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McIDAS-XCD Fastrack Version 2015.2
Software and Instructions

This page contains the software and instructions for installing McIDAS-XCD version 2015.2, a fully supported Fastrack release. Modifications made since the previous release (version 2014.1) include:

  • Updated the station database (file STNDB.CORE) in McIDAS-X 2015.2 to include more than new 200 GFSMOS/NAMMOS stations, matching what's seen at the NOAA Meteorological Development Lab's GFS MOS, NAM MOS, and GFS stations pages.
  • Updated the GFSMOS and NAMMOS decoders to work properly with station IDs that include a number (e.g., K1V4).
  • Added several fixes and enhancements to the PIREP decoder. The updates include adding a FEW category for sky cover; adding a SKC (sky clear) category for sky cover; and improved decoding of sky cover and cloud levels as dictated by incoming data.
  • Updated the SHIP/BUOY decoder to write as many as 5,000 columns to the ISHP-schema MD files.
  • Added file RMXCDGRIB2015_2.BAT to remove obsolete RTGRIDS datasets. Files XCDNOAAPORTGRID.BAT and XCDCONDUITGRID.BAT were updated with several new RTGRIDS datasets. See steps 8, 9 and 10 below for the instructions to complete this procedure, and see the xcd_README_2015.2 file for the complete list of datasets added and removed from the RTGRIDS datasets.
  • Increased the number of lines read by the RAOB decoder so that the RAOBRPT command can properly display the full messages that start with MANGRB and SGLGRB.

McIDAS-XCD 2015.2 is a fully supported Fastrack release. 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. If you elect to install 2015.2, we ask that you notify the McIDAS Help Desk if you encounter any bugs. Please be sure to mention that you are running version 2015.2.

Also note that if you plan to upgrade to 2015.2 from a version earlier than 2014.1, you must first read and perform any required actions in the release documents for each of the versions you skipped so you know about their major changes and any required actions in the interim. For example, if you are upgrading from version 2011.1 to 2015.2, you must first read and perform the required actions in the release documents for versions 2012.1 and 2014.1 before proceeding to 2015.2. See the past versions page for links to those and other materials from past versions.


Obtaining McIDAS-XCD 2015.2

To obtain McIDAS-XCD 2015.2, download the following files to the ~oper/mcidas directory on your McIDAS-XCD workstation.

File name Size Description
xcd2015.2.sh 14 KB shell script that installs the McIDAS-XCD software (right click to download)
xcd2015.2.tar.Z 988 KB compressed tar file that contains all source and data files
xcd_README_2015.2 9 KB information to review before installation


Installing McIDAS-XCD 2015.2

Note: You must install McIDAS-X 2015.2 on the workstation before you install McIDAS-XCD 2015.2. Then continue with the appropriate set of instructions, as described below.

If you are installing McIDAS-XCD for the first time on the workstation, go to the McIDAS-XCD Administrator's Guide's Installing McIDAS-XCD 2015.2 for the First Time and complete its instructions. (Use those instructions rather than those below.)

If you are installing McIDAS-XCD Fastrack version 2015.2 on a workstation that already has a previous version of McIDAS-XCD installed, complete the steps below.

  1. If -XCD is running in the foreground, turn it off by exiting the McIDAS session and wait until all ingestors and data monitors have exited. From the McIDAS Text and Command window,

    Type: EXIT

    If -XCD is running in the background, stop the session by running the following command as user oper.

    Type: xcdadmin stop

  2. As user oper, run the script below from the ~oper/mcidas directory to build and install McIDAS-XCD 2015.2 using the same settings for optional flags -noopt and -mysql as were used to build McIDAS-X 2015.2. You must use the same compilers and optional flag settings for both the McIDAS-X and McIDAS-XCD builds.

    3. Type: sh ./xcd2015.2.sh  flags  build

    where flags is zero, one or both of the two optional flags described below.

    • The -noopt flag is used to build McIDAS-XCD with no optimization. If you don't specify this -noopt flag, McIDAS-XCD is built using the default optimization: -O2 for builds with vendor compilers and -O1 for builds with gcc/g77.
    • The -mysql flag is used to build McIDAS-XCD using the MySQL database libraries. Use this flag if this workstation will be serving real-time GRIB files from the NOAAPORT data stream and you have installed and want to use a MySQL database to make the GRIB data access faster for your McIDAS-X clients/users. If the database is in a non-standard install location, specify the flag as -mysql=directory, where directory is the root MySQL install directory. Remember, the -mysql flag must be specified when building both McIDAS-X and McIDAS-XCD.

