Preparing the mcidas Account (Multi-User Configuration)

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

Each account in Windows runs a separate instance of Ubuntu. Using a shared mcidas account requires the System Administrator to create a mcidas account in Windows and to set security permissions on a folder in its home directory to allow all Windows McIDAS-X users to read and write to it.

Complete the instructions in the two sections below, in order, to create the mcidas account in Windows and Ubuntu so that users can run McIDAS-X in the multi-user configuration.

Create the mcidas account in Windows

If McIDAS-X is already installed and you are simply updating to a new version, the mcidas account has already been created, and you can skip to the last step (Configure the mcidas account).

Have the Windows System Administrator create a local mcidas account in Windows.

On Windows 11, select Settings > Accounts > Other Users > Add account > I don't have this person's sign-in information > Add a user without a Microsoft account.

Have the Windows System Administrator complete the steps below to create a shared folder in the mcidas account in Windows where other users can read and write.

Create a folder in \Users\mcidas named Ubuntu.

Right-click the Ubuntu folder, select Properties, then click the Security tab.

Click the Edit... button to change permissions, then click the Add... button to assign permissions for other Windows users.

Add individual users, or all Windows users with [COMPUTER_NAME]\Users.

In the Permissions for Users section, give each user (or all Windows users) full control by checking all of the boxes below the Allow heading.

Configure the mcidas account

Complete the instructions below to update and install WSL 2, Ubuntu, and the Linux packages required to build McIDAS-X.

Open PowerShell and install a new Linux distribution.

Type: wsl --install -d Ubuntu-22.04

If this is the first installation of Ubuntu in the mcidas account, after the Ubuntu install is complete, you will be prompted to create a user account. The account, which will have sudo privileges, should be named mcidas.

The PowerShell or Windows Command Prompt Window may convert to an Ubuntu window. This window can be used for the next steps.

In an Ubuntu shell while logged in as the user you created in the previous step (i.e., mcidas), run the three sudo commands below (the last is all one line) to update the Linux package repositories and to install the packages required to build McIDAS-X.

Type:  sudo apt update
Type:  sudo apt upgrade
Type:  sudo apt install autoconf automake bison build-essential cmake csh flex gfortran g++ libncurses5 libncurses5-dev libx11-dev libxext-dev libxpm-dev libxt-dev texinfo xfonts-base