the full path in the prefix argument.

 cd /home/you/mpich/build
 ../mpich-x-y-z/configure --with-device=ch4:ofi -prefix=/home/you/mpich/mpich-install 2>&1 | tee c.txt

Build mpich. Run command and go for a coffee:
```
 make 2>&1 | tee m.txt
```
Install MPICH.
```
 make install 2>&1 | tee mi.txt	
```
Add the bin subdirectory of the installation directory to your path:
```
 export PATH=/home/you/mpich/mpich-install/bin:$PATH
```
Check if the installation went well:
```
 which mpicc
 which mpiexec
```
Test mpi in your machine by using the example file that the building process creates. That simple program computes the value of PI. While still inside the build folder, command:
```
mpiexe -n NC ./examples/cpi
```
where NC is the number of cores of your machine.

You should install Microsoft MPI instead. See how to install Microsoft MPI.