[McIDAS #PYR-135620]: McIDAS

Hi Jennie,

Quick note to let you know that I build, installed, and configured
McIDAS-X/-XCD v2007b on livos this evening.

Comments:

- I created a /data/ldm directory tree and switched to using it
  instead of the /var/ldm tree that you/Pete created originally.
  This makes your installation look like most others, so it will
  help troubleshoot things in the long run.  This change required
  that I:

  - modify /etc/sysconfig
  - create the /data/ldm directory structure and change its ownership
    to 'ldm'
  - delete /var/ldm/...

- I increased the size of the LDM queue from the default of 400M
  to 600M.  This required deleting the old queue (which had to be
  deleted since I removed the /var/ldm directory structure) and remaking
  it.

- I changed the REQUEST lines in ~ldm/ldmd.conf to split the feed requests
  in half, and to change the request patterns for idd.unidata.ucar.edu so
  they do not match those for idd.cise-nsf.gov.  This will double the
  network bandwidth you are using, but it also assures that you will
  get all of the data you have requested.  If you feel the need to
  cut down on network bandwidth, I would recommend commenting out the
  feed requests to either idd.cise-nsf.gov or to idd.unidata.ucar.edu.

- as you will see, I copied two pqact.conf files for McIDAS use into
  ~ldm/etc, pqact.conf_mcidas[AB].  I also added some new actions
  to ~ldm/etc/ldmd.conf and commented out the line that runs pqact.conf
  on the default pattern/action file ~ldm/etc/pqact.conf.  Since all of
  the entries in ~ldm/etc/pqact.conf were commented out, this only served
  to reduce the number of processes running by one.

- I added scouring actions for all data being processed by McIDAS into
  'ldm's crontab file.  I also added two commented-out actions at the
  end that can be used to monitor the performance of your system.  Before
  the last two lines can be uncommented, the RPM containing 'iostat'
  (should be in the sysstat RPM) needes to be installed.  I strongly
  recommend installing 'iostat' and turning on the system monitoring
  as it is useful for diagnosing performance problems should they
  arise.

- opened up McIDAS ADDE and LDM access to the machine.  This was done
  by adding actions to /etc/sysconfig/iptables for ports 112 and 388
  for McIDAS ADDE and LDM, respectively.  I recommend that these be
  kept open as it will allow us to help troubleshoot problems on
  your machine if they appear, and it will also allow you -- if you
  so choose -- to act as one of the cooperating community data servers.

- I created two new subdirectories in ~ldm, ~ldm/decoders and ~ldm/util.
  The decoders directory is where needed decoders are kept, and util
  is where utility routines (like data scouring scripts) are kept.

  NOTE: I see that you are running the LDM scour utility out of your
  crontab.  Please make sure that you never scour McIDAS directories
  using scour as it will delete the McIDAS MD SCHEMA file, and that
  will cause XCD and ldm-mcidas (nldn2md and proftomd) to fail.

At the moment, livos is processing data from the following IDD datastreams:

IDS|DDPLUS - global observations
HDS        - NOAAPORT model output from NCEP
FNEXRAD    - NEXRAD Level III composite images created by the UPC
FSL2       - NOAA wind profiler data
NGRID      - NOAAPORT model output from NCEP; mostly higher res than HDS
NIMAGE     - NOAAPORT GOES image sectors in GINI format
NNEXRAD    - NOAAPORT NEXRAD Level III imagery from ALL NEXRADS
UNIWISC    - GOES images sectors and CIMSS products created from the GOES 
sounders

The GRIB filing/serving is working nicely so far.  If you want to see a
nice rendering of some model data from the GRIB server in McIDAS, do the
following:

login as 'mcidas'
cd $MCDATA
mcidas -config
-- select frame sizes that are at least 600 lines by 800 elements;
   select a session with at least 17 frames; make sure to click on
   the 'Yes' radiobutton for the 'Save configuration values in defaults file'
   selection at the bottom of the startup GUI; click the Start button

When the MCGUI comes up, button-one click on the button at the top that has the
keyboard depiction. This opens up the McIDAS GUI Text and Command window.
In the command mode, run the following:

SF 1
CFILLCLP RTGRIBS/NAM-ALL T SFC X X X X MYDATA/IMAGES.3020 N Y SST

Since you will most likely be playing with the system after the 12Z GFS
run has been received, you should be able to run the following:

SF 2
CFILLCLP RTGRIBS/GFS-ALL T SFC X X X MERC MYDATA/IMAGES.3020 N Y SST

FYI: CFILLCLP is a little demonstration McBASI script that one can use
to visualize a model grid as an image.  For more information on how to
run CFILLCLP, use the McIDAS HELP command:

HELP CFILLCLP

Well, it is now kinda late, so I'm heading for bed.  I will write more tomorrow
if I remember something I did that I did not cover above.


Cheers,

Tom
****************************************************************************
Unidata User Support                                    UCAR Unidata Program
(303) 497-8642                                                 P.O. Box 3000
address@hidden                                   Boulder, CO 80307
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unidata HomePage                       http://www.unidata.ucar.edu
****************************************************************************


Ticket Details
===================
Ticket ID: PYR-135620
Department: Support McIDAS
Priority: Normal
Status: Closed