apex-flow 1.1.3

Alloy Properties EXplorer using simulations

APEX: Alloy Property EXplorer using simulations

APEX: Alloy Property EXplorer using simulations, is a component of the AI Square project that involves the restructuring of the DP-Gen auto_test module to develop a versatile and extensible Python package for general alloy property testing. This package enables users to conveniently establish a wide range of property-test workflows by utilizing various computational approaches, including support for LAMMPS, VASP, and ABACUS.

New Features Update (v1.0)

• Enable the calculation of phonon spectrum (v1.1.0)
• Decouple property calculations into individual sub-workflow to facilitate the customization of complex property functions
• Support one-click parallel submission of multiple workflows
• Integrate a single step test mode for run steps, providing an interaction method similar to auto_test
• Allow users to modify task submission concurrency via group_size and pool_size
• Enable users to customize suffix of property calculation directory so that multiple tests with identical property templates but different settings can be run within one workflow
• Refactor and optimize the command line interaction for improved usability
• Enhance robustness across diverse use scenarios, especially for the local debug mode

Table of Contents

• APEX: Alloy Property EXplorer using simulations
  • New Features Update (v1.0)
  • Table of Contents
  • 1. Overview
  • 2. Easy Install
  • 3. User Guide
    • 3.1. Before Submission
      • 3.1.1. Global Setting
      • 3.1.2. Calculation Parameters
        • 3.1.2.1. EOS
        • 3.1.2.2. Elastic
        • 3.1.2.3. Surface
        • 3.1.2.4. Vacancy
        • 3.1.2.5. Interstitial
        • 3.1.2.6. Gamma Line
        • 3.1.2.7. Phonon Spectrum
    • 3.2. Command
      • 3.2.1. Workflow Submission
      • 3.2.2. Single-Step Test
  • 4. Quick Start
    • 4.1. In the Bohrium
    • 4.2. In a Local Argo Service
    • 4.3. In a Local Environment

1. Overview

APEX adopts the functionality of the second-generation auto_test for alloy properties calculations and is developed utilizing the dflow framework. By integrating the benefits of cloud-native workflows, APEX streamlines the intricate procedure of automatically testing various configurations and properties. Owing to its cloud-native characteristic, APEX provides users with a more intuitive and user-friendly interaction, enhancing the overall user experience by eliminating concerns related to process control, task scheduling, observability, and disaster tolerance.

The comprehensive architecture of APEX is demonstrated below:

Figure 1. APEX schematic diagram

APEX consists of three types of pre-defined workflow that users can submit: relaxation, property, and joint. The relaxation and property sub-workflow comprise three sequential steps: Make, Run, and Post, while the joint workflow essentially combines the relaxation and property workflows into a comprehensive workflow.

The relaxation process begins with the initial POSCAR supplied by the user, which is used to generate crucial data such as the final relaxed structure and its corresponding energy, forces, and virial tensor. This equilibrium state information is essential for input into the property workflow, enabling further calculations of alloy properties. Upon completion, the final results are automatically retrieved and downloaded to the original working directory.

In both the relaxation and property workflows, the Make step prepares the corresponding computational tasks. These tasks are then transferred to the Run step that is responsible for task dispatch, calculation monitoring, and retrieval of completed tasks (implemented through the DPDispatcher plugin). Upon completion of all tasks, the Post step is initiated to collect data and obtain the desired property results.

APEX currently offers computation methods for the following alloy properties:

• Equation of State (EOS)
• Elastic constants
• Surface energy
• Interstitial formation energy
• Vacancy formation energy
• Generalized stacking fault energy (Gamma line)
• Phonon spectrum

Moreover, APEX supports three types of calculators: LAMMPS for molecular dynamics simulations, and VASP and ABACUS for first-principles calculations.

2. Easy Install

Easy install by

pip install apex-flow

You may also clone the package firstly by

git clone https://github.com/deepmodeling/APEX.git

then install APEX by

cd APEX
pip install .

