Astronomical Image Processing System Special MacIntosh OS X instructions

The 31DEC26 version of AIPS is available as our active development version. It is likely to change on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. The older 31DEC25 version is "slushy" and some patches for it may be made. They both contain a port to the MacIntosh OS X (Darwin) operating system for both Apple Silicon (ARM M1 and later) and Intel cpus. The ARM port is still fairly new and was revised in August 2023 for OSX version 13. OSX version 12 (or higher) is required for the ARM version. The Intel port should work on OSX versions 10.14 and later. Binary installations, where possible, are recommended and have become fairly routine. AIPS Intel binaries will run on the new Mac chips for a few years under their "rosetta" system", but we recommend using the MACARM version which is faster. Users doing a text installation will need to install the full set of GNU compilers and readline from GNU-provided source code. The binary installation provides load modules and run-time libraries build by gfortran (beginning with 31DEC19), The performance matches that of the old Intel compiler. Most Mac users run the binary version of AIPS and update with the "Midnight Job". Please simply follow A Guide to the Install Wizard even if you have to compile the code yourself.

The 31DEC22 version is the first version with support for the new and fast ARM cpu chip. There are now 2 Mac versions: MACINT and MACARM. The MACINT version will work on ARM cpus, but the native MACARM version is faster.

The binary versions of 31DEC19 and later are for 64-bit computers running Mac OS/X 10.10 or greater on Intel cpu chips. Previously, 31DEC18 through 31DEC16 were for 32-bit (or 64 bit) computers running Mac Os/X 10.7 or later. 31DEC15 and earlier were for 32-bit (or 64-bit) computers running Mac OS/X 10.4 or later.

The El Capitan version (10.11) of the operating system made library load paths illegal. The work-around for 10.11 and all later operating system releases is a script we call fix_aips_macos.sh. which install.pl will place in several directories including $SYSLOCAL and $AIPS_ROOT. At an appropriate point in the binary installation, install.pl will pause and instruct the installer to use a second terminal window to execute this script. It must be run under bash with sudo privilege. This sets up a variety of links to enable AIPS load modules and TV to function.

The new Mac OS versions have caused some issues. Yosemite and El Capitan both appear to delete some (not all) of the XWindows libraries. See https://xquartz.macosforge.org/landing. to re-install X11.

The code maintenance software cvs is njo longer required.

When your installation (perl install.pl -n) has finished there may be things to do. The aips procedure now starts the AIPS TV (XAS) using UNIX sockets in /tmp and, for Macs by default, no longer uses shared memory. The system things needed for internet server sockets and shared memory should not be required on most Macs. See AIPS Managers' FAQ for further information if these are desired.

On recent systems you must not set the DISPLAY environment variable. Max OS/X sets it to some strange string which works. To run the midnight-job ("MNJ") you will need rsync; see "Midnight Job". If things do not work properly, e.g. the TV does not start, the AIPS Manager FAQ for suggestions. On modern systems, you MUST NOT set the DISPLAY environment variable.

You WILL want a Midnight Job!

if your site has a need for the current version of AIPS with updates via the Internet and the so-called midnight job, Read this information. It has additional information and instructions. Or contact Eric Greisen for further information.

Since releases of AIPS are planned to be only on an annual basis, the midnight job (now with easier setup and NO ssh) will be the only way for AIPS users outside of NRAO to avail themselves in a timely fashion of whatever enhancements, changes, or new functionality we add to Classic AIPS.

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to Kristy Dyer and Michael Rupen then of NRAO who loaned an iBook computer for this development and who provided much need help and encouragement in the process. Boyd Waters (NRAO) and Miguel F. Morales (MIT) also provided considerable advice. Juan Cabanela (St. Cloud State University) was at the forefront in dealing with problems that arose therafter. A number of other Mac owners have also contributed time and effort. Wes Young, formerly of the NRAO AIPS Group, was instrumental in developing the binary installation process and debugging OS/X issues.

Copyright © 2009 Associated Universities, Inc.
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.