[McIDAS #JAV-781741]: McIDAS-X on Windows or Linux

Hi Kwan,

re:
> Thank you very much for your help today!

No worries.

re:
> It is amazing to see Linux
> running inside a Windows machines for myself!

:-)  I think that after you get comfortable with the Windows/VM setup, you
will start wondering how you were able to manager previously!

re:
> I think I will have to put
> off installing McIDAS for tomorrow because I will start my run of 7 night
> shifts in a row tonight.

As long as you follow the instructions in the Unidata McIDAS-X User's Guide
pages for setting up the 'mcidas' account, and assuming that you installed
the list of packages I sent yesterday, building McIDAS-X should be totally
easy.

re:
> One thing I tried to do in the virtual machine was to copy texts from Linux
> to a Windows app and vice versa, and it did not work.

VMware Tools needs to be installed and setup for this to work.  I thought
that this was done by default in the virtual machine (VM) that I made
available, but maybe not.  I will have to check the VM to see what needs
to be done and get back to you (likely not until next week).

re:
> So, what kind of maintenance is needed for the CentOS?  Do I run just run
> yum update regularly?

The CentOS installation includes automatic checks to see if there are
new package updates that are available.  When there are, an orange icon
will be displayed in the top right corner of every user's desktop.  Click
on this icon, and the update process will be started.  If you are logged
in as a user other than 'root', a GUI will be popped-up asking you to
provide 'root's password.  After typing it in, the update will proceed.

re:
> Are there any resources/support groups on the
> internet where I can learn more about CentOS?

Google searches are your friend :-)

re:
> Have a nice July 4th holiday!

Thanks, you too.

re:
> Also, do I need to worry about viruses and install anti-virus software in
> CentOS?

If you keep the network connection setup set as NAT, then your VM will
be on a private network withing your Windows machine.  While this does
not necessarily guarantee security, it does provide a great buffer
to the outside world, AND the firewall/anti-virus in your Windows
environment should keep intruders from getting access to your VM.
One thing that this does _not_ provide for is viruses getting into
the CentOS VM environment from things that you download in the VM.
What I have done in my VM is configure its firewall (iptables) to
_not_ allow SSH connections, etc.  I do, however, configure my VM's
firewall to allow access through the McIDAS ADDE port (112) and
the LDM port (388).  I do this so that I can use the ADDE server
running in my VM from my Windows machine and from remote machines
for testing and for doing some LDM testing.  In short, the security
measures you use need to be pretty much the same as what you would
do if you were running Linux directly on the laptop.

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: JAV-781741
Department: Support McIDAS
Priority: Normal
Status: Closed