3. User Guide

3.1. Before Submission

In APEX, there are three essential components required before submitting a workflow:

• A global JSON file containing parameters for configuring dflow and other global settings (default: "./global.json")
• A calculation JSON file containing parameters associated with calculations (relaxation and property test)
• A work directory consists of necessary files specified in the above JSON files, along with initial structures (default: "./")

3.1.1. Global Setting

The instructions regarding global configuration, dflow, and DPDispatcher specific settings must be stored in a JSON format file. The table below describes some crucial keywords, classified into three categories:

• Basic config

  Key words	Data structure	Default	Description
  apex_image_name	String	zhuoy/apex_amd64	Image for step other than run. One can build this Docker image via prepared Dockerfile
  run_image_name	String	None	Image of calculator for run step. Use {calculator}_image_name to indicate corresponding image for higher priority
  run_command	String	None	Shell command for run step. Use {calculator}_run_command to indicate corresponding command for higher priority
  group_size	Int	1	Number of tasks per parallel run group.
  pool_size	Int	1	For multi tasks per parallel group, the pool size of multiprocessing pool to handle each task (1 for serial, -1 for infinity)
  upload_python_package	Optional[List]	None	Additional python packages required in the container
  debug_pool_workers	Int	1	Pool size of parallel tasks running in the debug mode

• Dflow config

  Key words	Data structure	Default	Description
  dflow_host	String	https://127.0.0.1:2746	Url of dflow server
  k8s_api_server	String	https://127.0.0.1:2746	Url of kubernetes API server
  dflow_config	Optional[Dict]	None	Specify more detailed dflow config in a nested dictionary with higher priority (See dflow document for more detail).
  dflow_s3_config	Optional[Dict]	None	Specify dflow s3 repository config in a nested dictionary with higher priority (See dflow document for more detail).

• Dispatcher config (One may refer to DPDispatcher’s documentation for details of the following parameters)

  Key words	Data structure	Default	Description
  context_type	String	None	Context type to connect to the remote server
  batch_type	String	None	System to dispatch tasks
  local_root	String	"./"	Local root path
  remote_root	String	None	Remote root path
  remote_host	String	None	Remote root path
  remote_username	String	None	Remote user name
  remote_password	String	None	Remote user password
  port	Int	22	Remote port
  machine	Optional[Dict]	None	Complete machine setting dictionary defined in the DPDispatcher with higher priority
  resources	Optional[Dict]	None	Complete resources setting dictionary defined in the DPDispatcher with higher priority
  task	Optional[Dict]	None	Complete task setting dictionary defined in the DPDispatcher with higher priority

• Bohrium (additonal dispatcher config to be specified when you want to quickly adopt the pre-built dflow service or scientific computing resources on the Bohrium platform )

  Key words	Data structure	Default	Description
  email	String	None	Email of your Bohrium account
  phone	String	None	Phone number of your Bohrium account
  password	String	None	Password of your Bohrium account
  program_id	Int	None	Program ID of your Bohrium account
  scass_type	String	None	Node type provided by Bohrium

Please refer to the Quick Start section for various instances of global JSON examples in different situations.

3.1.2. Calculation Parameters

The method for indicating parameters in alloy property calculations is akin to the previous dpgen.autotest approach. There are three categories of JSON files that determine the parameters to be passed to APEX, based on their contents.

Categories calculation parameter files:

Type	File format	Dictionary contained	Usage
Relaxation	json	structures; interaction; Relaxation	For relaxation worflow
Property	json	structures; interaction; Properties	For property worflow
Joint	json	structures; interaction; Relaxation; Properties	For relaxation, property and joint worflows

It should be noted that files such as POSCAR, located within the structure directory, or any other files specified within the JSON file should be defined as relative path to the working directory and prepared in advanced.

