Download McIDAS-X
McIDAS software releases are distributed as a total replacement of the core system. Since May 2009 SSEC has been distributing McIDAS-X updates as fully supported Fastrack releases. This means that the software is fully supported by SSEC, and that each change to the software has been tested on all of the supported system configurations. Full system testing occurs at least once on each platform during each calendar year. Prior upgrade versions were distributed once a year, normally in late-May.
The SSEC McIDAS Help Desk provides full assistance for McIDAS software questions pertaining to the current or previous version. The Help Desk will still assist those sites that are two issues behind the current version at a reduced capability. A complete description of your MUG support is detailed in the SSEC McIDAS Users’ Group Policy Document. If you are upgrading from an older version, please see the past versions page for links to download files and other materials from past versions.
A login name and password is required to download any software. Once you’ve entered your valid login name and password, you can obtain any other McIDAS software your site is licensed to receive (e.g., McIDAS-X and McIDAS-XCD).
McIDAS-X Software
2024.1 Installation Instructions
Download Software
- Install/uninstall script (30 KB)
- Source/data files (296 MB)
- ADDE remote server configuration script (22 KB)
McIDAS-XRD
Past Versions
System Requirements
2024.1 Operating Systems
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Apple – supported on macOS 13.x, 14.x, and 15.x |
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Red Hat – supported on RHEL 8.x and 9.x |
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Microsoft Windows – supported on Windows®10 and 11 with WSL |
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Note: The installation will fail if the names of the downloaded files do not exactly match those listed. If your web browser changes the names of the files during download (e.g., mcidas2024.1.tar.Z becomes mcidas2024_1_tar.Z), you must rename the files before installing.
What's New in McIDAS-X 2024.1
- Added support for macOS 14 & 15 using a Podman container with Rocky Linux 9. See the 2024.1 Supported System Configurations for the complete list of system configurations where McIDAS-X 2024.1 is supported. More information on the reasons for this change can be found in the December 2024 letter to McIDAS Users. Please contact the McIDAS Help Desk with any questions or issues with installation in this new configuration.
- Updated the calibration and navigation modules for the MTG (Meteosat Third Generation) ADDE servers for both nominal and high resolution data. The MTG FCI servers are being released as a separate package from McIDAS-X. These are the first operational servers written in Python. An ADDE server for the MTG LI lightning data will be in a future release of McIDAS.
- Updated the IMGPARM command to support Suomi NPP and NOAA 20-23 satellite data.
- Updated USCOUNTY.MAP, USSTATE.MAP and USZONE.MAP files with the most recent National Weather Service GIS-AWIPS Shapefile database updates. The US*.MAP files are used by the WWDISP command and the MAP command’s COUNTY=, MARINE=, STATE= and ZONE= keywords.
- Updates to the servers for the beta release of McIDAS-XCD.
- Updated the McIDAS-XRD Package included in the McIDAS-X installation files to include:
- The RGB command was updated with MTG formulas and Cloud Phase RGB recipes for ABI, AHI, and VIIRS data.
- 1 new data file (OUTANTBASIN, an Antarctic drainage basin map).
- Updates to the RADAR and NEXRAD commands.
See the McIDAS-XRD Instructions and Software page for the complete list of software included in McIDAS-XRD 2024.1.
See 2024.1 – All Software Changes to see a list of all of the code changes included in the release.
If upgrading from an older version, see the past versions page for links to download files and documentation from past versions.