19991012: McIDAS installation help? (cont.)

>From: Gilbert Sebenste <address@hidden>
>Organization: NIU
>Keywords: 199910062147.PAA18740 McIDAS-X 7.60

Gilbert,

>OK. I have a little time to write.
>
>My disk drive is going ballistic, and I see you're doing the install as I
>type this. That's great! If there is anything else you need, let me know.
>I willdo what I can.

I installed McIDAS-X,-XCD this morning as per the online instructions in:

http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/packages/mcidas/mcx/mcidas-x.html

This included:

o installing f2c, f2c.h, and libf2c.a as 'root' in /usr/local/bin,
  /usr/local/include, and /usr/local/lib, respectively

o making McIDAS-X,-XCD:

  <login as 'mcidas'>
  cd mcidas7.6/src
  make all

  There were a couple of problems in the build: for some reason, 'ar'
  failed to put a.o and a2sort.o in libmcidas.a.  This caused a number
  of routines link to fail (you can see which ones by reviewing
  ~mcidas/mcidas7.6/src/makelog).  I suspect something fishy with
  memory caching in RH 6.0.  I corrected the problem by:

  ar r libmcidas.a a.o a2sort.o
  make all
  make install.all

o updating the set of REDIRECTions for the user 'mcidas'.  The adjustment
  comes from the set of REDIRECTions defined in ~mcidas/data/LOCAL.NAM
  which is, in turn, a modified copy of ~mcidas/data/EXAMPLE.NAM:

  cd ~mcidas/data
  cp EXAMPLE.NAM LOCAL.NAM
  <edit LOCAL.NAM and set /data/mcidas as the directory for almost all files>
  cp DATALOC.BAT LOCDATA.BAT
  <edit LOCDATA.BAT and set weather.admin.niu.edu as the server to contact
   for ADDE data transfers>
  cp DSSERVE.BAT LSSERVE.BAT
  <I made no changes to LSSERVE.BAT since your install seemed pretty normal
   (i.e. you are keeping 10 of each kind of image received in the
   Unidata-Wisconsin datastream)
  cd ~mcidas/workdata
  redirect.k REST LOCAL.NAM

o specifying the XCD data output directory as /data/mcidas as a McIDAS
  string:

  cd ~mcidas/workdata
  te.k XCDDATA \"/data/mcidas

o configuring XCD decoder information:

  <still as mcidas in ~mcidas/workdata>
  batch.k XCD.BAT
  batch.k XCDDEC.BAT
  batch.k LSSERVE.BAT

o setup where 'mcidas' should get its data by ADDE:

  <still as mcidas in ~mcidas/workdata>
  batch.k LOCDATA.BAT

I also installed the McIDAS remote ADDE server as per the instructions in:

http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/packages/mcidas/mcx/adde_mcx.html

This included as 'root':

o creating a user named 'mcadde'.  'mcadde's HOME directory is the same
  as the HOME directory for 'mcidas'.  'mcadde' does not allow logins
  by virtue of its default shell being /bin/false

<as 'mcidas'>
o updating ~mcidas/.mcenv.  This was mostly correct.  The only change I
  made was filling out PATH to include directories that 'mcidas' has
  set.

In order to get XCD working, I followed the instructions in:

http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/packages/mcidas/mcx/mcidas-xcd.html

This page also included the information necessary to setup McIDAS data
scouring.  In doing the mods for XCD, as the user 'ldm' I:

o added 'exec   "xcd_run MONITOR" to ~ldm/etc/ldmd.conf
o added XCD entries to ~ldm/etc/pqact.conf
o turned on McIDAS GRID file decoding since your machine appeared to have
  plenty of space
o setup McIDAS data file scouring by editing ~mcidas/workdata/mcscour.sh
  and setting PATH and LD_LIBRARY_PATH to match those in 'mcidas' .cshrc


I also:

o updated the ldm-mcidas decoders distribution to the current release

o copied xcd_run from ~mcidas/bin to ~ldm/decoders.  I edited xcd_run
  and set PATH and LD_LIBRARY_PATH to match your system

o copied batch.k from ~ldm/decoders/ldm-mcidas-7.6.1/bin to ~ldm/decoders.
  I edited xcd_run and set PATH and LD_LIBRARY_PATH to match your system

o added ~ldm/decoders to 'ldm's PATH in .cshrc

o adjusted the lwtoa3 entry in ~ldm/etc/pqact.conf to tidy it up and
  remove debug logging (the -x flag)

o sourced 'ldm's modified .cshrc file and stopped and restarted the LDM:

  <login as ldm>
  <edit .cshrc and add /home/ldm/decoders to path>
  source .cshrc
  ldmadmin stop
  <wait for all LDM processes to exit>
  ldmadmin start

o turned on creation of topographic and GOES-East/West composite images:

  <login as mcidas>
  cd workdata
  route.k REL C
  route.k REL N

I tested the ADDE remote server by doing a number of image loads, surface
plots, etc.  Everything except the 21Z GOES-West images (and products
derived from them) seemed to be working, but I was not exhaustive.  The
20Z GOES-West images were fine, so I didn't spend a lot of time worrying
about the 21Z ones.

All-in-all, the install was done as per the Unidata McIDAS-X online
instructions.  The only thing that differed was the correction of the
problem of 'ar' failing to put a.o and a2sort.o into libmcidas.a.

>By the way, just as an FYI to you and everyone else at UNIDATA, what I am
>also doing is getting the live Master Nexrad Grid (MNG) product from
>Kavouras. It's a 1 KM resolution, 48 color mosaic that simply blows WSI's
>2 KM resolution product right out of the water in terms of resolution,
>quality control, and the 48 color capability (updated every 5 minutes). To
>get this to work, it's rather crazy. Mike Dross at UNCC is sending me the
>data from North Carolina as he gets it off the satellite; and then I
>re-distribute it to U of I who have also signed on. I have become the
>relay of Kavouras' MNG. It's $150/month ($50 less than NOWRAD), and well
>worth it. If anyone else is interested, or if you want a test feed, you
>can contact me. A one year contract is required, but I have had this
>over a month now, and I love it. WXP 5.04 handles the radar display well.

So, you are indirectly working for Kavorus?  This sounds like a pretty
"funny" setup for getting the MNG product to sites.  What is the arrangement
that you have with Duke Power and Kavorus to do this?

Tom

>From address@hidden  Tue Oct 12 16:46:45 1999

Thank you very much! I just got back from a trip to one of our satellite
campuses. I'll have time to read all this tomorrow afternoonin detail.
Thank you again!
 
Gilbert