Below are three examples (for detailed explanations of each parameter, please refer to the Hands-on_auto-test documentation for further information):

• Relaxation parameter file

  {
    "structures":            ["confs/std-*"],
    "interaction": {
            "type":           "deepmd",
            "model":          "frozen_model.pb",
            "type_map":       {"Mo": 0}
      },
    "relaxation": {
            "cal_setting":   {"etol":       0,
                              "ftol":     1e-10,
                              "maxiter":   5000,
                              "maximal":  500000}
      }
  }
  

• Property parameter file

  {
    "structures":    ["confs/std-*"],
    "interaction": {
        "type":          "deepmd",
        "model":         "frozen_model.pb",
        "type_map":      {"Mo": 0}
    },
    "properties": [
        {
          "type":         "eos",
          "skip":         false,
          "vol_start":    0.6,
          "vol_end":      1.4,
          "vol_step":     0.1,
          "cal_setting":  {"etol": 0,
                          "ftol": 1e-10}
        },
        {
          "type":         "elastic",
          "skip":         false,
          "norm_deform":  1e-2,
          "shear_deform": 1e-2,
          "cal_setting":  {"etol": 0,
                          "ftol": 1e-10}
        }
        ]
  }
  

• Joint parameter file

  {
    "structures":            ["confs/std-*"],
    "interaction": {
          "type":           "deepmd",
          "model":          "frozen_model.pb",
          "type_map":       {"Mo": 0}
      },
    "relaxation": {
            "cal_setting":   {"etol":       0,
                            "ftol":     1e-10,
                            "maxiter":   5000,
                            "maximal":  500000}
      },
    "properties": [
      {
        "type":         "eos",
        "skip":         false,
        "vol_start":    0.6,
        "vol_end":      1.4,
        "vol_step":     0.1,
        "cal_setting":  {"etol": 0,
                        "ftol": 1e-10}
      },
      {
        "type":         "elastic",
        "skip":         false,
        "norm_deform":  1e-2,
        "shear_deform": 1e-2,
        "cal_setting":  {"etol": 0,
                        "ftol": 1e-10}
      }
      ]
  }
  

3.1.2.1. EOS

Key words	Data structure	Example	Description
vol_start	Float	0.9	The starting volume related to the equilibrium structure
vol_end	Float	1.1	The maximum volume related to the equilibrium structure
vol_step	Float	0.01	The volume increment related to the equilibrium structure

3.1.2.2. Elastic

Key words	Data structure	Example	Description
norm_deform	Float	1.1	The deformation in xx, yy, zz, defaul = 1e-2
shear_deform	Float	0.01	The deformation in other directions, default = 1e-2

3.1.2.3. Surface

Key words	Data structure	Example	Description
min_slab_size	Int	10	Minimum size of slab thickness
min_vacuum_size	Int	11	Minimum size of vacuum width
pert_xz	Float	0.01	Perturbation through xz direction used to compute surface energy, default = 0.01
max_miller	Int	2	The maximum miller index number of surface generated

3.1.2.4. Vacancy

Key words	Data structure	Example	Description
supercell	List[Int]	[3, 3, 3]	The supercell to be constructed, default = [1,1,1]

3.1.2.5. Interstitial

Key words	Data structure	Example	Description
insert_ele	List[String]	["Al"]	The element to be inserted
supercell	List[Int]	[3, 3, 3]	The supercell to be constructed, default =[1,1,1]
conf_filters	Dict	"min_dist": 1.5	Filter out the undesirable configuration

3.1.2.6. Gamma Line

Figure 2. Schematic diagram of Gamma line calculation

The Gamma line (generalized stacking fault energy) function of APEX calculates energy of a series slab structures of specific crystal plane, which displaced in the middle along a slip vector as illustrated in Figure 2. In APEX, the slab structrures are defined by a plane miller index and two orthogonal directions (primary and secondary) on the plane. The slip vector is always along the primary directions with slip length defined by users or default settings. Thus, by indicating plane_miller and the slip_direction (AKA, primary direction), a slip system can be defined.

