An IRAF v2.15.1a Patch release is now available from the IRAF anonymous ftp archive at

This patch is a minor update of the IRAF v2.15.1 release for all 32- and 64-bit Linux and Mac OSX systems. It is being made available now to address the following specific issue:

In addition, several bug that were discovered in the weeks since the initial v2.15.1 patch are also fixed in this release. We apologize for asking users to install another patch so soon after a previous release, except for the discovery of another major system bug affecting all tasks we do not forsee another patch being required for at least 6 months. The version number is meant to reflect the minor changes to the system implied by this release.

Details of this patch and upgrade instructions may be found in the release announcement below. 

							Feb 21, 2011


	An IRAF v2.15.1a Patch release is now available from the IRAF 
anonymous ftp archive at 

	ftp://iraf.noao.edu/iraf/v215/PCIX

This patch is a minor update of the IRAF v2.15.1 release for all 32-
and 64-bit Linux and Mac OSX systems.  It is being made available now to
address the following specific issue:

  1) Potential Data Corruption on 32-bit Images

	The earlier v2.15.1 patch fixed a problem with double-precision
     images on 64-bit systems, however code used in debugging the problem
     remained in the system at the time the release was built.  The effect
     is that for FITS images with real pixel types, zero values are being
     interpreted as 128.  Because this bug potentially affects all tasks,
     we recommend that all users install this patch.

In addition, several bug that were discovered in the weeks since the
initial v2.15.1 patch are also fixed in this release.  We apologize for
asking users to install another patch so soon after a previous release,
except for the discovery of another major system bug affecting all tasks
we do not forsee another patch being required for at least 6 months.
The version number is meant to reflect the minor changes to the system
implied by this release.


Who Should Upgrade:
-------------------

    Users who have already installed the v2.15.1 patch are STRONGLY
ENCOURAGED to update their systems to address the issue above, users
running the original V2.15 system on 64-bit systems are similarly STRONGLY
ENCOURAGED to update their systems to fix data corruption issues addressed
by the v2.15.1 patch (as well as this one since it is a cumulative patch
to the v2.15 release).


How To Install the Patch:
-------------------------

 1) New IRAF installations following this announcement will automatically
    use the v2.15.1a release and no further action is required.

 2) Existing IRAF v2.15 systems need only to install the appropriate patch
    file for their system:

    	patch1-src.tar.gz	v2.15.1a patch source-only patch
    	patch1-linux.tar.gz	v2.15.1a patch to all 32/64-bit Linux systems
    	patch1-macosx.tar.gz	v2.15.1a patch to all 32/64-bit x86/PPC systems
    	patch1.lnux.x86.gz	v2.15.1a patch to 32-bit Linux systems
    	patch1.lnux.x86_64.gz	v2.15.1a patch to 64-bit Linux systems
    	patch1.macx.uni.gz	v2.15.1a patch to 32-bit OSX x86/PPC systems
    	patch1.macx.x86_64.gz	v2.15.1a patch to 64-bit OSX Intel systems

 3) Existing IRAF v2.15.1 systems should reinstall the 'patch1' file above
    to get the incremental v2.15.1a patch release.

In all cases the process for applying the patch is to simply download the
appropriate file and unpack in the 'iraf root directory' as

    tar zxf /path/file.gz

Each patch file contains not only the source changes, but also the affected
binaries for that platform (which is the reason for the large size of the
patch file).  Local changes (e.g. to printer/graphics devices or external
package definitions) are not affected.



Upgrading External Package Binaries:
------------------------------------

    At the time of this announcement, ALL external packages have been relinked
against the v2.15.1 system and are ready for updates immediately.

    Users have the option of relinking these packages locally once the patch
is installed, or all packages can be updated automatically with the commands:

	% cd $iraf/extern
	% make update

New binaries will be installed automatically from the package repository.

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