The documented method to build a Singularity container image requires using sudo privilege. In this owhow-to document, we outline how to work with this constraint. Obviously if you have sudo somewhere that you can use to build a Singularity container image, your problem is solved. For those who don't, here are some of the options:
- Install an Oracle Virtual Box on your desktop or laptop. You can then install your own Linux virtual machine with the Singularity rpm, giving yourself root/sudo privilege on that VM. This will allows you to build an image. The solution works for both Windows, Mac and Linux desktop/laptop.
- Similarly, one can install Docker on your desktop or laptop. Then install / pull a Linux Docker container and install Singularity rpm in the container. The rest is the same as above.
- Build what you need in a Docker image and upload to Docker Hub, and on a SLAC Linux host, use command "
singularity pull your_docker_image" to convert and save it as a Singularity image.
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