Installing the Phase I Tool

Note: a new version of the PIT for 2011A is now available.

This page contains instructions for downloading and installing the Phase I Tool (PIT). You can install the software on individual machines or for an entire network of workstations. Versions are available for the following operating systems from the Phase I software directory:

• Windows (95 / 98 / NT / 2000 / XP)
• Solaris (10, 9, 8 or 7 recommended)
• Linux (Fedora Core or Redhat Enterprise, 9.x, 8.x or 7.x recommended)
• Mac OS X (Intel Macs only with Leopard or Snow Leopard and Java 1.6 - see the Mac OS X section below for more details)

If you experience any problems installing or running the PIT, please see the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page for the latest information.

A new version ofthe PIT has been produced for semester 2011A. Please read the description of new features on the Hot News page.(As in recent semesters all joint proposals must be submitted through PIT. Backend servers installed at all partner National Offices allow automatic electronic submission to multiple partners at the same time). Proposals written using older versions of the PIT can be read into the new PIT. However, some information (e.g. instrument resources) may not be converted or will be missing.

The distribution contains an example proposal (GeminiDemo.xml)which you can load from the installation directory or disk image using the "Open"(previously saved program) button within the PIT. In this example, the joint proposal was previously submitted and hence the "submit" page items specific to each partner are disabled; the submission status can be"reset" using the appropriate button.

The PIT software is available on the Gemini software site. You should use your web browser to download the files (follow this link to browse the software directory). Depending on your browser, right or shift+click to save the file.

The PIT will automaticallysearch on-line guide star catalogue servers for suitable wavefront sensor stars. Use the GSC test page to check the connection from your site to various servers. If your computer is behind a firewall and accesses the internet via a proxy server, see instructions on how to configure PIT so that the guide star catalogue and submission features operate correctly.

Please read the installation instructions below for your preferred operating system:

• Windows
• Solaris
• Redhat linux
• Mac OS X

Using the Gemini Phase I Tool on Windows

The Phase I tool has been extensively tested on Windows 2000 and XP. The Windows version appears to extremely stable; see the FAQ page for the latest information. We have no reason to believe there will be problems on NT as long as the Java included in our distribution is used.

Installing on Windows

• Download the current Windows distribution of the Phase I Tool from the Gemini ftp site (follow the link to browse the ftp directory and right or shift+click the file named PIT_2011A*_win*).
• 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 100 megabytes of disk space available to install the Phase I Tool on Windows.
• Double-click the installer executable and follow the installer instructions. When the installation is completed, you will see a congratulatory message. Press the "Done" button to exit.
• The installation places a Gemini/PIT entry in your start menu. Selecting the entry launches the Phase I Tool.

Results from previous benchmarking of the PIT are shown below. Sufficient memory appears to be the most important element affecting performance and, whilst PIT will run with less, we suggest a minimum of 256 megabytes of memory and a recent Intel or Athlon/Opteron processor when using the Phase I Tool on the Windows platform.

Using the Gemini Phase I Tool on Solaris

Solaris 7, 8, 9, or 10 are the recommended Sun operating systems for running the Phase I Tool.

For correct operation in all situations, you must run PIT on a properly patched Solaris OS. Gemini has collected all patches Sun recommends for using Java on these Solaris releases. Solaris patches is . Solaris patches can be obtained from the Oracle SunSolve site.

Installing on Solaris

• Download the current Solaris distribution of the Phase I Tool from the Gemini ftp site (follow the link to browse the ftp directory and right or shift+click the file named PIT_2011A*_solaris*).
• 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 -xvf -
• The distribution unpacks into a single directory named "solaris".
• Run the PIT. 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/PIT.sh

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

Using the Gemini Phase I Tool on Redhat Linux

The Phase I Tool can be used on recent RedHat Linux distributions, including Enterprise, 9.x, 8.x and 7.x, and Fedora Core (Note that you cannot use the twm window manager).

Installing on Linux

• Download the current Redhat Linux distribution of the Phase I Tool to the Gemini ftp site (follow the link to browse the ftp directory and right or shift+click the file named PIT_2011A*_linux*).
• Use gunzip and tar to unpack the distribution in a directory where you have at least 35 megabytes of disk space.
  gunzip -c filename | tar -xvf -
• The distribution unpacks into a single directory named "linux".
• Run the PIT. 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/PIT.sh

Results from previous benchmarking of the PIT are shown below. Sufficient memory appears to be the most important element affecting performance and, whilst PIT will run with less, we suggest a minimum of 256 megabytes of memory and a recent Pentium or Athlon/Opteron processor when using the Phase I Tool.

Using the Gemini Phase I Tool on Mac OS X

Starting with the 2011A PIT, you must have a Java 1.6 (Java 6) virtual machine installed on you machine to use the Phase I Tool. It should already be installed if you are using 10.5+ (Leopard and Snow Leopard) and regularly use Software Update. The virtual machine will be available through the Software Update system preference panel if it isn't already installed.

The PIT will not run directly on PowerPC Macintosh computers since Apple does not provide Java 6 for these machines.

Also, users who either have fist-generation, 32 bit, Intel Macs (Core Duo CPU from Jan - Sept 2006) or use OS X 10.4 (Tiger) on any Intel Mac will need up upgrade the OS to version 10.6 (Snow Leopard) in order to obtain Java 6. An alternative for these users is to run Linux in a virtual machine. Gemini provides the Gemini Linux Virtual Machine that comes with the PIT, OT, and GMMPS pre-installed.

Installing on Macintosh OS X

• Download the current OS X distribution of the Phase I Tool to the Gemini ftp site (follow the link to browse the ftp directory and right or shift+click the file named PIT_2011A*_osx*).
• The Macintosh OS X distribution is provided as a disk image file.
• Use the Finder to display the directory in which you downloaded the disk image. You must have at least 10 megabytes of disk space available to install the Phase I Tool on Mac OS X.
• Double-click on the disk image (dmg) file to open and mount it. Then drag the "Gemini PIT 2011A" application icon to the location where you want to install it (normally the Applications folder). Then unmount the disk image from the Finder.
• Double-click on the application icon to run the Phase I Tool.

PIT benchmarks

Approximate times for PIT to start up on various machines are given as a guide to the effect of processor and memory on performance. On PCs benchmarking was carried out with no other applications loaded, on Sparcs under their 'usual' system loading.