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Last modified: 18 October 2012

URL: http://cxc.harvard.edu/ciao/download/index.html

Downloading CIAO 4.4.1

WHAT'S NEW | WATCH OUT

The ciao-install script is designed to simplify and automate the installation and upgrade of the CIAO and the Chandra Calibration DataBase (CALDB). ciao-install FTPs the selected files to your computer, verifies them via md5sum, and unpacks them. The script configures CIAO, sets up the command-line ahelp system, and (optionally) runs the CIAO smoke tests.

The ciao-install.README file has detailed information on the script. For a summary of options, run the script with the "--help" option.

Known issues are listed on the Installation & Smoke Tests bug page.

Quick Installation | Custom Installation | Manual Installation

Quick Installation

This method allows ciao-install to determine what platform you are using, then downloads and installs the standard CIAO installation: CIAO tools, ChIPS, Sherpa, the main CALDB tarfile, and the science scripts.

For existing CIAO installations, this method may also be used to download and install software patches, calibration releases, and science script updates.

  1. Check the supported platforms page for the machine you are running on.

  3. Run the script: 

    unix% bash /<path>/ciao-install
  4. Check for smoke test results for errors. Known issues are listed on the Installation & Smoke Tests bug page.

CIAO and the full CALDB require 2.5GB of disk space to download the tarfiles and 7GB to install the software and calibration files. Upgrading an existing CALDB requires about 40% less disk space.

For detailed instructions, refer to the ciao-install thread page.

Custom Installation

Select the CIAO and CALDB packages you need, then download the custom ciao-install script to install them.

Step 1: Choose a Platform

The default setting - "Autodetect Platform" - allows ciao-install to determine what platform you are using and to select the appropriate build of CIAO.

The Platform Support page has more information on the officially supported CIAO platforms.

Step 2: Customize your Software Installation

Standard CIAO installation
  • Selects a complete binary installation of CIAO tools, ChIPS and Sherpa, the main CALDB tarfile, and the science scripts.
Binary Packages
  • CIAO analysis tools - v2
  • Sherpa modeling and fitting package - v2
  • Chips plotting package - v1
  • Prism file-browsing GUI - v1
  • ObsVis observation visualizer for proposal planning - v1
Calibration Database (CALDB)

The CALDB contains all the calibration files required for Chandra data analysis.

If CALDB has not been installed, ciao_install downloads and installs the full tarfile. If ciao_install determines that CALDB 4.4.7 or higher is already available, it downloads the patch file and upgrades CALDB to the most recent version.

  • CALDB v4.5.3 [Updated] (15 Oct 2012)
  • ACIS background event files v4.5.3
  • HRC background event files v4.3.0
  • ACIS PSF libraries
  • HRC PSF libraries
Science Scripts Package

The scripts package contains analysis scripts and modules that extend the functionality of CIAO.

  • Scripts Package - version 18 October 2012
Source Build

The source build option is for users who wish to compile CIAO themselves. Refer to the INSTALL_SOURCE file packaged with the source build for instructions and the bug page for known source build issues.

  • Full source build
  • Source files for the selected binary packages

Step 3: Download the Installation Script

If a version of ciao-install exists in your download directory, some browsers will save the new script with a number in filename, e.g. "ciao-install(2)". Be sure you are running the newest download of your script.

Run the script: 

unix% bash /<path>/ciao-install

For detailed instructions, refer to the ciao-install thread page. Known issues are listed on the Installation & Smoke Tests bug page.

Step 4: Check smoke test results

Users are strongly encouraged to run the CIAO smoke tests. They only take a few minutes to run and will immediately highly any system incompatibilites before you get too deep into your analysis.

There are some known failures and work around for certain platforms. as listed on the Installation & Smoke Tests bug page.

If you are still having problems after reviewing those pages, please contact Helpdesk

Manual Installation

If you are having problems using the ciao-install script, refer to the Manually Installing CIAO 4.4.1 thread. It explains how to retrieve the files with wget and then install CIAO step-by-step.


Last modified: 18 October 2012
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The Chandra X-Ray Center (CXC) is operated for NASA by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA.   Email: cxcweb@head.cfa.harvard.edu Smithsonian Institution, Copyright © 1998-2012. All rights reserved.