For most common slip systems in respect to FCC, BCC and HCP crystal structures, slip direction, secondary direction and default fractional slip lengths are already documented and listed below (users are strongly advised to follow those pre-defined slip system, or may need to double-check the generated slab structure, as unexpected results may occur especially for system like HCP):

• FCC

  Plane miller index	Slip direction	Secondary direction	Default slip length
  $(001)$	$[100]$	$[010]$	$a$
  $(110)$	$[\bar{1}10]$	$[001]$	$\sqrt{2}a$
  $(111)$	$[11\bar{2}]$	$[\bar{1}10]$	$\sqrt{6}a$
  $(111)$	$[\bar{1}\bar{1}2]$	$[1\bar{1}0]$	$\sqrt{6}a$
  $(111)$	$[\bar{1}10]$	$[\bar{1}\bar{1}2]$	$\sqrt{2}a$
  $(111)$	$[1\bar{1}0]$	$[11\bar{2}]$	$\sqrt{2}a$

• BCC

  Plane miller index	Slip direction	Secondary direction	Default slip length
  $(001)$	$[100]$	$[010]$	$a$
  $(111)$	$[\bar{1}10]$	$[\bar{1}\bar{1}2]$	$\frac{\sqrt{2}}{2}a$
  $(110)$	$[\bar{1}11]$	$[00\bar{1}]$	$\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}a$
  $(110)$	$[1\bar{1}\bar{1}]$	$[001]$	$\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}a$
  $(112)$	$[11\bar{1}]$	$[\bar{1}10]$	$\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}a$
  $(112)$	$[\bar{1}\bar{1}1]$	$[1\bar{1}0]$	$\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}a$
  $(123)$	$[11\bar{1}]$	$[\bar{2}10]$	$\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}a$
  $(123)$	$[\bar{1}\bar{1}1]$	$[2\bar{1}0]$	$\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}a$

• HCP (Bravais lattice)

  Plane miller index	Slip direction	Secondary direction	Default slip length
  $(0001)$	$[2\bar{1}\bar{1}0]$	$[01\bar{1}0]$	$a$
  $(0001)$	$[1\bar{1}00]$	$[01\bar{1}0]$	$\sqrt{3}a$
  $(0001)$	$[10\bar{1}0]$	$[01\bar{1}0]$	$\sqrt{3}a$
  $(01\bar{1}0)$	$[\bar{2}110]$	$[000\bar{1}]$	$a$
  $(01\bar{1}0)$	$[0001]$	$[\bar{2}110]$	$c$
  $(01\bar{1}0)$	$[\bar{2}113]$	$[000\bar{1}]$	$\sqrt{a^2+c^2}$
  $(\bar{1}2\bar{1}0)$	$[\bar{1}010]$	$[000\bar{1}]$	$\sqrt{3}a$
  $(\bar{1}2\bar{1}0)$	$[0001]$	$[\bar{1}010]$	$c$
  $(01\bar{1}1)$	$[\bar{2}110]$	$[\bar{1}2\bar{1}\bar{3}]$	$a$
  $(01\bar{1}1)$	$[\bar{1}2\bar{1}\bar{3}]$	$[2\bar{1}\bar{1}0]$	$\sqrt{a^2+c^2}$
  $(01\bar{1}1)$	$[0\bar{1}12]$	$[\bar{1}2\bar{1}\bar{3}]$	$\sqrt{3a^2+4c^2}$
  $(\bar{1}2\bar{1}2)$	$[10\bar{1}0]$	$[1\bar{2}13]$	$\sqrt{3}a$
  $(\bar{1}2\bar{1}2)$	$[1\bar{2}13]$	$[\bar{1}010]$	$\sqrt{a^2+c^2}$

The parameters related to Gamma line calculation are listed below:

