mesh-partition v3.2.3¶

Mercurial revision 5786:5c8b45563631 | 2026-08-04

Description¶

mesh-partition is a tool that uses the METIS 4.0 program to partition a mesh. It is designed to work with METIS 4.0, so compatibility errors may occur with newer versions of METIS.

Usage¶

mesh-partition [OPTIONS] -m input

Options¶

Option	Description
`-h`, `--help`	Display this help message and exit.
`-m <file>`	Required. Input mesh file or element list.
`--metis-path <path>`	Path to the METIS programs directory. Default: `/home/softs/metis-4.0/`.
`--metis5`	Use this flag if you have installed METIS 5.x instead of METIS 4.x.
`-p <number>`	Number of desired partitions. Default: `4`.

Deprecated Options¶

Warning: These options are no longer supported and may be removed in future versions.

Option	Description
`-o <file>`	Output file (deprecated).
`-z <zone>`	Pre-set zone to limit the working area (deprecated).

Examples¶

Basic Usage¶

Partition a mesh file into 4 parts using the default METIS 4.0 path:

mesh-partition -m input_mesh.nc

Custom METIS Path¶

Specify a custom path for METIS programs:

mesh-partition --metis-path /custom/path/to/metis/ -m input_mesh.nc

Partition into 8 Parts¶

Partition the mesh into 8 parts:

mesh-partition -m input_mesh.nc -p 8

Using METIS 5.x¶

Use METIS 5.x instead of METIS 4.0:

mesh-partition --metis5 -m input_mesh.nc

Custom METIS Path with METIS 5.x¶

Combine a custom METIS path with METIS 5.x:

mesh-partition --metis-path /custom/path/to/metis5/ --metis5 -m input_mesh.nc -p 6

Environment Variables¶

mesh-partition relies on the METIS library. Ensure that:

The METIS programs (partnmesh for METIS 4.x or mpmetis for METIS 5.x) are accessible via the specified --metis-path.
The environment is configured to run METIS executables (e.g., PATH includes the METIS directory if not using --metis-path).

Notes¶

Compatibility:

This tool is tested with METIS 4.0. Using METIS 5.x requires the --metis5 flag.
If you encounter errors, verify that the METIS version matches the flag used (--metis5 for 5.x, no flag for 4.0).

Input File:

The input mesh file (-m) must be in a supported format (e.g., NetCDF or element list).
If the file cannot be read, the tool will exit with an error.

Output:

The partitioned mesh is saved as mesh.metis.epart.<n>, where <n> is the number of partitions.
The tool also generates intermediate files like mesh.metis for METIS processing.

Performance:

Partitioning large meshes may require significant memory and CPU resources.
Adjust -p based on the size of your mesh and available computational resources.