Ubuntu

Instructions for installing Macaulay 2 with root access

Prepare for installing Macaulay 2 (with apt-get, gdebi-gtk, or the Synaptic Package Manager) by adding the following line to the file /etc/apt/sources.list, suitably modified as described below:

    deb http://www.math.uiuc.edu/Macaulay2/Repositories/Ubuntu XXXX main

The modification to make is: for ubuntu 10.10, replace "XXXX" with "maverick"; for ubuntu 12.04, replace "XXXX" with "precise" -- it may also be neccessary to run the command "apt-get install liblapack3gf" as root; for ubuntu 12.10, replace "XXXX" with "quantal"; for ubuntu 13.04, replace "XXXX" with "raring"; for debian 4, replace "XXXX" with "etch"; for debian 5, replace "XXXX" with "lenny"; for debian 6, replace "XXXX" with "squeeze"; and for debian 7, replace "XXXX" with "wheezy".

There are various ways to add that line to that file:

• Use the "Synaptic Package Manager", which can be started from the "System/Administration" menu or the "Desktop/Administration" menu. (You may also start it with the command "sudo synaptic" in a shell window.) Pull down the "Settings" menu, and select "Repositories". That will open up a window called "Software Sources". Now, depending on which version you have, do one of the following.
  • If you see a tab labelled "Other Software" or "Third Party Software", click on it, then click on "Add", and add the entry. If you make a mistake, be prepared to use an editor to edit the file to correct it. If two entries are created, remove or un-check the one corresponding to the source code (since we don't provide those).
  • If you see a tab labelled "Installation Media", then click on it, then click on "Add" and then "Custom", and add the entry.
• Use the "Software Sources" program, which can be started from the "System/Administration" menu, or the "Software Properties" program, which can be started from the "Desktop/Administration" menu.
• Use the command "sudo emacs /etc/apt/sources.list" to edit the file and add that line.

Another thing you should do (now) is to download and save the public key file Macaulay2-key, so you can add it to the key ring used for upgrading the system. This will allow the system to verify the signatures attached to the Macaulay2 distribution files. To add it to the key ring using the graphical user interface, access the "Software Sources" window (or program), as mentioned above, but this time select the "Authentication" tab. Click on the "Import Key File..." button, and select the previously downloaded public key file, Macaulay2-key. To add it to the key ring manually use the command "sudo apt-key add Macaulay2-key".

Now, using the "Synaptic Package Manager", reload the package lists from the repositories by clicking on the "Reload" button, and then click on the Mathematics (Math) section. You should see "macaulay2" on the list, available for download: click on it. It will add both "macaulay2" and "macaulay2-common" to the list of packages to be installed. (Behind the scenes, the package manager will consult our Ubuntu repository.)

Later upgrades to Macaulay 2 will become available to you almost automatically. You can periodically run the Synaptic Package Manager and check for updates by clicking on "Reload" and then on "Mark all Upgrades". Alternatively, when an orange starburst icon is occasionally displayed in your task bar indicating that updates are available from Ubuntu headquarters, you may click on the icon to activate the Update Manager, and then click on "Check" to download any new package information from the software channels, including the Macaulay 2 repository. If an update of Macaulay 2 is available, it will be displayed at the bottom of the list, after the Important Security Updates and the Recommended Updates, among the Other Updates. Press "Install Updates" to have it installed, along with the others. (If you have not installed the Macaulay2 public key file as described above, then our update will be listed as "Not authenticated", and the "list of changes" will not be available.)

Another way to install Macaulay 2, after that line are added to /etc/apt/sources.list, is with this command line.

	sudo apt-get install macaulay2

The preferred way to run Macaulay 2 is with emacs, but the installation procedure described above doesn't teach emacs how to do that. So, after Macaulay 2 is successfully installed as described above, the first thing you should do is to run M2 and to issue the Macaulay 2 command setupEmacs(). That will ensure that the next time you start emacs, it knows how to edit *.m2 files, and it knows that when you press the f12 key, it should start Macaulay 2 running in an interactive buffer.

If the procedure above doesn't work for you, then you may install the package files manually with dpkg (they all have names of the form *.deb). They come in pairs, one containing the architecture dependent files (in this directory), and one of the the common files containing the architecture independent files and having "common" in the name.

Instructions for installing Macaulay 2 without root access

You may install from a tar file, if we have provided one above. Alternatively, here is the procedure for unpacking a *.deb file yourself. We assume the *.deb file is called /tmp/Macaulay2-1.2-amd64-Linux-Ubuntu-123.456.1.deb, which you have chosen because you have version 123.456 (say) of Ubuntu.

     mkdir foo
     cd foo
     ar x /tmp/Macaulay2-1.2-amd64-Linux-Ubuntu-123.456.1.deb data.tar.gz
     tar xzf data.tar.gz

The result will be a directory tree named "usr", which can be moved and renamed at will. After moving it, run the program bin/M2 contained within, and run the "setup()" command to set up your standard init files, as described elsewhere. Then the directory "foo" and the file "data.tar.gz" in it can be removed.