iraf.net

The release of the IRAF V2.15 system (featuring 64-bit platform support) is now available from NOAO. This release covers both 32- and 64-bit Linux and Mac OSX systems (Intel and PPC) and is now recommended for all users and developers. Modified sources for some 30 external packages which have been ported to 64-bit are also available from the FTP archive extern directory. Support for additional platforms and updated external package distributions will be made available in the coming weeks.

IRAF v2.15 is now distributed as a single-file download for each supported platform. Installation is now just a matter of unpacking this single tarfile and executing the iraf install script. Similarly, v2.15 also features a new external package mechanism to automate the download and installation of packages. A full list of features and changes is detailed in the Release Notes.

IRAF v2.15 Distribution Files:

Documentation:	Release Notes	Install Guide	Site Mgrs Guide
	v2.15 Revisions	64-bit Porting Guide
Downloads:	Linux 32-bit (66MB)	Mac OSX 32-bit (131MB)	Release Directory
	Linux 64-bit (112MB)	Mac OSX 64-bit (69 MB)	ExtPkg Directory
	Combo Linux 32/64-bit (149MB)	Combo OSX 32/64-bit (170MB)
	Source-only (23MB)	All Platforms (297MB)

This release include a unified linux architecture suitable for all 32-bit Linux distributions. Similarly, the macosx architecture is now a Universal (Intel and PPC) 32-bit distribution. On 64-bit linux platforms the architecture name is linux64, the macintel architecture name now refers explicitly to 64-bit OSX (Intel). Despite the architecture name changes, older external packages can continue to be used (see the README or 64-bit Port Guide for details).

Please contact us or post questions to the support forums with any problems or questions you may have.


Update 1/26/11:  An IRAF v2.15.1 Patch is now available, see story below for details.
Update 1/27/11: Exernal package repository now linkec against v2.15.1
Update 2/21/11: An IRAF v2.15.1a Patch release is now available, see story below for details. All external package releases are now linked against this version of the system for all platforms.

With the recent decision that jailbreaking your iDevice is legal, and how easy it now is to do, it seemed a good time to dust off the earlier IRAF iPod port and try it out on my new iPad. As before, the hard part was setting up a development environment, but since most of the work had already been done, it was pretty easy to merge the iPad port into main system as just another platform.

IRAF is now running on the iPad and will be available as part of the main v2.15 release for jailbroken iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch devices running iOS 3.1.2 or earlier. I'll post more details at the time of release, the purpose for this post is to let you know what's coming so you can hold off on iOS updates beyond 3.1.2 which will likely hinder your ability to easily jailbreak your device. If you want IRAF on your iPad, do not update your iOS just yet!! iOS4 (and indeed anything beyonf iOS 3.12) is not yet included in this announcement.

See below for more about what's working (and how well), and what you'll need to have ready to impress your friends, bosses, and to justify that year-end purchase you know you wanna make....

Update 8/14/10: DS9 now running, X11IRAF compiles but does not yet run.

Mosaic of M31 from 107 8K x 8K images, built on 64-bit Mac. Final size: 13K x 15K Data Credit: P. Massey

The Alpha release of the NOAO/IRAF V2.15 system featuring 64-bit platform support is now available. This release covers both 32-bit and 64-bit Linux and Mac OSX systems (Intel and PPC) and includes modified sources for some 30 external packages. This system is recommended only for experienced users and those willing to use a potentially unstable system download at this time. Several features (such as the simplified install procedure) and more complete documentation are in preparation and will be introduced in later releases.

As an Alpha release, we expect bugs will be found and we are relying on users to provide testing and feedback, especially for the science tasks and external package code. Some detailed release notes are available in the release README file and are included below, these will also be expanded in the future.

Note this release is currently being bundled with "dual binaries", i.e. both 32 and 64-bit binaries are included in a single distribution to allow easier installation for testing and comparison on a given platform. The Alpha-release distribution directory is http://iraf.net/ftp/iraf/v215-ALPHA and will be updated as needed (final releases will be posted to the iraf.noao.edu project site). Links to individual distribution files:

• iraf_v215-src.tar.gz -- Source-only distribution
• iraf_v215-osx.tar.gz -- Mac OSX distribution (OSX 10.4-10.6, Intel and ppc, 32- and 64-bit)
• iraf_v215-linux.tar.gz -- Linux distribution (all distros, 32- and 64-bit)
• extern/ -- v2.15 compatible External Packages
• v215revs.txt -- v2.15 Revisions notes
• PORT.GUIDE -- SPP applications 64-bit port guide

Please report any problems you may find to the forums or in an email. Problem reports should include the platform and any information necessary to reproduce the error.

