[IDD #NWC-373741]: LDM installation/setup

Hi Var,

re:
> We just finished installing LDM with data feedtypes:
> 
> NNEXRAD, UNIWISC, FSL2 on idd.cise-nsf.gov

Very good.

> [ldm@pleiades ~]$ ldmadmin watch
> (Type ^D when finished)
> Jul 06 12:35:03 pqutil INFO:     6416 20070706123502.741 NNEXRAD 110446686
> SDUS76 KSGX 061233 /pN0ZNKX
> Jul 06 12:35:03 pqutil INFO:     7590 20070706123502.741 NNEXRAD 110446687
> SDUS56 KSGX 061233 /pN0RNKX
> Jul 06 12:35:03 pqutil INFO:    16622 20070706123502.747 NNEXRAD 110446688
> SDUS53 KSGF 061232 /pN0VSGF

OK, this snippit shows that you are receiving NEXRAD Level III radar products.

> Upon issuing “top”, we see:
> PID USER      PR  NI  VIRT  RES  SHR S %CPU %MEM    TIME+  COMMAND
> 23946 ldm       15   0  390m  35m  35m S    1  1.7   0:01.45 rpc.ldmd
> 23944 ldm       15   0  390m  17m  17m S    0  0.9   0:00.36 pqact
> 23948 ldm       15   0  392m  14m  11m S    0  0.7   0:00.67 rpc.ldmd
> 23949 ldm       15   0  390m 2060 1700 S    0  0.1   0:00.47 rpc.ldmd

Looks good.

> We also did cron –e with “0 0 * * * ldmadmin newlog”
> And our “env” shows PATH:/home/ldm/ldm-6.6.5/bin among other paths.

This is a bit worrisome.  The recommended way of setting up the LDM
is to:

- download
- unpack
- configure, make, make install, sudo make install_setuids
- create a runtime link in the ~ldm directory:

<as 'ldm'>
cd ~ldm
ln -s ldm-6.6.5 runtime
ln -s runtime/* .

- make sure that the ~ldm/bin directory is in the user 'ldm's PATH

> We think we see some stats on:
> http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/idd/rtstats/siteindex.php?pleiades.coastal.edu

Yes, I see that real-time stats are being reported from your machine, 
pleiades.coastal.edu:

http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/idd/rtstats/siteindex.php?pleiades.coastal.edu

> As we are new to LDM, is our installation/setup correct?

If you did not create the runtime link as outlined above, then your installation
is non-standard, and we recommend that you change it.  The reason for the
runtime link is that it makes it very easy to install new versions of the LDM
when they become available: one can build, make, and install and then simply
stop the LDM; change the runtime link; and then restart to upgrade to a
new distribution.

Just to be clear, you should now stop your LDM and create the runtime
structure as indicated above.  Also, change your PATH to add the
~ldm/bin directory after removing the ~ldm/ldm-6.6.5/bin directory.
Finally, restart.

> Should be expecting our requested data to stream into $ldmhome/data?

LDM processing is composted of two pieces: ingest (and possibly relay) and
processing.  You are almost finished with the ingest portion.  The next step
is configuring the LDM to do something with the data that you are ingesting.
What you do is up to you: FILE products; PIPE products into decoders; etc.
The question for you to answer now is: exactly what do you want to do 
with the data you are receiving?

Sites that are using display/analysis packages from Unidata (e.g., GEMPAK
and McIDAS) typically setup product processing as needed for the package
they want to use.  Until we have an idea about what your objectives are,
we will be unable to provide you with concrete advice about what you
should do next.  However, in order to get you going and perhaps give you
some ideas, I offer the following action for your ~ldm/etc/pqact.conf
file that will FILE all of the NNEXRAD products into a hierarchical directory
structure:

#################################################################################
#                                                                               
#
# NEXRAD specific pqact processing                                              
#
#                                                                               
#
# Feedtypes included in these actions are:                                      
#
#       NEXRAD, WSI                                                             
#                                                                               
#
#################################################################################

# Use this action to file everything
NEXRAD  ^SDUS[2357]. .... ([0-3][0-9])([0-2][0-9])([0-6][0-9]).*/p(...)(...)
        FILE    -close  data/nexrad/\5/\4/\4_(\1:yyyy)(\1:mm)\1_\2\3

You will need to add these lines to your ~ldm/etc/pqact.conf file, but before 
you
do, please be aware of the format of pqact.conf entries: some of the whitespace
in pqact.conf entries _MUST_ be tabs, not spaces.  The correct way to read
the above action is:

NNEXRAD<tab>^SDUS[2357]. .... ([0-3][0-9])([0-2][0-9])([0-6][0-9]).*/p(...)(...)
<tab>FILE<tab>-close<tab>data/nexrad/\5/\4/\4_(\1:yyyy)(\1:mm)\1_\2\3

All whitespace not represented as <tab> (a tab stop) are spaces.

If pqact.conf entries are not properly formatted, they and all subsequent ones
in one's pqact.conf file will _not_ be processed!

After adding/modifying enties in one's pqact.conf file, one should check that
there have been no typos/syntax errors made:

<as 'ldm'>
cd ~ldm/etc
-- modify/add entries in pqact.conf

ldmadmin pqactcheck

If 'ldmadmin pqactcheck' indicates any errors, re-edit pqact.conf and correct
the errors.  Do this until 'ldmadmin pqactcheck' shows no errors.

ldmadmin pqactHUP

NOTE: the last entry assumes that you completed your LDM installation as
indicated in the instructions in the LDM web pages.  This means that
one must do the last installation step in the following:

<as 'ldm'>

cd ~ldm

ftp ftp.unidata.ucar.edu
  <user> anonymous
  <pass> address@hidden
  cd pub/ldm
  binary
  get ldm-6.6.5.tar.gz
  quit

zcat ldm-6.6.5.tar.gz | tar xvf -

cd ldm-6.6.5/src
./configure
make
make install
sudo make install_setuids            <- this is the last step I am referring to

cd ~ldm
rm -f runtime
ln -s ldm-6.6.5 runtime
ln -s runtime/* .

The 'sudo make install_setuids' step will set the ownership and permissions
on the routines ~ldm/bin/hupsyslog and ~ldm/bin/rpc.ldmd.  If this step is
not done, the LDM will work, but hupsyslog will not be able to send HUP
signals to syslogd.

Finally, in answer to whether or not your LDM is setup correctly:  a common
problem that users run into is failure of LDM logging.  This is most commonly
a failure of the LDM installer to configure /etc/syslog.conf (has to be
done as 'root') _correctly_, or, on newer Linux systems to configure
/etc/selinux/config to allow user programs to interact with syslogd.  This
is accomplished by:

<as 'root'>
cd /etc/selinux
-- edit config and change:

SELINUX=enforcing

to:

SELINUX=disabled  (or permissive, but this will result in lots of log messages 
in a system
                   log file)

reboot

Rebooting after modifying /etc/selinux/config is essential!

> Thank you in advance,

No worries.  You are very close to being setup!

Cheers,

Tom
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Ticket Details
===================
Ticket ID: NWC-373741
Department: Support IDD
Priority: Normal
Status: Closed