Mastering Apptainer: A Guide to the Best Free Community Resources

January 24, 2023

Apptainer is free, open source software that is the most widely used container system for high performance computing (HPC). Apptainer, formerly known as Singularity, is now part of the Linux Foundation, which aims to democratize code and scale adoption by helping companies and developers identify and contribute to the projects that matter. It’s designed to execute applications at bare-metal performance while being secure, portable, and 100% reproducible. An Apptainer container packages up whatever you need into a single, verifiable file.

Like Rocky Linux, Apptainer benefits from an abundance of free community resources for users. These resources include quick start guides, mailing lists, the Apptainer Slack channel, and more, all of which provide users with a wealth of knowledge and support.

Be sure to bookmark this list of free community resources for Apptainer:

Apptainer.org: Apptainer’s home away from home is apptainer.org, which includes links to the GitHub Project, where you can grab the latest stable release of Apptainer, submit issues, and contribute to the project at the official GitHub repository. You can also access the QuickStart guide, which documents how to get Apptainer installed and set up in a hurry, as well as pre-built packages that are available for download.
Apptainer Slack Channel: To learn more about what Apptainer is up to and engage in conversations, be sure to join the Apptainer Slack Channel.
Apptainer Mailing Lists: There are two mailing lists available for Apptainer users, including one for general discussions and announcements, and one for announcements only. These lists are a great way to stay up-to-date on the latest developments in the Apptainer. In addition, you can sign up for our CIQ newsletter on our blog page to get a summary of product updates, events, CIQ news, and tips from our team of in-house experts.
Apptainer Documentation: Visit the Apptainer documentation link for detailed documentation on various aspects of Apptainer, including an introduction to Apptainer, installation instructions, and topics relevant to users building and running containers. For a detailed guide to installation and configuration, see the separate Admin Guide.
Apptainer Github: Apptainer maintains the Apptainer Container Project on Github, which includes links to repositories as well as information on Documentation, Support, and Community Meetings/Minutes/.
Apptainer News: You’ll find major Apptainer announcements listed in Apptainer News.
Live webinars: Check out our live webinars and video shorts that can help you get started with Apptainer and learn how to use it effectively. You’ll find our recent webinar, Continuous Integration and Delivery with Apptainer, particularly useful!

While Apptainer offers a wealth of free resources, many who are putting Apptainer into production are looking for additional support. If you need dedicated escalation support for Apptainer, reach out to CIQ, and we’ll demonstrate what this looks like and how we can help you! We have experts available who can help you advance your mission, 24x7x365.

As you can see, there are many free resources available to the Apptainer community. Be sure to bookmark our Documentation page, a handy and comprehensive reference guide where we’ll continue to update links to these various resources. These resources can help you learn to use Apptainer, troubleshoot, and get involved in the project, so be sure to take advantage of them.