iLab Neuromorphic Vision C++ Toolkit Installing on Ubuntu Linux

This page describes how we install our Linux boxes at iLab with 64-bit Ubuntu Linux and all the necessary packages to compile the iLab Neuromorphic Vision C++ Toolkit. You can use this as a guide for your own Linux installation. Note, however, that some of the configurations shown here are specific to our lab and how our network is organized.

If this looks complicated, you should instead just download a pre-installed VirtualBox image with the full operating system and all of the packages to run iLab software, from our VirtualBox download page.

Installing Ubuntu 10.04LTS amd64

Here we show a typical setup sequence, using a 64-bit computer. Click on a thumbnail to see the full screenshot.

You need:

• Ubuntu 10.04LTS installation DVD (the CD is fine too but will give rise to slow downloads, and the steps will be slightly different from those shown below).
• the iLab install script from saliency/packages/ubuntu10.04lts-install.sh copied to a USB flash drive.
• Know the hostname, IP address and other network configuration for your machine. Try /sbin/ifconfig to find out if upgrading an existing machine.
• Know your partition table if upgrading, try 'mount' and make a note of which partition goes to what mount point and has which kind of filesystem.

	Boot the Ubuntu installation DVD. Select 'English'.
	Using the cursor keys, select 'Install Ubuntu' and press RETURN.
	Select 'English' and click 'Forward'.
	Check your timezone and click 'Forward'.
	Check keyboard type and click 'Forward'.
	Caution here. Select 'Specify partitions manually' and click 'Forward'.
	Here we assume that you are upgrading a machine that is already partitioned. If you are installing a brand new machine, your disk will be blank and instead you should create new partitions (typically, 10-20GB for /, 4-24GB for swap, and the rest of the disk for /home. Make sure you create a /home partition). Double-click on each partition in turn to inspect it and assign it a mountpoint.
	Here we double-clicked on the first partition, which is our root partition. Do not change the size. Select Ext3 Journaling filesystem. Check 'Format the partition'. Select '/' as mount point. Click 'Ok'.
	Here we double-clicked on the third partition, which is our /home partition. Do not change the size. Select Ext3 Journaling filesystem. DO NOT check 'Format the partition' if upgrading an existing machine! Select '/home' as mount point. Click 'Ok'.
	Triple-check everything and click 'Forward'.
	For iLab machines, create an account called 'Administrator Account' with username administrator and the usual password. Do not use your own name here since your user account is managed via NIS and will be imported later. Enter your machine name including the domain name.
	Check everything one last time and click 'Install'.
	The operating system will install.
	If the downloads get to slooooow here it is ok to click 'Skip'.
	Remove the DVD and reboot.
	Login into your Aministrator Account and select the 'Network Connections'.
	Edit your wired connection that is on the lab network. We are going to switch it to using a static IP which is necessary so that other machines can mount your disk drive(s).
	In the 'IPv4 Settings' tab, click 'Add' and enter your machine's information. Then also enter the DNS and search domain information and click 'Apply'. You will be asked to authenticate, use your Administrator Account's password for that.
	Somehow the interface will end up being down so just start it by clicking on its name.
	Open a terminal.
	Insert your USB flash drive into a USB port and wait for it to show up. An entry will be created in /media/ for it. Copy the iLab Ubuntu install script to your administrator home account. sudo bash and enter your administrator password. Get ready to run the script but just before that check the next step.
	Shortly after you have reconfigured and restarted your network, the Update Manager will pop-up then minimize itself. Click on it (bottom of screen) and then click 'Close'. Make sure you wait for this before you launch the iLab install script as the Update Manager may interfere with the script. Say 'y' for all the steps in the script (except CUDA if you don't have a CUDA-capable nVidia graphics card). Reboot (a new kernel will be downloaded by the script). If you get interrupted in the process, re-run the script and make sure you say 'n' for the steps which have already been executed, and 'y' for the remaining steps. Enjoy!