Underworld

a long term geodynamics simulation platform

OSMesa Download and Installation

What is OSMesa and which version of OSMesa can I use?

OSMesa is a software implementation of OpenGL, which is portable, and doesn't need a window server running to create windows. Further information is available here.

Notes:

  • OSMesa can be installed on most systems (Ubuntu/Debian: libosmesa6-dev), and is recommended for clusters
  • OSMesa does not work with interactive simulations in most cases, hence only install it if you intend work with off-screen output direct to image files only, such as on a computer cluster.
  • Mesa-6.4 can be used with versions of Underworld up to Underworld-1.4.1, but must be modified as detailed below for use with Underworld.
  • Use versions of OSMesa 7.8 or 7.8.1 (not 7.8.2 or later) with Underworld-1.4.1 and Underworld-1.5.

Downloading and Installing OSMesa Manually

Go here and download MesaLib-7.8.1.tar.gz

Untar and unzip the downloaded file (if you are on a mac this may be done for you): 

tar zxvf MesaLib-7.8.1.tar.gz

Move the Mesa-7.8.1 directory to the location where you want to install it (e.g. mv Mesa-7.8.1 /usr/local/Mesa-7.8.1), navigate into the Mesa-7.8.1 directory, and type the following: 

./configure --with-driver=osmesa
make

This will give a list of architectures, choose one most appropriate for your system. Then type the following (according to your operating system), for example:

linux 

make linux-x86

macs

OSMesa is not recommended for use with Underworld on macs. Carbon, which comes pre-installed on macs, is preferred for on- and off-screen rendering and visualisation.

Setting up Environment Variables

Add the following to your ~/.bashrc (if you are using bash) or ~/.tcshrc (if you are using tcsh), where /usr/local/mpich is the path where your MPI implementation was installed.

bash: 

export GL_DIR=/usr/local/Mesa-7.8.1
export OSMESA_DIR=${GL_DIR}

To activate these changes, save and close your .bashrc file and then either exit your terminal application or type the following: 

source ~/.bashrc

tcsh: 

setenv GL_DIR /usr/local/Mesa-7.8.1
setenv OSMESA_DIR ${GL_DIR}

To activate these changes, save and close your .tcshrc file and then either exit your terminal application or type the following: 

source ~/.tcshrc

-- Wendy Mason - 29 June 2011
-- Owen Kaluza - 29 June 2011
-- John Spencer - 18 May 2010
-- Alan Lo - 15 December 2005
-- Robert Turnbull - 18 January 2006