Key words	Data structure	Default	Description
plane_miller	Sequence[Int]	None	Miller index of the target slab
slip_direction	Sequence[Int]	None	Miller index of slip (primary) direction of the slab
slip_length	Int|Float; Sequence[Int|Float, Int|Float, Int|Float]	Refer to specific slip system as the table shows above, or 1 if not indicated	Slip length along the primary direction with default unit set by users or default setting. As for format of [x, y, z], the length equals to $\sqrt{(xa)^2+(yb)^2+(zc)^2}$
plane_shift	Int|Float	0	Shift of displacement plane with unit of lattice parameter $c$ (positive for upwards). This allows creating slip plane within narrowly-spaced planes (see ref).
n_steps	Int	10	Number of steps to displace slab along the slip vector
vacuum_size	Int|Float	0	Thickness of vacuum layer added around the slab with unit of Angstrom
supercell_size	Sequence[Int, Int, Int]	[1, 1, 5]	Size of generated supper cell based on slab structure
add fix	Sequence[Str, Str, Str]	["true","true","false"]	Whether to add fix position constraint along x, y and z direction during calculation

Here is an example:

{
    "type":            "gamma",
    "skip":            true,
    "plane_miller":    [0,0,1],
    "slip_direction":  [1,0,0],
    "hcp": {
      	"plane_miller":    [0,1,-1,1],
      	"slip_direction":  [-2,1,1,0],
        "slip_length":     [1,0,1],
        "plane_shift": 0.25
  	},
    "supercell_size":   [1,1,6],
    "vacuum_size": 10,
    "add_fix": ["true","true","false"],
    "n_steps":         10
  }

It should be noted that for various crystal structures, users can further define slip parameters within the respective nested dictionaries, which will be prioritized for adoption. In the example above, the slip system configuration within the "hcp" dictionary will be utilized.

3.1.2.7. Phonon Spectrum

This function incorporates part of dflow-phonon codes into APEX to enhance its comprehensiveness. This workflow is facilitated via Phonopy, in conjunction with phonoLAMMPS for LAMMPS calculations.

IMPORTANT!!: it should be noticed that the phonoLAMMPS package must be pre-installed in the user's run_image to ensure accurate LAMMPS calculations for the phonon spectrum.

Parameters related to Phonon calculations are listed below:

Key words	Data structure	Default	Description
primitive	Bool	False	Whether to find primitive lattice structure for phonon calculation
approach	String	"linear"	Specify phonon calculation method when using VASP; Two options: 1. "linear" for the Linear Response Method, and 2. "displacement" for the Finite Displacement Method
supercell_size	Sequence[Int]	[2, 2, 2]	Size of supercell created for calculation
MESH	Sequence[Int]	None	Define the dimensions of the grid in reciprocal space, which will be utilized for the calculation of phonon frequencies and eigenvectors. For example: [8, 8, 8]; Refer to Phonopy MESH
PRIMITIVE_AXES	String	None	To define the basis vectors of a primitive cell with reference to the basis vectors of a conventional cell, facilitating input cell transformation. For example: "0.0 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.0 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.0"; Refer to Phonopy PRIMITIVE_AXES
BAND	String	None	Indicate band path in reciprocal space as format of Phonopy BAND; For example: "0 0 0 1/2 0 1/2, 1/2 1/2 1 0 0 0 1/2 1/2 1/2"
BAND_POINTS	Int	51	Number of sampling points including the path ends
BAND_CONNECTION	Bool	True	With this option, band connections are estimated from eigenvectors and band structure is drawn by considering band crossings. In sensitive cases, to obtain better band connections, it requires to increase the number of points calculated in band segments by the BAND_POINTS tag.

When utilizing VASP, you have two primary calculation methods at your disposal: the Linear Response Method and the Finite Displacement Method.

The Linear Response Method has an edge over the Finite Displacement Method in that it eliminates the need for creating super-cells, thereby offering computational efficiency in certain cases. Additionally, this method is particularly well-suited for systems with anomalous phonon dispersion (like systems with Kohn anomalies), as it can precisely calculate the phonons at the specified points.

