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Installing the Observing Tool

A new release of the OT supporting definition of new programs for semester 2008B (and any continuing definition of observations in 2008A) is now available. You should not use the previous public release (2008A "tabano") for defining any programs. The new features are described in the Release Notes

This page contains instructions for downloading and installing the Observing Tool (OT). You can install the software on a network of workstations or, for best performance, on individual machines. This machine needs internet access to communicate with databases situated at the Gemini Observatory and with other on-line image and catalog servers. Anyone installing an OT for a multi-user environment should read the site-manager details.

If you are installing the OT for the first time, please read the installation instructions. The OT installation files are located on the Gemini software site. A personal OT installation can be updated using the Update... button on the OT start-up screen or by selecting Check for updates... from the File menu.

Pre-Upgrade Instructions

The OT stores programs that are created or fetched in a special local database in each user's home directory. The format of the binary files in this database is specific to each OT version and so they must be converted each time the OT is updated. The following is the recommended safest approach for updating an existing OT when using the installation files on the Gemini software site. See below for more information about the new auto-updating feature.

Export all the programs in the local database to XML files (see the saving and loading help page for more details). The "Bulk Export to a Selected Directory" option is useful for this.
Uninstall the curent OT.

Unix/Mac: simply delete the entire directory tree where the old version of OT was installed
Windows: run the installer program

Install the new OT.
Import all the previously saved XML files into the new local database.

Additional Information and Site-Manager Details

It is possible to have more than one version of the OT installed, though this can lead to a higher chance of confusion and problems. Each version of the OT will have its own, independent, local database in the ~/.jsky/spdb directory. Installing and running a new OT will not remove the database from the previous version. If you did not export your programs to XML and a new OT suddenly shows that you have nothing in your database, DON'T PANIC. As long as the spdb directory is not deleted the previous database still exists, you just need to use the earlier version of the OT to export the programs to XML files.

Starting with the 2007B OT ("vinchuca") the OT has had the capability of updating itself and automatically converting local databases. You can manually check for updates (Update... from the start-up screen or Check for updates... from the File menu) and during a fetch/store operation the OT will recommend an update if it detects an incompatibility between the current local database and the Gemini Observing Database. If you choose to update then the new files will be downloaded and installed if your account has the correct write permissions. The last part of the update process writes all the programs in the your local database to XML files in a special directory under ~/.jsky/spdb and then imports them into the new local database. There is no way to go back to the previous OT version except by re-installing from the distribution files on the Gemini software site.

The auto-updating feature is intended for single-user installations and it is not recommended for multi-user or site installations since the update process has no way of converting the local databases for all users. Installation files for each release will be available from the Gemini software site and these should be used to update site installations. Also, be sure that only the software administrator's account has write permission on the OT's install directory so that users can't run the auto-update. As previously, all users should be informed about when an update will take place so that they can export their local databases to XML files. The previous OT version should be saved so that old local databases can be accessed.

Installing the OT

Distribution files for the following operating systems are available:

Windows (NT / 2000 / XP)
Solaris (10, 9 or 8 recommended)
Linux (Redhat Enterprise 4 or 5, or Fedora Core recommended, likely to be compatible with other distributions)
Mac OS X (Tiger and Leopard)

If you experience any problems installing or running the OT, please see the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) or known bugs pages for the latest information.

The distribution contains an example science program (GN-DEMO.xml) which you can load from the default directory using the Import... button on the OT start-up screen.

The OT software is available on the Gemini software site. This is an HTTPD server so you should use your web browser to download the files (follow this link to browse the OT directory). Depending on your browser, right or shift+click to save the file.

Alternatively you may request a CD-ROM containing all four operating system versions by e-mailing Bryan Miller (bmillergemini.edu).

Using the Gemini Observing Tool on Windows

The OT has been extensively tested on Windows 2000 and XP; the Windows version appears to be very stable. It has not been tested with Vista but we have no reason to believe there will be problems in other Windows versions as long as the Java included in our distribution is used.

Installing on Windows

Download the current Windows distribution of the OT from the Gemini software site. Follow the link to browse the ftp directory and right or shift+click the file named OT_2008B*_win* (~42Mbyte download).

