Preparing the Main User Account (Single-User Configuration)

Note: This section contains the instructions for preparing the main user account when installing McIDAS-X on Win10 in the single-user configuration. For the multi-user configuration instructions (or information about the two configuration options), return to the Configuration Options and Instructions and follow those instructions.

The McIDAS-X software is installed in the mcidas account. However, you can not run McIDAS-X as user mcidas. Instead, you must run it in the main user account you created in this page. Complete the instructions below to configure it for running McIDAS-X.

1. Open an Ubuntu shell and run command whoami to verify that you are logged in as the main user account.

2. Modify the environment variable PATH in your $HOME/.profile file. Insert $HOME/mcidas/bin and /home/mcidas/bin, in that order, at the beginning of your PATH. Also set the environment variable DISPLAY to the value recommended for WSL 2. Both of these can be done by adding the set of lines below.

# recommended PATH setting for McIDAS-X:
export PATH=$HOME/mcidas/bin:/home/mcidas/bin:$PATH

# recommended DISPLAY setting for McIDAS-X due to WSL 2:
export DISPLAY=$(grep -m 1 nameserver /etc/resolv.conf | awk '{print $2}'):0.0

Note: The changes above will take effect the next time you open an Ubuntu shell logged into the main user account.

This concludes the instructions for installing McIDAS-X on Win10 in the single-user configuration. The sections below contain additional information for users, such as tips about starting and configuring McIDAS-X, and accessing and editing files in the Ubuntu (WSL) and Windows environments.

Starting McIDAS-X

See the Starting McIDAS-X page for information about ways to start a McIDAS-X session. For McIDAS-X on Win10 an X server is required, so a typical procedure to start McIDAS-X is for the user (in the main user account) to start the X server, then open an Ubuntu shell and run the command mcidas. The Configuring McIDAS-X Sessions with .mcidasrc page has information the user can use for tailoring McIDAS-X sessions to their preferences.

Editing McIDAS-X Files

Although you are able to access files created and used by McIDAS-X in both the Ubuntu (WSL) environment and Windows environment, it is important that you do all editing of McIDAS-X files in the Ubuntu environment. For example, if you need to manually edit one of the files, you should not use a Windows program like Notepad to edit it. Instead, you should use an Unix editor like vi, ex or view in an Ubuntu shell to make the changes.

Manipulating McIDAS-X Files

To list, copy and move McIDAS-X files, start an Ubuntu shell and use standard Unix commands like ls, cp and mv. Aliases like ~ and $HOME are available. For example, the command ls -l ~mcidas/data/*.ET lists the enhancement files included in the core McIDAS-X package, and you can list all of the AREA files in your account's mcidas/data directory with any of the three commands below.
    ls -l $HOME/mcidas/data/AREA*
    ls -l ~/mcidas/data/AREA*
    ls -l ~user/mcidas/data/AREA* (where user is your Ubuntu account name).

If you have files on the workstation that you would like to copy to the McIDAS-X environment or vice-versa, we recommend you do it from an Ubuntu shell. For example, if you previously ran McIDAS-X for Win7 on the workstation and have *.ET enhancement files in the C:\Users\user\mcidas\data directory (where user is your Windows account name), you can copy them to your McIDAS-X on Win10 environment by running a command sequence similar to that below.
cd $HOME/mcidas/data
cp /mnt/c/Users/user/mcidas/data/*.ET .