merlin6-users - [[merlin6-users]] AFS Decommissioning on Merlin

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[[merlin6-users]] AFS Decommissioning on Merlin

From: "Caubet Serrabou, Marc" <marc.caubet AT psi.ch>
To: Merlin Users <merlin-users AT lists.psi.ch>, "merlin6-users AT lists.psi.ch" <merlin6-users AT lists.psi.ch>, "gwendolen-users AT lists.psi.ch" <gwendolen-users AT lists.psi.ch>
Cc: Merlin Admins <merlin-admins AT lists.psi.ch>
Subject: [[merlin6-users]] AFS Decommissioning on Merlin
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 2026 09:08:29 +0000
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Dear Merlin users,

As announced in PSIaktuell, the site-wide AFS service at PSI will be permanently discontinued on Friday, 30 October 2026. AFS home and project areas are already read-only, and access to all AFS volumes will become unavailable from that date.

Although AFS has remained operational on the Merlin clusters beyond its official decommissioning in August 2026, it is no longer a supported service. We therefore encourage users to verify that none of their remaining workflows on the Merlin clusters depend on AFS.

PSI Environment Modules (Pmodules) will be migrated from AFS to an NFS-based location before the shutdown. This transition will be transparent to users, with existing software paths remaining unchanged. No user action will be required.

As part of this transition, centrally provided Spack modules will also be discontinued. Equivalent software versions, either identical or newer, should already be available through Pmodules. If you find any missing software, please contact us through the mailing list so we can identify a suitable solution. Spack will remain available for user-managed installations.

For Merlin7, these changes will require a full cluster downtime, which we will also use to upgrade the compute nodes. In particular, the A100 GPU nodes will receive updates enabling support for newer CUDA releases and applications built with more recent CUDA toolkits.

For Merlin6, we aim to perform the migration progressively, draining and switching compute nodes to minimize disruption. Login nodes will require a reboot. Should additional interruptions become necessary, we will inform users as early as possible through the corresponding mailing list.

Further details, including the exact maintenance schedule for both clusters, will follow.

Best regards,
The Merlin Admins

Marc Caubet Serrabou
_________________________________________________________

High Performance Computing & Emerging Technologies

Paul Scherrer Institut
Building/Room: OBBA/230

Forschungsstrasse, 111

5232 Villigen PSI
Switzerland

Telephone: +41 56 310 46 67
E-Mail: marc.caubet AT psi.ch

[[merlin6-users]] AFS Decommissioning on Merlin, Caubet Serrabou, Marc, 10/12/2026

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[[merlin6-users]] AFS Decommissioning on Merlin