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Update March 24, 2010: Bugfix update of distribution. Installing this fix is recommended for all users.
Update May 6, 2010: Minor bugfix update release.
Update May 23, 2010: First draft of 64-bit Port Guide available.
Update September 19, 2010: Final snapshot release before building release candidate. Fixes various issues with TABLES package and other minor bugs in compiling code. Full update recommended.

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Normally this space is reserved for major release announcements, but I was recently at two conferences and was surprised by the level of concern about 64-bit support and future IRAF releases in general and thus a status report seemed in order....

With the IRAF V2.15 release now in preparation you can expect the following: If you are a user, you'll see 64-bit supported and all its benefits (e.g. large file/memory support and a 10-15% speed increase from native binaries); If you are a developer, you (may) have some minor work to do to update your package for 64-bit support, but will, in the end, have more robust code due to stronger type-checking now imposed by the system. See the full story for detailed notes, but for the impatient, here are the highlights:

• The 64-bit port is complete and in testing.
• A planned V2.15 release will allow for user testing and updates needed for external packages. This release features:
• A single linux architecture for 32-bit systems.
• A simplified build and install procedures (1-file download!).
• Compile-time prototype checking of code to reduce errors.
• A new MEMIO interface to detect pointer over/underflows, provide memory garbage collection & usage reporting, and more.
• SVG graphics device for better web-presentation of plots.
• Numerous bug fixes and enhancements.

We plan an extended Beta release sometime after the holidays to resolve any platform integration issues, to allow time for package maintainers to update their code as needed, and to provide a longer test period for the 64-bit applications that may have lingering, undiscovered bugs.

Please post any comments, questions or concerns to the forum or contact us directly.

It was 3 years ago today that iraf.net officially took over user support for our users, and the site has grown considerably since then: In 2008, we had over 75,000 unique visitors, served more than a million pages from the site, served an avg of 157 iraf-help-pages/day from the banner bar, transferred enough bandwidth for hundreds of full IRAF systems, answered many hundreds of user questions, and we are approaching 1200 registered users. 2009 has the potential for significant (and 'official') IRAF development, let's all hope for better budgets in the coming year.

Thanks again to all of you who use this site, and especially to those who regularly contribute to truly make it a community forum.

A V2.14.1 Patch release of IRAF is now available from the Downloads area and from the anonymous ftp archive at iraf.noao.edu. This release adds support for FreeBSD to the PC-IRAF release, and is the first public release of the Sun/IRAF system for Sparc CPU systems. With this patch, a total of 9 platforms are now supported.

Detailed release notes are available online, or for the impatient, are in the body of the story. These notes also contain information on how to upgrade/install this patch. The V2.14.1 patch release is recommended for all users. Please post if you find any problems with the distribution or encounter a problem upgrading your system.

I officially give up. Spam registrations from public email accounts like Gmail/Yahoo/AOL/Earthlink/Hotmail are running at the rate of 40-50/day and I'm fed up with constantly clearing them out. I myself use a Gmail account for registrations like this, but when the ratio of spam to legitimate users from these domains is 500:1 or more, it's time to take drastic action.

So, from now on, registrations from the above systems will no longer be allowed for new users. If you need to register please use your university/institutional email address: Send a note to the 'admin' at iraf.net if you'd like me to change this email afterward to anonymize it, or if you have no other email account and would like me to manually register you with one of the banned domains.

This past week, iraf.net registered its 1,000th user. These are people who have taken the time to register after reading a help page, posting a message, or searching for an answer to a question. This excludes the dozen or so spam registrations I kill daily, and so 1000 users represents a legitimate estimate of the actual users of this site.

To each and every one of you: Thanks for your support. I hope you continue to find this site useful, and the future will be as bright as it appears now.

You read it correctly, IRAF now runs on an iPod/iPhone. After all, a 400Mhz CPU and >100Mb of RAM was a supercomputer back in the day, and the OS is a Mac OSX 10.5 micro-kernel. Besides, it was too cool/absurd not to try it. The result is an IRAF system (and external packages) capable of doing real science on an iPhone/iPod, a first for astronomy.

The port itself was straightforward, the only hard part was building a cross-compiler to produce binaries for the ARM processor. Of course there's no native graphics or image display, but you can login to the device remotely and use an Xterm termiinal or XImtool/DS9 for the image display on your laptop. but is it really useful for anything other than impressing your friends? Only time will tell.

The system installs using the AppTapp installer on a jailbroken device, and is ready to run immediately. See below for additional requirements and information, including benchmarks and screenshots.