On the other hand, the Finite Displacement Method's advantage lies in its versatility; it functions as an add-on compatible with any code, including those beyond the scope of density functional theory. The only requirement is that the external code can compute forces. For instance, ABACUS may lack an implementation of the Linear Response Method, but can effectively utilize the Finite Displacement Method implemented in phonon calculation.

3.2. Command

APEX currently supports two seperate run modes: workflow submission (running via dflow) and single-step test (running without dflow).

3.2.1. Workflow Submission

APEX will execute a specific dflow workflow upon each invocation of the command in the format: apex submit [-h] [-c [CONFIG]] [-w WORK [WORK ...]] [-d] [-f {relax,props,joint}] parameter [parameter ...]. The type of workflow and calculation method will be automatically determined by APEX based on the parameter file provided by the user. Additionally, users can specify the workflow type, configuration JSON file, and work directory through an optional argument (Run apex submit -h for help). Here is an example to submit a joint workflow:

apex submit param_relax.json param_props.json -c ./global_bohrium.json -w 'dp_demo_0?' 'eam_demo'

if no config JSON and work directory is specified, ./global.json and ./ will be passed as default values respectively.

3.2.2. Single-Step Test

APEX also provides a single-step test mode, which can run Make run and Post step individually under local enviornment. Please note that one needs to run command under the work directory in this mode. Users can invoke them by format of apex test [-h] [-m [MACHINE]] parameter {make_relax,run_relax,post_relax,make_props,run_props,post_props} (Run apex test -h for help). Here is a example to do relaxation in this mode:

1. Firstly, generate relaxation tasks by

   apex test param_relax.json make_relax
   

2. Then dispatch tasks by

   apex test param_relax.json run_relax -m machine.json
   

   where machine.json is a JSON file to define dispatch method, containing machine, resources, task dictionaries and run_command as listed in DPDispatcher’s documentation. Here is an example to submit tasks to a Slurm managed remote HPC:

    {
      "run_command": "lmp -i in.lammps -v restart 0",
      "machine": {
          "batch_type": "Slurm",
          "context_type": "SSHContext",
          "local_root" : "./",
          "remote_root": "/hpc/home/hku/zyl/Downloads/remote_tasks",
          "remote_profile":{
              "hostname": "***.**.**.**",
              "username": "USERNAME",
              "password": "PASSWD",
              "port": 22,
              "timeout": 10
          }
      },
      "resources":{
          "number_node": 1,
          "cpu_per_node": 4,
          "gpu_per_node": 0,
          "queue_name": "apex_test",
          "group_size": 1,
          "module_list": ["deepmd-kit/2.1.0/cpu_binary_release"],
          "custom_flags": [
                "#SBATCH --partition=xlong",
                "#SBATCH --ntasks=1",
                "#SBATCH --mem=10G",
                "#SBATCH --nodes=1",
                "#SBATCH --time=1-00:00:00"
          ]
      }
    }
   

3. Finally, as all tasks are finished, post process by

   apex test param_relax.json post_relax
   

The property test can follow similar approach.

4. Quick Start

We present several case studies as introductory illustrations of APEX, tailored to distinct user scenarios. For our demonstration, we will utilize a LAMMPS_example to compute the Equation of State (EOS) and elastic constants of molybdenum in both Body-Centered Cubic (BCC) and Face-Centered Cubic (FCC) phases. To begin, we will examine the files prepared within the working directory for this specific case.

lammps_demo
├── confs
│   ├── std-bcc
│   │   └── POSCAR
│   └── std-fcc
│       └── POSCAR
├── frozen_model.pb
├── global_bohrium.json
├── global_hpc.json
├── param_joint.json
├── param_props.json
└── param_relax.json

There are three types of parameter files and two types of global config files, as well as a Deep Potential file of molybdenum frozen_model.pb. Under the directory of confs, structure file POSCAR of both phases have been prepared respectively.

