As a LAMMPS newbie (but somehow experienced in other simulation
codes) I tried to install a current LAMMPS windows package
(http://rpm.lammps.org/windows/64bit/lammps-64bit-latest.exe)
from http://rpm.lammps.org/windows.html
Parallel to the work I plan to to on a linux box, I
had the intend to "play" with different aspects of
LAMMPS on my windows workstation.
The first thing I noted, after installing through
the above installer, my careful crafted system PATH
variable was gone without any warning.
Therefore, I'd think this installer should be
retracted or at least modified in order to prevent
harm from unuspecting users computers.
you can think whatever you want. i for myself don't take any criticism
seriously that is done anonymously and without any tangible and
applicable improvements.
hell, i don't use windows myself and the installer packages are
primarily provided as a courtesy (since it is quite easy to build them
on my linux desktop). the installer script follows the suggestions
provided by the installer software authors and uses their scripts to
*append* to path variables. if that doesn't work on your particular
machine setup, i would first and foremost assume that you are doing
something unusual and non-standard on your machine, that few people
are doing.
I had to undergo a system restore in order to get my
PATH back (which is, in Windows 8, a "expandable string"
and NOT a "string" -- maybe that's the reason).
i don't use windows myself and don't care about such details.
Here's my question: due to my "experiences", I'd
"install" LAMMPS by simply copying the files and
setting the environment by hand (for the USER,
NOT for the system). I identified two environment
settings:
- the PATH (of course): LAMMPSDIR\bin
- LAMMPS_POTENTIALS : LAMMPSDIR\Potentials
Are there any other environment settings in windows
which might be required or of use?
*no* environment variables are required. the installer package sets
certain environment variable to accommodate expectations from many
windows users that are sometimes a bit different from users on other
operating systems.
since these installer packages are provided the number of inquiries
from windows users due to either problems with the previously provided
standalone windows executable or from compiling their own windows
executables (the installer packages contain almost all optional
packages unlike the cygwin binaries from lammps.sandia.gov) have
dropped massively, so i think it is overall a big improvement for the
LAMMPS community. the main motivation for providing these installer
packages is to allow doing tutorials and courses on LAMMPS or MD in
general on windows machines.
anybody that is serious about doing simulations should use Linux these
days anyway.
axel.