The Windows distribution is provided as a Windows executable installer.

Use Windows Explorer to display the directory in which you downloaded the installer. You must have at least 58 Mbytes of disk space available to install the OT on Windows.

Double-click the installer executable and select the components to install. Off-site users only need to select the Phase II Mode. When the installation is completed, select "Close" to exit the installer.

The installation places a Gemini/Observing Tool entry in your start menu. Selecting the relevant entry launches the OT.

Results from previous benchmarking of the OT are shown below. Sufficient memory appears to be the most important element affecting performance and, whilst OT will run with less, we suggest a minimum of 512 megabytes of memory and a recent Pentium III or IV processor when using the OT on the Windows platform.

Using the Observing Tool on Solaris

Solaris 8, 9 or 10 are the recommended Sun operating systems for running the OT. The OT has been extensively tested with Solaris 9.

For correct operation in all situations, you must run OT on a properly patched Solaris OS. The easiest way to gather Solaris patches is to follow the URL below:

SunSolve Public Patch Access

We have created several scripts which will indicate if your Solaris workstation has the required patches installed. You can download the patch-checking script from the software site - see the TestForPatches* files for Solaris versions 8, 9 and 10 (see also the included README file). Please check with your System Administrator before installing patches. For more information and a worked example, see the PIT/OT patch instructions.

Installing on Solaris

Download the current Solaris distribution of the OT from the Gemini software site. Follow the link to browse the ftp directory and right or shift+click the file named OT_2008B*_solaris* (~68Mbyte download).

Use gunzip and tar to unpack the distribution in a directory where you have at least 55 megabytes of disk space.
gunzip -c FILENAME.tar.gz | tar -xvf -

The distribution unpacks into a single directory named "solaris".

Run the OT. You can use the complete path to the startup script, as shown below (where the $ represents your shell prompt), or you can include that directory in your PATH.
${where_you_untarred}/solaris/OT.sh

Results from previous benchmarking of the OT are shown below. Whilst OT may run with less, we suggest that the machine should be a recent UltraSparc with at least 128 megabytes of memory.

Using the Observing Tool on Redhat Linux

The OT can be used on recent RedHat Linux distributions, including Enterprise 3, 4, or 5, and Fedora Core. It has been extensively tested under Enterprise and Fedora up to Fedora Core 8. We have not heard of any problems on other Linux distributions.

Installing on Linux

Download the current Redhat Linux distribution of the OT from the Gemini software site. Follow the link to browse the ftp directory and right or shift+click the file named OT_2008B*_linux* (~51Mbyte download).

Use gunzip and tar to unpack the distribution in a directory where you have at least 55 megabytes of disk space.
gunzip -c FILENAME.tar.gz | tar -xvf -

The distribution unpacks into a single directory named "linux".

Run the OT. You can use the complete path to the startup script, as shown below (where the $ represents your shell prompt), or you can include that directory in your PATH.
${where_you_untarred}/linux/OT.sh

Results from previous benchmarking of the OT are shown below. Sufficient memory appears to be the most important element affecting performance and, whilst OT may run with less, we suggest a minimum of 512 megabytes of memory and a recent Pentium (III or later) processor when using the Observing Tool.

Using the Observing Tool on Mac OS X

The OT can be used on Mac OS X (Tiger and Leopard releases only, with Java 1.5).

Installing on Mac OS X

Download the current OS X distribution of the OT from the Gemini software site. Follow the link to browse the ftp directory and click the file named OT_2008B*_osx* (~20 Mbyte download).

By default, most browsers (including Safari and Internet Explorer) will download items to your Desktop. If you have changed this setting, use the Finder to display the directory to which you downloaded the installer.

The OS X release is provided as a mountable disk image. Simply double click on the disk image to mount it, then drag the Observing Tool icon to your DeskTop, to the Dock or to any place you find convenient. Double click on the icon to launch the application.

OT benchmarks

See the PIT installation page for somewhat related Java benchmarks.

Last update June 12, 2008; Bryan Miller