2.5. Option #3 – Ubuntu

2.5.1. Installing Ubuntu and external packages

If you are using the Virtual Computer, you can skip this step.

These instructions were written for Xubuntu 18.04 (Bionic Beaver), and will probably work for versions of a similar age. Check this page for a description of packages and required versions.

Although you can install regular ubuntu desktop we are very unhappy with the desktop interface they are using. It is moving towards phones and tablets, and not as useful for running CODAS software.

We recommend Xubuntu, because it has a more suitable desktop environment, which is adequate (but not flashy)

Using the instructions below, CODAS Python processing has been thoroughly tested with 18.04. It may work with newer versions.

(1) Download and install an Ubuntu version.

Download and install Xubuntu

(2) Boot the new system, log in and connect to the network.

  • install the “Synaptic Package Manager”. Type

sudo apt-get install synaptic

Using sudo allows a regular user to run one command with administrative privileges (as “root”). You must type your own password to get a “sudo” command to run.

Synaptic is a graphical tool to manage software packages on the computer. The example below uses a command-line interface but if something does not work (eg. you want to add a package to improve your virtual machine) you can use Synaptic to try to identify the new name.

(3) Install various additional external packages

The Xubuntu 18.04 installation already has these

  • gcc (C-compiler)

  • python 3.6

Note

We have moved completely to Python 3. The graphical editor for CODAS data has been rewritten using Qt libraries and has been significantly improved, while keeping a similar flavor, and the same underlying machinery.

Install additional required packages by typing:

sudo apt-get install ipython3
sudo apt-get install python3-dev
sudo apt-get install mercurial
sudo apt-get install python3-matplotlib
sudo apt-get install python3-mpltoolkits.basemap
sudo apt-get install python3-netcdf4
sudo apt-get install python3-qtpy
sudo apt-get install python3-future
sudo apt-get install python3-qtconsole

Now proceed to the CODAS-specific parts of the installation.