We have 9 Intel Linux Workstations, two Mac OS X workstations, and one Sun Solaris workstation. Linux is a free Unix operating system. Radarmet is the server for the group. Email for the group comes to Radarmet, and Radarmet serves as the group's ftp and web server. The /home directories are on Denali.
Also there are two PCs which have Microsoft Office.
(2) What is the difference between a Sun Workstation, a Mac
Workstation, and a Linux Workstation?
There are only minor differences between the Linux and Solaris and Mac
OS X operating systems, since they are Unix. However the hardware
differences between Linux Workstations (Intel CPU), the Macs (PowerPC),
and the Sun (Sparc) are
significant. Programs compiled on one system can not run on the other.
Also the way binary data is stored is different between the two systems.
Binary data created on a Sun computer or a Mac computer may not be
readable (initially) on Intel Linux workstations, and visa versa.
(3) What about printing?
We have three network printers and one that is not on the network. The
three network printers are spectrum (color-Rm 226), drought (b/w-Rm 226),
and beaconrock (color-Rm 205B). The networked printers
can also be used by the Windows computers. The non-networked printer can
be accessed only from the workstations and has the name of belford
(b/w-Rm 205B) because it used to be on workstation Belford.
(4) How do I get to data on another computer?
One can "ssh -Y computer" to get to another machine to look at some data. Also
the data disks are remotely available on most all machines, so one can access
the data on a variety of machines. To access a data disk on another machine
one goes to the directory '/net/computer/diskname'. The
diskname is usually 'data'. Note it is best (but not necessary) to run
the programs on the same machine where the data resides.
(5) How do I find a file?
To find a file on your computer type "locate string" and it will find
all files with string in their names. If you type "run-all locate
string" (with password), it will run the command locate on all the linux workstations.
First look over this list of questions. If your question is not answered,
then ask someone. It is part of the System Administrator's job to help you
with questions that you might have. Also many of your fellow students have
figured out these questions already and are willing to pass their knowledge
on to you. Be sure to ask.
(2) What programs do people use?
The majority of our group uses thunderbird for email, firefox for the web browser,
and idl for the graphing data.
Check out the local help web page for
more commonly used programs.
(3) How do I print?
To send a file to a
printer from a Linux workstation type 'lpr -P Printername File'.
In Room 226, the default printer is "drought" ('lpr File').
In the other rooms, the default printer is "belford".
One of the differences between Linux and Solaris is the command to print.
The print command in Solaris is 'lp'. 'lp' command has been placed in a
limitted form on the Linux workstations. (The Linux print command is 'lpr'.)
One can send a text file or a black/white postscript file to the Room 205B
laserjet printer (belford) by 'lp File'. To send a text file or a
postscript file to the Room 205B color laserjet printer (beaconrock), type
'lp -d beaconrock File'.
One can save
paper and put several pages of text on one page by 'T2 File' (two
pages) and by 'T4 File' (four pages). Similarly four pages of
black/white postscript output can be put on one page by 'P4 File'.
(4) How do I use the tape drives?
Talk with Paul about how to use the tape drives.
(5) How do I change my computing environment?
C Shell is the shell (i.e. environment) that is default. For each window
has its own shell running with the default settings in '.cshrc'. (The default
settings are set when the window is created.) When one changes the settings
in a window (by 'source .cshrc'), it is changed only for that window.
Files that begin with a '.'
are hidden files and can be viewed with 'ls -a'. Many of the files that
begin with a '.' are configuration files. Many default configurations are set
at the system level, but they can be overridden by one's local configuration
files.
(6) How do I send mail to everyone in the group?
If you send mail to 'radarmet' you send mail to everyone.
(7) Where can I get some help learning vi?
Vi is not an easy editor to learn, but it is very powerful and is the
standard unix editor. First use vim,
a vi clone, and not vi. Vim is more friendly and also even more powerful.
Vim has an online help available by typing ':help' and you should check out
this
vi web page. Also check out the web pages listed as an answer to the
next question.
Note it is a good idea to periodically look at some vi documentation in
order to expand the number of vi commands that you know and use. It can
significantly increase your editting speed.
(8) Where can I get more information about Unix?
In your home directory make a directory
'public_html' which will be the place where you put your web pages.
'http://radarmet.atmos.colostate.edu/~AccountName/' will be the address for
file 'index.html' and will be the prefix for other files. Note there is
a policy of only work related pages and links. (This is a broad
definition where weather links are okay even if not directly job related,
but a link to a ski page is not.) It is best to have a file (or linked
file) called 'index.html' to keep people from snooping around your
'public_html' directory. You can have subdirectories in your
'public_html' directory.
We have a good html editor called nvu. If you want to learn html, the
best way is to find a page you like and then view the source (View/Document Source). Then you can save the page as source modify it to you liking or you can just take what you learned. Imitation is a good way to learn. Also check out:
Check out:
(2) How can I read and write pltgks netcdf files from fortran?
Three routines have been created to make it easier to read and write
pltgks netcdf files in fortran. To read a pltgks netcdf file you first call
'readinfd' to read the header information and then 'readat' to read the data.
To write a pltgks netcdf file you call 'wrtdatd'. A description of the
subroutines can be found at
http://radarmet.atmos.colostate.edu/software/rwpltgks.txt.
Yes you can. A sample program showing and describing how it can be done is
available at
http://radarmet.atmos.colostate.edu/software/ufroutine.txt.
(4) How do I do an EVAD Analysis?
The procedure to do an EVAD Analysis is described at http://radarmet.atmos.colostate.edu/software/evad.txt.
Email the question and answer to Paul Hein.
Basic Computer Usage
(1) How do I ... and why does this not work?
Radar Data Processing Questions
(1) Is there some documentation for processing radar data?
Using Local Radar Tools
Examples of How To Process Radar Data
http://radarmet.atmos.colostate.edu/AT741.html (quite dated).
To compile a program with the routines on a Sun Workstation:
f77 file.f /usr/sea/lib/seagull.a -o exefile
To compile a program with the routines on a Linux Workstation:
f77 file.f -lpnc -lnetcdf -o exefile
(This should work also on a Sun Workstation.)
(3) Can I read and write UF files from fortran?
How to expand this FAQ
(1) How can I add a question that I get asked alot to the FAQ?