Home About News New E3SM-Unified Release

New E3SM-Unified Release

  • May 15, 2025
  • Brief

    • New Release: E3SM-Unified 1.11.1 is Here!

    We’re excited to announce the release of E3SM-Unified 1.11.1, the latest version of the unified Conda (and Spack) environment that brings together all E3SM-supported analysis tools into one easy-to-install package.

    🔹 Note: The updates described below apply to both versions 1.11.0 and 1.11.1. A missing zppy-interfaces package update from 1.11.0 was included in 1.11.1 to complete the release.

    Whether you’re working on an E3SM-supported system or your personal machine, this environment makes it simple to access and run tools that “just work” together.

    This release features important upgrades, improved workflows, and a few structural changes that boost maintainability, usability, and performance across the board.

    Major Changes & Highlights

    • E3SM Diags has been modernized! Version 3.0.0 moves away from CDAT to the faster, more flexible xCDAT/Xarray backend—bringing performance gains and better maintainability while keeping the familiar user experience.
    • xcdat received performance boosts in regridding and temporal averaging, and now supports custom seasons.
    • zppy was split into two packages:
      • zppy remains the core workflow automation engine.
      • zppy-interfaces is new, and supports plotting and analysis with tools like global_time_series.
    • zstash now handles symlinks and background tasks more predictably, making large data transfers more robust.

    ⚠️ Deprecation Notice: This will be the final E3SM-Unified release to support the CDAT collection of packages. Users relying on CDAT-based tools should plan to transition to supported alternatives (such as xCDAT) in preparation for future versions.

    Package-by-Package Summary

    • ChemDyg – Minor fixes and zppy compatibility updates.
    • E3SM Diags – Major backend upgrade to xCDAT; improved wavelet analysis, logging, and new variable support.
    • e3sm_to_cmip – Bug fixes and code cleanup for more reliable variable handling.
    • e3sm-tools – Updated core utilities in sync with E3SM v3.0.2.
    • LIVVKit – More graceful handling of missing files and clearer diff outputs.MPAS-Analysis – Added sea-ice, mass/heat flux, and velocity maps; fixed streamfunction bug.
    • MOAB, ncvis, UXarray – No changes this release.
    • NCO – Enhanced interpolation, regridding, and statistics tools.
    • xcdat – Big performance wins and bug fixes (see full changelog for details).
    • zppy – v3.0.0 introduces key structural changes and improved parameter handling.
    • zstash – Improved symlink behavior and optional non-blocking archiving.

    New Tools in 1.11.1

    • cime_gen_domain – Now available as a standalone tool (from CIME v6.1.59).
    • mosaic – Visualize MPAS data natively with matplotlib/cartopy.
    • squadgen – Newly split from e3sm-tools. Note: the executable is now SQuadGen, not squadgen.
    • zppy-interfaces – Supports user-friendly plotting and analysis extensions for zppy workflows.

    Where to Use It

    E3SM-Unified is pre-installed and ready to go on nine E3SM-supported machines, including Andes (ORNL), Anvil (ANL), Chicoma (LANL), Chrysalis (ANL), Compy (PNNL), Dane (LLNL), Frontier (ORNL), Perlmutter (NERSC), ALCF Polaris (ANL), and Ruby (LLNL). It can also be installed on personal systems via conda.

    Looking Ahead

    Testing for the next version, E3SM-Unified 1.12.0, will begin in Fall 2025. Stay tuned!

    Resources

    Contact

    • Xylar Asay-Davis, Los Alamos National Laboratory

     This article is a part of the E3SM “Floating Points” Newsletter, to read the full Newsletter check:

     
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