New IRAF Diagnostic Script Available

Mike Fitzpatrick wrote on Aug 10, 2000

	A new diagnostic program for IRAF installations is now available
as a beta release from

		ftp://iraf.noao.edu/pub/sysinfo

The SYSINFO command is a C-shell script which can be executed by IRAF
site managers or users to display information about the current platform
and IRAF installation, as well as run numerous (several dozen) diagnostic
checks on nearly all aspects of the system.  Current tests include
	
	o  Displays various current system settings.
	o  Verify proper structure of the iraf tree, iraf path definition,
	   installation of binaries, iraf user account, and permissions
	   and ownerships of files.
	o  Verify that the install script was run on the machine.
	o  Verify that IRAF networking is enabled on the current machine
	   and recommends a dev$hosts file entry for the node.
	o  Verify and display information about the display servers and
	   associated files available on a machine.  Will detect missing
	   fifo pipes or imtoolrc files which lead to display errors.
	o  Verify and display information for tape devices.
	o  Defined external packages are checked for correct path, helpdb
	   installation, and installed binaries.  Information displayed 
	   can be used to quickly determine which packages need updating. 

The script does not take any corrective action itself but recommends fixes
when problems are found.  It is meant to be used by site manager's to
diagnose problems on systems, or to verify that IRAF is correctly installed
on a particular machine.   The script essentially performs all the checks
on a system that site support would do by logging in remotely, only more
comprehensively and automatically.

	To use the program simply download the script and make it executable,
it may be run from any directory and will use the iraf root path defined in
the environment or derived from the /usr/include/iraf.h file.  A "-help"
flag is provided to display usage information.

	The program has been tested as well as can be expected but requires
real-world testing and feedback to be improved.  Please contact iraf@noao.edu
with any comments, questions, or bug reports.

Mike Fitzpatrick
NOAO/IRAF Group

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Last post on Aug 10, 2000