Frequently Asked Questions - OBSOLETE - REWRITE

General

1. What is AstroGrid?
2. What is AstroGrid for?
3. When will AstroGrid be ready?

Access to AstroGrid

1. How do I obtain access to AstroGrid?
2. How do I obtain an account on the test servers?
3. Where can I obtain AstroGrid software?

Obtaining and Installing AstroGrid software

1. Where can I download AstroGrid software?
2. How do I install AstroGrid?

Publishing your data/applications on AstroGrid

1. How do I make my data available on AstroGrid?
2. How do I make my data processing application available on AstroGrid?

This faq

1. My question isn't answered by the FAQ. Whom should I contact?
2. I am a developer and I wish to add a FAQ. What do I do?
3. I am not a developer and I wish to add a FAQ. What do I do?

General

What is AstroGrid?

The AstroGrid project aims to produce a working datagrid for key Astronomy databases with associated data-mining facilities.

What is AstroGrid for?

Examples of the sorts of scientific questions AstroGrid will be able to answer can be found on the list of Science Cases.

When will AstroGrid be ready?

AstroGrid 1 finished in December 2004, we are now running Astrogrid 2. The software is available for download now. Preview installations of the software are listed below in How do I obtain access to AstroGrid. The software will continue to be developed during AstroGrid 2, starting January 2005.

Access to AstroGrid

How do I obtain access to AstroGrid?

A fully functional installation of AstroGrid is not yet available. However, releases of AstroGrid are installed on a number of different servers for prototyping, demonstrations and testing. The latest AstroGrid releases can be found here.

How do I obtain an account on the test servers?

Sign up as a beta tester. See the BetaTesters wiki page for how.

Where can I obtain AstroGrid software?

All AstroGrid software is freely downloadable as source code, and as pre-compiled binaries. See Where can I download AstroGrid software for more information.

Obtaining and Installing AstroGrid software

Where can I download AstroGrid software?

Precompiled binaries can be downloaded by following the Quick Downloads links to the left. The source code is available from our CVS repository.

How do I install AstroGrid?

AstroGrid is not a single piece of software, but a collection of interoperating components designed to be installed on a distributed network of computers. Detailed instructions for the installation and configuration of individual components can be found on the AstroGrid Maven pages. Components likely to be of most interest are the Publishers AstroGrid Library for publishing data to AstroGrid, and the Common Execution Architecture for publishing dataprocessing applications.

It is also possible to install a set of typical AstroGrid components on a single machine for testing purposes. Step-by-step instructions for this may be found here.

Publishing your data/applications on AstroGrid

How do I make my data available on AstroGrid?

See the PAL Maven documentation.

How do I make my data processing application available on AstroGrid?

See the CEA Maven documentation.

This faq

My question isn't answered by the FAQ. Whom should I contact?

Try our wiki. Technical questions concerning individual software components may be addressed to any AstroGrid software developer.

I am a developer and I wish to add a FAQ. What do I do?

The source code for this document is held in CVS under /astrogrid-software-site/xdoc/faq.xml. The faq is generated using maven's faq goal.

I am not a developer and I wish to add a FAQ. What do I do?

Send it to AG Help and he'll add it for you.