Installation under UNIX

This version of InterViews and NEURON now uses autoconf and should be much easier to install than with the older Imake installation method. (those 4.2.1 version files are located in the old_imake subdirectory)

I (Michael Hines) am extremely grateful to Gary Holt (holt@LNC.usc.edu) for writing the original autoconf scripts for this package. I have modified these scripts in several ways and all bugs should be considered my own. Please notify me (michael.hines@yale.edu) if this package does not install properly on your machine.

Quick Installation Instructions

Full installation with InterViews (strongly recommended)

Download iv-12.tar.gz into home directory and then
cd $HOME
gunzip -c iv-12.tar.gz | tar xf -
cd iv-12
config.guess #your hostcpu is printed in the form hostcpu-vendor-osversion
./configure --prefix=$HOME/iv
make
make install
Download nrn-4.3.1.tar.gz into home directory and then
cd $HOME
gunzip -c nrn-4.3.1.tar.gz | tar xf -
cd nrn-4.3.1.tar.gz
./configure --prefix=$HOME/nrn --with-iv=$HOME/iv
make
make install
#where hostcpu is the output of config.guess in the form hostcpu-vendor-osversion
$HOME/nrn/bin/hostcpu/neurondemo
If the last instruction fails, try the last instruction again after
setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH "${HOME}/nrn/lib:${HOME}/iv/lib"

Installation of NRNIV without GUI classes (no GUI)

Download nrn-4.3.1.tar.gz into home directory and then
cd $HOME
gunzip -c nrn-4.3.1.tar.gz | tar xf -
cd nrn-4.3.1.tar.gz
./configure --prefix=$HOME/nrn --without-iv
make
make install
cd $HOME/nrn/share/nrn/demo/release
$HOME/nrn/bin/nrnivmodl
hostcpu/special
If the last command fails you may need a
setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH "${HOME}/nrn/hostcpu/lib"

NRNOC only (no c++ classes)

Download nrn-4.3.1.tar.gz into home directory and then
cd $HOME
gunzip -c nrn-4.3.1.tar.gz | tar xf -
cd nrn-4.3.1.tar.gz
./configure --prefix=$HOME/nrn --without-nrniv
make
make install
cd $HOME/nrn/share/nrn/demo/release
$HOME/nrn/bin/nrnocmodl
your_host_cpu/special
If the last command fails you may need a
setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH "${HOME}/nrn/hostcpu/lib"

More details

To install the package first download
iv-12.tar.gz
and then download
nrn-4.3.1.tar.gz
In most cases the following should be sufficient for a complete installation
gunzip -c iv-12.tar.gz | tar xf -
cd iv-12
#read the INSTALL file.
configure --prefix=/where/you/want/it
make
make install
cd ..
rm -r -f iv-12

If you don't specify a prefix it defaults to /usr/local/iv
I use:

configure --prefix=$HOME/iv

To install the NEURON part

gunzip -c nrn-4.2.3.tar.gz | tar xf -
cd nrn-4.2.3
#read the INSTALL file
configure --prefix=/where/you/want/it --with-iv=/where/you/installed/interviews
make
make install
cd ..
rm -r -f nrn-4.2.3

If you don't specify a prefix it defaults to /usr/local/nrn
If you don't specify a --with-iv it first looks in prefix/../iv and then in /usr/local/iv I use:

configure --prefix=$HOME/nrn --with-iv=$HOME/iv
Notice that in my case
configure --prefix=$HOME/nrn
would suffice because interviews was installed in $HOME/iv

In general there should no longer be any requirement for CPU, NEURONHOME, or LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variables. However, if you have trouble launching NEURON it may be because I am not using libtool generically in the configuration files and need an explicit LD_LIBRARY_PATH for interviews or for the compiler libraries. Installation is successful if

/where/you/want/it/bin/hostcpu/neurondemo
creates /where/you/want/it/share/nrn/demo/neuron (if it doesn't already exist) and launches the demo.