PelicanHPC is a Debian-based Live CD Linux distribution with a goal to make it simple to set up a high performance computing cluster. The front-end node (either a real computer or a virtual machine) boots from the CD image.

The compute nodes boot by Pre-Execution Environment (PXE), using the front-end node as the server. All of the nodes of the cluster get their file systems from the same CD image, so it is guaranteed that all nodes run the same software. The CD image is created by running a single script, which makes it possible to customise the live CD image with extra Debian packages.

Here are some key features of "PelicanHPC":

· Pelican is created using Debian Live. To make your own version you only need live_helper and the make_pelican script, which is provided below.
· The LAM-MPI and OpenMPI implementations of MPI are installed. Both 32 and 64 bit versions are available. Debian testing (Lenny) is the base for both.
· Contains extensive example programs using GNU Octave and MPITB. Also has the Linpack HPL benchmark.
· You can use any Class C network you like. By default, the cluster is on 10.11.12.*
· xfce4 window manager, konqueror for browsing and file management, ksysguard for monitoring the cluster, kate and nano for editing. As noted, it is very easy to add packages. Pelican is a bare-bones framework for setting up a HPC cluster.
· Pelican releases and all testing is done using Debian testing (Lenny) as the base. Etch does not work, Sid may or may not.

What's New in This Release: [ read full changelog ]

· The make_pelican script supports USB disk image as well as ISO;
· added dialogs for setting password and allowing use of permanent storage;
· add binary blobs for closed-source network cards;
· add locales, console-common and packages for mail;
· add a couple of symbolic links to support software compiled using older versions of OpenMPI;
· tutorial updated.