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Questions and answers => General discussions (Q&As) => Topic started by: xiangjun on January 24, 2012, 03:36:30 pm

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Title: How to install 3DNA on Linux and Windows?
Post by: xiangjun on January 24, 2012, 03:36:30 pm
3DNA is a command-line driven software tool, developed and tested in Linux/Mac OS X systems. It can also be easily installed on other Unix variants, including Cygwin and MinGW/MSYS in Windows. The following instructions are targeted on two typical scenarios: one for Linux, and the other for MinGW/MSYS-based Windows.

As of 3DNA v2.1, Ruby (http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/) has replaced Perl as the scripting language. Therefore, you must also have Ruby installed on your system. 3DNA has no dependence on any third-party gem, and has been tested on Ruby 1.8.x and 1.9.x series. Even though Ruby may not be installed by default on your system, the software is widely available on all common OSes, and should be straightforward to install.

As of 3DNA v2.3-2016sept06, the C source code is available (under the folder $X3DNA/src).

On Linux (including Mac OS X, or Cygwin on Windows)
Assuming the downloaded tarball file is named x3dna-v2.3-linux-64bit.tar.gz. At your current working directory (presumably your home directory), do the following:

On native Windows (added on July 14, 2017)
See FAQ entry: "How to set up 3DNA on Windows (http://forum.x3dna.org/faqs/how-to-set-up-3dna-on-windows/)"?

On MinGW/MSYS--based Windows
First, you need to install MSYS2 and Ruby on Windows. Depending on your experience, you may need to seek help from local experts. The following is a general guideline to get you started. Overall, it should be quite straightforward.


After installing MinGW/MSYS, double-click the "M" (msys) icon on the desktop to start the MSYS shell.. See the thread "How to install 3DNA on MinGW/MSYS (http://forum.x3dna.org/howtos/how-to-install-3dna-on-mingwsys/msg2040/)".

Then follow the instructions above on installing 3DNA on Linux.

Compile 3DNA from the source code

Created and maintained by Dr. Xiang-Jun Lu [律祥俊] (xiangjun@x3dna.org)
The Bussemaker Laboratory at the Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University.