    When the script xcd2015.2.sh is finished, you will see the message below.

    McIDAS-XCD binaries built correctly

  3. As user oper, run the script below from the ~oper/mcidas directory to install the new executable code and a subset of the replaceable McIDAS-XCD data files for your workstation.

    4. Type: sh ./xcd2015.2.sh cutover

    When the script is finished, you will see the message below.

    McIDAS-XCD package cutover is now complete

  4. As user oper, run the script below from the ~oper/mcidas directory to make a backup copy of the ~oper/mcidas/data/ISHPDEC.CFG file then replace it with the new version of the file. The new version's NCOLS variable was increased from 2000 to 5000, so the ISHP decoder can now write as many as 5,000 columns in the ISHP-schema MD files. Note that this change will take effect when the next day's RTPTSRC/SHIPBUOY MD files are created.

    5. Type: sh ./xcd2015.2.sh install shipupdate

    The backup copy of the file is named ISHPDEC.CFG_yyyymmdd (where yyyymmdd is the current date, e.g., 20160106).

  5. As user oper, start a McIDAS-X session and run the two commands below. The first command (BATCH REGROUP.BAT) recreates the GROUPS.DAT and COUNTRY.DAT files so they contain the station database changes included in McIDAS-X Fastrack 2015.2. The second command (BATCH REBILDRAP.BAT) rebuilds the Rapid Access Pointer files so they include the same station database changes and rebuilds the Rapid Access Text files. Note that running the second command erases the previous content of the *.RAP and *.RAT files, so they will contain only new data. That means that the user commands MOSRPT, OBSRPT, RAOBRPT, SFCRPT, SYNRPT and TAFRPT will not be able to access any data from prior to McIDAS-XCD being restarted (last step below).

    6. Type: BATCH REGROUP.BAT
    Type: BATCH REBILDRAP.BAT

  6. In the McIDAS-X session started as user oper in step 5 above, run the command below to remove the GFSMOS.IDT and NAMMOS.IDT files so that when they are recreated after McIDAS-XCD is restarted (last step below), they contain the MOS decoder additions.

    7. Type: BATCH UPDATEMOS.BAT

    When steps 5 and 6 are completed, exit the McIDAS-X session.

  7. As user mcadde, start a McIDAS-X session and run the command below to recreate the GROUPS.DAT and COUNTRY.DAT files in the mcadde account so they contain the station database changes included in McIDAS-X Fastrack 2015.2.

    8. Type: BATCH REGROUP.BAT

  8. As user mcadde, make a backup copy of your RESOLV.SRV file (e.g., cp RESOLV.SRV RESOLV.SRV.BAK) in preparation of adding the restructured RTGRIDS/* datasets in steps 9 and 10 below.

  9. In the McIDAS-X session started as user mcadde in step 7 above, run the command below to remove the obsolete and/or redefined RTGRIDS/* datasets.

    10. Type: BATCH RMXCDGRIB2015_2.BAT CONTINUE=YES

  10. In the McIDAS-X session started as user mcadde in step 7 above, run the command below to update the RTGRIDS/* datasets so they contain the data currently available over the NOAAPORT WMO and NGRID feeds.

    11. Type: BATCH XCDNOAAPORTGRID.BAT

    Notes:

    • The XCDADDE.BAT file, which is optionally run to create the default ADDE datasets, includes XCDNOAAPORTGRID.BAT among the batch files it runs. See Configuring the Default ADDE Datasets in the McIDAS-XCD Administrator's Guide for more information. As also noted there, you can optionally run the command BATCH XCDCONDUITGRID.BAT to create ADDE datasets for the subset of CONDUIT LDM GRIB2 grids that the SSEC Data Center provides for its users.
    • The XCDNOAAPORTGRID.BAT and XCDCONDUITGRID.BAT files were first implemented in McIDAS-XCD 2014.1; see the 2014.1 software and instructions page for more information.

  11. As user mcidas, run the script below from the ~oper/mcidas directory to install the new ADDE server executable code in the mcidas account.

    12. Type: sh ./xcd2015.2.sh install addeservers

  12. Restart McIDAS-XCD. To do so from the foreground, start a McIDAS-X session from the oper account and run the command below from the McIDAS Text and Command window,

    Type: STARTXCD

    To restart -XCD in the background, run the following command as user oper.

    Type: xcdadmin start

This concludes the McIDAS-XCD Fastrack version 2015.2 installation procedure. If you would like to modify the configuration of your McIDAS-XCD workstation, go to the McIDAS-XCD Administrator's Guide's Configuring McIDAS-XCD.
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