Installing RPS on Linux
Introduction
This document describes how to install RenderMan Pro Server on a Linux workstation, including installation of PhotoRealistic RenderMan and the License Server components.
Installing with RPM
RenderMan Pro Server for Linux is distributed via three rpm packages:
- RenderManProServer-version-linuxflavor.rpm - The RenderMan Pro Server rendering toolkit.
- PixarLicense-version-linuxflavor.rpm - The Pixar license server; it only needs to be installed on the machine designated as your license server.
- Pixar_RPS_version_docs.tgz - The RenderMan Pro Server documentation.
The flavor string includes the common distribution, e.g. FC5, the gcc/icc versions, and the microprocessor instruction set, e.g. i686. Putting them all together provides, for example, a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5-compatible package named RenderManProServer-16.0-linuxRHEL5_gcc41icc111.x86_64.rpm.
Each .rpm file is independent of each other, and may be installed separately. The documentation package may be installed in one central location or on each workstation according to your preference. As mentioned, the License Server package only needs to be installed on one machine that is designated as your license server.
To install the packages, you can either use rpm from the command line, or your choice of UI rpm installer, like gnorpm. The following instructions will use rpm from the command prompt.
Installing to the default location
To install the software to the default location, first change to the directory where the .rpm files are located, and from a root shell type:
> rpm -i RenderManProServer-version-linuxflavor.rpm
For example:
> rpm -i RenderManProServer-14.0-linuxFC5_gcc41icc101.i686.rpm
Installing to a location other than /opt
To install the packages to a different location, the /opt prefix of the default path can be replaced. For example, to install to /usr/local/pixar/rat, from a root shell type:
> rpm -i --prefix /usr/local RenderManProServer-version-linuxflavor.rpm
Querying installed packages
To verify which packages are installed, from any shell type:
> rpm -q package*
For example, if you type:
> rpm -q RenderManProServer*
the full names of installed RenderMan Pro Server packages will be printed to the screen.
Alternatively, you can "grep", like so:
rpm -qa | grep RenderManProServer
These tricks are handy when you plan to uninstall a package and don't remember exactly which packages are installed. Speaking of which...
Uninstalling
To uninstall the rpm packages, from a root shell type:
> rpm -e RenderManProServer-version
For example:
> rpm -e RenderManProServer-16.0
Notice that the .x86.rpm portion of the rpm file name has been truncated. The above command should erase the entire contents of the installation directories.
Licensing
After installing the license server via the rpm, as described above, you will need a valid license file. Licenses are obtained directly from Pixar or via web browser, using Pixar's Online Product Authorization system. Licenses are keyed to a special machine designated as your license server. Instructions for generating a license via the OPA system can be found here.
Pixar's software must then be told which machine has been designated as the license server. This is done via the /licenseserver line in the rendermn.ini file. By default, this is:
/licenseserver ${RMANTREE}/etc/pixar.license
This points to a full license file (for node-locked licenses) or a "stub" file that points to your license server, either of which may be retrieved via the OPA system. Users can also use a modified line in a site-specific rendermn.ini file to point at the license server, like so:
/licenseserver 9010@mylicenseserver
where mylicenseserver is the hostname of your license server machine.
We highly recommend that, rather than editing the rendermn.ini file in your installation directory ($RMANTREE/etc), you create a duplicate file containing your site-specific overrides and place it in a separate directory, referenced via an $RDIR environment variable.
Running the License Server
After installing your license, you will need to start a license server daemon on the license server host. The license server daemon can be manually started on a host by using the shell script. For more information, please review the Linux section of the License Server documentation.
Setting Up the User's Environment
Environment Variables
There are several environment variables that users should set. These can be added to your .cshrc (or other startup) file:
- RMANTREE - establishes the location of your PRMan distribution.
- RMANFB - establishes your framebuffer display program.
- path - establishes the searchpath for the execution of programs, this probably already exists, so it is just a matter of adding $RMANTREE/bin to your path.
- RDIR - speficies a directory where additional configuration files can be found, e.g. a site-specific rendermn.ini file.
RenderMan Studio users should consult the RenderMan Studio documentation for more information about RMS-specific environment variables.
Documentation
All of the documentation for both RenderMan Pro Server is located in a tree that is separate from the application software. The documentation is contained in a tar gzipped file which can be installed in any location, including an internal web server to allow on-site sharing.
Help
If you require further assistance, please check out the RenderMan Support Forum. Note that registration is required.
If that fails, try customer service:
Email: rmancusp@pixar.com
Phone: 800.937.3179 (U.S. only); 510.922.3028 (direct)