4.1. In the Bohrium

The most efficient method for submitting an APEX workflow is through the preconfigured execution environment of dflow on the Bohrium platform. To do this, it may be necessary to create an account on Bohrium. Below is an example of a global.json file for this approach.

{
    "dflow_host": "https://workflows.deepmodeling.com",
    "k8s_api_server": "https://workflows.deepmodeling.com",
    "batch_type": "Bohrium",
    "context_type": "Bohrium",
    "email": "YOUR_EMAIL",
    "password": "YOUR_PASSWD",
    "program_id": 1234,
    "apex_image_name":"registry.dp.tech/dptech/prod-11045/apex-dependencies:1.1.0",
    "lammps_image_name": "registry.dp.tech/dptech/prod-11461/phonopy:v1.2",
    "lammps_run_command":"lmp -in in.lammps",
    "scass_type":"c8_m31_1 * NVIDIA T4"
}

Then, one can submit a relaxation workflow via:

apex submit param_relax.json -c global_bohrium.json

Remember to replace email, password and program_id of your own before submission. As for image, you can either build your own or use public images from Bohrium or pulling from the Docker Hub. Once the workflow is submitted, one can monitor it at https://workflows.deepmodeling.com.

4.2. In a Local Argo Service

Additionally, a dflow environment can be installed in a local computer by executing installation scripts located in the dflow repository (users can also refer to the dflow service setup manual for more details). For instance, to install on a Linux system without root access:

bash install-linux-cn.sh

This process will automatically configure the required local tools, including Docker, Minikube, and Argo service, with the default port set to 127.0.0.1:2746. Consequently, one can modify the global_hpc.json file to submit a workflow to this container without a Bohrium account. Here is an example:

{
    "apex_image_name":"zhuoyli/apex_amd64",
    "run_image_name": "zhuoyli/apex_amd64",
    "run_command":"lmp -in in.lammps",
    "batch_type": "Slurm",
    "context_type": "SSHContext",
    "local_root" : "./",
    "remote_root": "/hpc/home/zyl/Downloads/remote_tasks",
    "remote_host": "123.12.12.12",
    "remote_username": "USERNAME",
    "remote_password": "PASSWD",
    "resources":{
        "number_node": 1,
        "cpu_per_node": 4,
        "gpu_per_node": 0,
        "queue_name": "apex_test",
        "group_size": 1,
        "module_list": ["deepmd-kit/2.1.0/cpu_binary_release"],
        "custom_flags": [
            "#SBATCH --partition=xlong",
            "#SBATCH --ntasks=4",
            "#SBATCH --mem=10G",
            "#SBATCH --nodes=1",
            "#SBATCH --time=1-00:00:00"
            ]
       }
}

In this example, we attempt to distribute tasks to a remote node managed by Slurm. Users can replace the relevant parameters within the machine dictionary or specify resources and tasks according to DPDispatcher rules.

For the APEX image, it is publicly available on Docker Hub and can be pulled automatically. Users may also choose to pull the image beforehand or create their own Docker image in the Minikube environment locally using a Dockerfile (please refer to Docker's documentation for building instructions) to expedite pod initialization.

Then, one can submit a relaxation workflow via:

apex submit param_relax.json -c global_hpc.json

Upon submission of the workflow, progress can be monitored at https://127.0.0.1:2746.

4.3. In a Local Environment

If your local computer experiences difficulties connecting to the internet, APEX offers a workflow local debug mode that allows the flow to operate in a basic Python3 environment, independent of the Docker container. However, users will not be able to monitor the workflow through the Argo UI.

To enable this feature, users can add an additional optional argument -d to the origin submission command, as demonstrated below:

apex submit -d param_relax.json -c global_hpc.json

In this approach, uses are not required to specify an image for executing APEX. Rather, APEX should be pre-installed in the default Python3 environment to ensure proper functioning.