Preparing a User Account (Multi-User Configuration)

Note: This section contains the instructions for preparing a user 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.

The multi-user configuration uses a shared mcidas account where the McIDAS-X software is installed, and all of the McIDAS-X users on the workstation share those binaries and associated data files. The users will run McIDAS-X in their own main user account that they create in the instructions below and use the shared account to access the standard core software.

Have each user complete the instructions in the two sections below, in order, to configure their account to run McIDAS-X using the multi-user configuration.

Configure the main user account

If McIDAS-X is already installed and you are simply updating to a new version, the main user account is already configured. You may skip this step and start McIDAS.

Complete the steps below to configure the main user account to link to the installed version of McIDAS-X. The main user account is the one that is automatically logged in when an Ubuntu shell is started from Windows, and is the account used to run McIDAS-X.

Configure the environment of the main user account

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 by adding the set of lines below.

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

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 Windows in the multi-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 Windows 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.

If you receive an error that the 'DISPLAY' variable must be set to execute mcidas, set the environment variable DISPLAY in your $HOME/.profile file by adding the set of lines below.

# 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.

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 Windows environment by running a command sequence similar to that below.
cd $HOME/mcidas/data
cp /mnt/c/Users/user/mcidas/data/*.ET .