Dependencies¶
The system is designed to be distributed across many computers, however it can also all be run on a single computer. This modular architecture means the software and hardware requirements are quite flexible. Below are the minimum hardware and software requirements for getting the live monitor running on a single computer.
Software Requirements¶
Installation will be covered in the next section, but these are the required software dependencies:
- Docker - Containerization software used for deploying several SO written packages.
- Docker Compose - CLI tool for running multi-container Docker applications.
- OCS - The observatory control system, for running clients locally.
Hardware Requirements¶
You will need a Linux computer running Ubuntu 18.04. Other Operating Systems can be used, but will not be supported.
Note
Docker stores its images in the root filesystem by default. If the computer
you are using has a small / partition you might run into space
constraints. In this case you should get in touch with Brian for advice on
how best to proceed.
Networking Requirements¶
This Linux machine will need to go on the same network as whatever hardware you’re controlling with OCS. Live monitoring remotely (i.e. not sitting directly at the computer) is facilitated if your IT department allows it to have a public IP address, and if you are able to setup a secure webserver. Doing so, however, is beyond the scope of this guide.
Warning
If you do have a public IP and traffic is allowed to all ports, you are strongly recommended to enable a firewall as described in Configuring a Firewall. Care should also be taken, when exposing ports in Docker, to expose your services, especially the crossbar server, to only your localhost (i.e. 127.0.0.1). This is the default in all templates provided by the SO DAQ group.
Note
If you do not have a public IP, but do have access to a gateway to your private network, then port forwarding can be used to view the live monitor remotely, as described in Port Forwarding to View Remotely.