Installation on Windows Linux Subsystem

Today is 9/11/2018 - These are notes on how to install instructions for flooxs on 64-bit Ubuntu 18.04 Subsystem for Windows. These instructions are intended for linux/unix beginners.

Get Linux Subsystem for Windows - and check out basic concepts page

First, install the Linux Subsystem for Windows to enable the platform. If you already have Ubuntu installed, skip to step 3.

1. Open the Windows PowerShell as an administrator and run the following command:

       Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux

2. Navigate to the Windows Store. Search for Ubuntu and install the program

3. Open the Bash/Ubuntu terminal that you just installed. Run the following commands (They may require a system restart between them):

       $ sudo do-release-upgrade -p
       $ sudo apt install tk tk-dev tcl tcl-dev libsuitesparse-dev libplplot-dev plplot-tcl

4. Open your ~/.bashrc. Add or make sure the following lines are in the file:

       export DISPLAY=localhost:0
       export FLXSHOME=/home/[Your Flooxs Folder Location]
       export PL_LIBRARY=/usr/share/plplot5.13.0/tcl/

If you've never used Linux / Unix before, you might find the following flooxs installation instructions confusing. I've started a page to explain some basic unix concepts that held me up as I was learning and trying to install flooxs.

Install Xming on Windows

Navigate to https://sourceforge.net/projects/xming/ in a browser on Windows. Download Xming and install it. This program must either be run before using graphics in Bash/Ubuntu or placed in your startup programs.

Get Your Flooxs!

1. Download the software and put it on your hard drive in a directory called flooxs

       $ mkdir ~/flooxs
       - go to [1], download the latest linux executable file (get the one that says linux)

2. Unpack the flooxs file This should make a directory called rel2008. Put it in your new Flooxs folder by copying it from its location in Windows to Bash/Ubuntu:

       $ cp /mnt/c/Users/[Windows Username]/[File Location] [Location you want Flooxs in Bash/Ubuntu]

Edit FLOOXS Library Paths in your Arch File

You should have no issues with libraries if you use the linux arch file provided to you linux. However, if you do have issues with libraries then you must locate the directories of the libraries and put the paths into the $FLXSHOME/arch/Linux file.

Compile Flooxs

If you get warnings, probably this is okay. Errors will never be okay. In general, you should resolve any errors in the "make depend" before trying to make. When you get an error, scroll up to see what directory you were in, check and see what file the error is in, and what line number it is giving you. Most likely if you get errors you simply did not set your paths correctly in your arch file.

       $ cd $FLXSHOME/src
       $ make depend ARCH=linux
       $ make ARCH=linux

Do a CVS update if you want

If you are one of Dr. Law's students and you have a login to our computers, you can do a CVS update to get the latest version of the flooxs code. Don't worry if you cannot do this. The 2008 version works fine.

First, get cvs (concurrent versioning system) for your Ubuntu:

       $ sudo apt-get install cvs
       $ RUN SCRIPT USERNAME

When you're done with that, then you can do the CVS update:

       $ cd $FLXSHOME/src
       $ cvs update
       -log into swamp2 with your passwd

If you do a cvs update, there may be some conflicts with the new version that the cvs program was not intelligent enough to know how to merge. This is normal. As the intelligent user, you must resolve these conflicts. But how, you ask? Files with conflicts will have conflict markers in them. Conflict markers look like:

               <<<<<<< filename
               your lines
               =======
               other person's lines
               >>>>>> current version"

In this case, you want the other person's line, as this is Dr. Law's new version, and not your old version. Of course, you can always make a backup first. For example, I used this method to find the conflicts, then fixed them by hand:

       $ find $FLXSHOME -name "<<<<<" -print
       $ cd $FLXSHOME/src
       $ cp Makefile Makefile_bk
       $ gedit Makefile &

       $ cd math
       $ gedit Makefile &
       $ gedit blas.h & # conflict here too