Skip to content

GUI installer

This page covers the usage of the installation manager graphical user interface (GUI) which is available for Linux and macOS computers. For usage information for the command-line interface (CLI) installation manager, see here.

SBGrid Installation Manager GUI Installation and Usage

Download the Installation Manager

Overview

An account with the SBGrid Consortium is required to use the installation manager. If your lab or institution is a SBGrid consortium member, you can set up an account by registering here : SBGrid registration

Quick Start

A video tutorial of the SBGrid Installation manager is available

  1. Download the Installer Grab the latest version for your operating system from our Downloads Page. Download Installation Manager.

  2. Install the Application

  3. macOS: Open the .dmg and drag the SBGrid icon to your Applications folder.

  4. Linux: Extract the .tar.gz and run the binary.

  5. Launch and Activate the application and log in using your SBGrid Consortium credentials (more detail here). If you don't have an account yet, you can register here.

  6. Install SBGrid Select your installation path (default is /opt/sbgrid).

  7. Note on admin privilages Creating the /opt/sbgrid directory and the /programs symlink requires sudo privileges.

  8. macOS Users: On modern macOS, the installer will help you configure /etc/synthetic.conf to ensure the /programs directory persists after reboots. More on macOS requirements.

  9. Install Software Once initialized, head to the Programs tab, select the titles you need, and click Apply Tasks. You're now ready to go!

  10. Load the Environment To run the installed software, you can either click on the "SBGrid Shell" button in the top right, or in a new terminal window you can run source /programs/sbgrid.shrc. See more on using SBGrid here.

New to the command line? Check our Command line basics resources.

Need help? Visit the FAQ.

Requirements and recommendations

While admin privileges are not required to run SBGrid software, they are required for the initial setup to create the necessary system paths.

  • Sudo Access: Required once during the "Initial Setup" phase.

Storage: Ensure you have enough disk space for the specific software titles you plan to install. A full installation can exceed 2TB, but most labs only need a few hundred GBs.

Network: Ports 873 and 8080 must be open for synchronization. Test your connection.

Activation

The first step to install the SBGrid software is to activate an account. This only has to be done one time per installation. You won't need to enter credentials after this step.

Activation page of GUI Enter credentials and click the "Activate" button. You will be presented with confirmation dialogs to set up the installation.

Request for permissions

On macOS, you will see the dialog above. This permission is only needed to create the /opt/sbgrid directory

Example of synthetic.conf error

A /etc/synthetic.conf is required to create the root-level symlink to /programs on macOS. A reboot is required after installation.

Using the Installation Manager

GUI Home Pane

GUI home screen This is the home page of the Installation Manager. it features a list of new and updated software, SBGrid News ( Upcoming webinars, events and member tales). The panel left allows the user to select from 6 different panes for managing software. Those a described below.

Installed Pane

The Installed button changes to the installed software pane. List of installed software in GUI

This window (above) shows installed titles. In this case, only the base installation is present - the SBGrid Installer is the only title installed.

Info pane of GUI By clicking the title text, a window pane reveals the details of the installed title.

Programs Pane

Gui programs list The programs pane shows all available programs. Software can be added/removed upgraded from this pane. These operations are queued in the task list.

Adding a new task

Tasks Pane

All operations are added to the task list and wil be queud for execution. These can be removed if needed.

Task list in the gui Before tasks are applied, they are listed as "pending".

Running tasks in the gui Tasks are applied and will run in parallel. A Scrollbar indicates progress.

Installing, Upgrading and Removing software

Software is queued for installation / removal / upgrade by clicking on the blue / red / green text associated with the application title.

Docs and Contact Panes

These panes provide access to our wiki and bug reporting pages. We intend to expand content on these in future releases.

Advanced Options & Troubleshooting

Using an HTTP proxy

It is possible to configure an HTTP/HTTPS proxy in the Preferences dialog. This can be toggled on and off using the checkbox which can be useful for laptops that may not need the proxy on all networks.

Have problems or questions? Get in touch - bugs@sbgrid.org