sao SAOImage DS9 Installation Instructions

Solaris
Solaris64
Linux
Linux64
LinuxOld
LinuxPPC
MacOSX
Darwin
Windows NT/2000/XP

Solaris / Linux Installation

DS9 for Solaris and Linux is a self contained application and does not require any installation procedures or support files.
  1. Download DS9. This is a gzip'ed tar file.
  2. Use the following command line to extract DS9:
  3. $ zcat ds9.<port>.<version>.tar.gz | tar -xvf -
  4. Move the DS9 executable into a directory in your path.

MacOSX

DS9 requires MacOSX 10.3 or 10.4 and X11. For MacOSX 10.3 users, X11 is an optional install item, and is available on your Panther Install CDs.
  1. Download DS9 for MacOSX. This installation file (a gzip'ed tar file) will be stored on your computer, usually on your Desktop. Once it is downloaded, double-click on this file. This action will unpack the tar file to create an application called ds9, usually on your Desktop.
  2. To run DS9, double click on its icon. This will start the X11 application (if its not already running) and then start DS9. (If X11 is started, an xterm window will appear. You can get rid of this window by clicking on the red button in the upper left.)
  3. Drag and drop is implemented to start DS9. For now, you can drag a FITS file onto DS9 to start it up, but you cannot drop a new file onto a running DS9 to load it.
  4. If you drag the DS9 icon into the Dock and release it, it will remain in the Dock for easy access. You also can use the Finder to move the DS9 application to your Applications folder.
  5. Once DS9 is installed, you can drag the installation file into the Trash.
  6. For advanced users: please note that a Mac OS X application such as ds9.app is simply a directory whose canonical structure allows it to be treated as a clickable application. In particular, the DS9 executable is contained in the top level of the ds9.app directory and can be executed directly from any shell window as an X11 application.
  7. For advanced users: please note that Mac OS X clickable applications do not inherit the user PATH by default. To remedy this situation (e.g., so that XPA can be found and initialized) the app is arranged so that clicking the DS9 icon runs ds9.app/ds9.sh, which starts X11 and tries to set up the user PATH. If you have PATH problems (e.g., initializing XPA or executing external Analysis tasks), please let us know. You can try changing the ds9.sh script to add your path. Alternatively, the Apple Tech memo (http://developer.apple.com/qa/qa2001/qa1067.html) contains instructions for how to add environment variables (including PATH) to clickable applications.
  8. For advanced users: please note that a FITS file icon is included in ds9.app/Contents/Resources/fits.icns. If you select any FITS file (.fits, .fit, or .fts extension) using the Finder, and execute the File->Get Info menu option, you can use the Open with: option to select DS9 as the default program for FITS. If you also choose Change All... then all FITS files will display the FITS icon and can be double-clicked to start DS9. (You might have to reboot to see the new FITS icon.)

Darwin

DS9 for Darwin is only recommended for experienced users of unix and linux. For other users, we recommend DS9 for MacOSX.

DS9 requires MacOSX 10.3 or 10.4 and X11. For MacOSX 10.3 uses, X11 is an optional install item, and is available on your Panther Install CDs.  DS9 for Darwin is a unix executable and must be run from the command line of a Terminal window.
  1. Download DS9 for Darwin. This is a gzip'ed tar file.
  2. Open a Terminal window.
  3. Use the following command line to extract DS9:
  4. $ zcat ds9.darwin.<version>.tar.gz | tar -xvf -
  5. (Optional) Move the DS9 executable into a directory in your path.

Windows NT/2000/XP

  1. Download DS9 for Windows NT/2000/XP. This is a WinZip.exe install file.
  2. Execute the install file. DS9 will be installed by default in C:\Program Files\ds9. It will contain two files, the DS9 application and cygwin.dll.
  3. To run, go to C:\Program Files\ds9 and double click on the DS9 icon.