Using a virtual machine and a X serverto (almost) use Siril on Windows

Mathieu Bertholet

23/10/2015

Rev. 00 – Initial Version

SummaryOverview ............................................................................................................................................3

Download the Ubuntu installation ......................................................................................................3

Install VirtualBox .................................................................................................................................4

Creating our virtual machine. ..............................................................................................................5

Installing our virtual machine ............................................................................................................ 11

Change the network parameters of your virtual machine : ........................................................ 13

Let’s install Siril in hapiness ............................................................................................................... 14

Install pre requisites ...................................................................................................................... 14

Install Siril ..................................................................................................................................... 14

MobaXterm Installation .................................................................................................................... 16

Copy your files to the virtual machine ............................................................................................... 18

Launch Siril (Finally) .......................................................................................................................... 19

Daily usage ....................................................................................................................................... 20

Links ................................................................................................................................................. 20

OverviewSiril is an astronomy images pre processing and processing software

This software works on GNU/Linux, FreeBSD and Mac. Although it is possible tu use a virtual machineto emulate a GNU/ Linux distribution (Ubuntu in this case) and Siril.

The goal is to use Siril directly on Windows without the limitation of using it on the virtualizationwindow which can be restricting.

I use VirtualBox to virtualize.

To display the software in Windows, I’m using MobaXterm which allows to redirect a X Server (thegraphical part of Siril) in Windows.

The storage remains in the virtual machine but MobaXterm offers a simple way to transfer the filesto be processed on the virtual machine.

Download the Ubuntu installationAt the following URL :

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop

- Select 64 or 32 Bits according to your platform and click « Download », is file is about 1GB itcan take a while to download.

Install VirtualBox- Download the installation program at the following URL :

https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

- Once the download complete ; launch the installation and follow the instructions (Next,Next, Next, …)

Creating our virtual machine.- Launch VirtualBox- Click on New- Give your virtual machine a nice name- Select Linux- Select Ubuntu 64 or 32 Bits according of the image you’ve downloaded and then click Next.

- Assign some memory to your virtual machine. More is the best and depends on memoryavailable on your computer. If you can’t assign at least 2GB, stop the reading here and go geta new computer.On my computer I’ve assigned 4GB. 2Gb may be enough.

- Select « Create a virtual disk now» and then « create ».

- Kepp VDI

- Keep « Assign dynamically ».

- Set up the disk size for your virtual machine. Once again it depends on the available storageyou have on your computer. A 50GB disk gives us enough space.

- Click now on « create » and the virtual machine is beeing created.

Installing our virtual machineYour download of Ubuntu should be finished (Nope ? Wait a bit and go get a coffee)

Click on your virtual machine and then on « Settings » then « Storage » then on the « Empty » « IDEController » then on the CD image and select « Choose a virtual CD/DVD »

- Navigate to your downloaded Ubuntu ISO file like ubuntu-15.10-desktop-amd64.iso and clickOK

- Launch your virtual machine by clicking on Start

- A window opens with the installation of Ubuntu, just follow the installation instructons.

Change the network parameters of your virtual machine :- Go to “Settings”, “Network » and select the « Bridged adapter » option then select your

(physical) network card atteched to your network (wifi or wired)

You now have a virtual machine running Ubuntu. Hapinness and felicity flows into your heart !

Let’s install Siril in hapinessI here use the installation process described on the site with some additionnal packages.

Install pre requisites- Launch a Terminal

sudo apt-get -y install autoconf build-essential libgtk-3-dev fftw3-dev libgsl0-dev libcfitsio3-dev libconfig++-dev libtiff-dev libjpeg-dev libraw-dev libffms2-dev libopencv-dev subversion openssh-server

Install Siril- Grab the archive

svn co https://free-astro.vinvin.tf/svn/siril/branches/0.9/ siril

- Navigate into the directory

cd siril

- Perfom an update

svn up

- And perform the installation

autoreconf -fi./configuremakesudo make install

- We’ll get the IP address of the virtual machine as we’ll need this later on :

- A quick reboot and we’re good to go

MobaXterm InstallationNow, let’s install MobaXterm which will allows to connect to the virtual machine and launch Sirildirectly from Windows – Remember ? that’s why we’re here !

- Download the MobaXterm installation file at the following URL :

http://mobaxterm.mobatek.net/MobaXterm_Setup_8.2.msi

- Install with « Next, Next, Next, … »

Once installed lauch it and … “Oh my ! this is command line !”. No worries, it’s quite simple ;)

- Lets connect to our virtual machine with the IP address we’ve got just before ; typing thefollowing on MobaXterm :

ssh user_created_during_ubuntu_install@yourip

In my case it’s :

ssh mathieu@192.168.0.20

- Enter your password (will not display on typing) and save it if you wish.

Now you are connected, MobaXterm displays the content of your home directory on the virtualmachine on the right panel :

Copy your files to the virtual machineYou can copy the files to be processed (lights and DOF) using the Upload function :

Launch Siril (Finally)Once your files have been copied, we can now lauch Siril by simply typing

siril

Then Enter

And, abracadabra, Siril launch into Windows :

Daily usageCos, yes you have to process files every day

1. Start the virtual machine2. Launch MobaXterm3. Connect to the virtual machine from MobaXterm

ssh user@IP

4. Launch Siril from MobaXterm

siril

Enjoy ;)

LinksSiril : http://free-astro.vinvin.tf/index.php/Siril/fr

Who is behind Siril ? :

http://free-astro.vinvin.tf/index.php/Siril#Who_is_behind_Siril.3F

VirtualBox : https://www.virtualbox.org/

Ubuntu : http://www.ubuntu.com/

MobaXterm : http://mobaxterm.mobatek.net/

Do not hesitate to help the developers by offering them a cofee:

https://mobaxterm.mobatek.net/subscription.html

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/contribute