| WRF Portal: A GUI For Running WRF Version 2.01 for Linux, AIX, Mac, and Windows - released August 4, 2010 |
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WRF Portal is the GUI that takes you through the entire process of running WRF: creating a domain (using the built-in WRF Domain Wizard component that generates your namelist.wps and namelist.input files), creating and running workflows, monitoring the progress of your runs, diff'ing workflows and files. Supports WRF version 2.x and the new WRF version 3.2.
Source Code is available here.
What's new in version 2.01
| Run WRF Portal using Java Web Start (recommended, no installation required) | |
Click here to launch WRF Portal 2.01 No installation required. Just click on the link and WRF Portal will set itself up and run. You will also automatically get updates to WRF Portal as they are made available. This beta version includes support for WRF 3 and WPS 3. Help! WRF Portal doesn't launch! Here are some trouble-shooting tips. Note: WRF Domain Wizard 2.01 is imbedded inside WRF Portal. |
What is Java Web Start?
Java Web Start is an application-deployment technology that automatically downloads your software then launches (runs) the application. You do not need to set up directories, run installation programs, or configure anything. Just click the link and the program runs. The first time you click on the link above, there is a delay while the software downloads. The next time you click the link, Web Start checks to see if an update is available. If one is, then it downloads the update. Otherwise it runs the local copy (avoiding the delay of downloading it again).
Do I need to install Java Web Start first?
Many computers already have Java (and Java Web Start) installed. It comes standard with Linux and Mac computers. If the "launch WRF Portal " link above starts the program, you are all set! If you don't already have Java on your system, you can download it from here. You only need to install the Java Runtime Edition (or JRE).
| Download, Unzip And Run WRF Portal from command line | |
Download wrf-portal.zip (2.01) (30 Mb) If you are unable to run WRF Domain Wizard as a Java Web Start applications, simply download the wrf-portal.zip file into a directory of your choosing (e.g. c:\wrf-portal or /home/wrf-portal) and unzip it. Then run "runWRFPortal.bat" (under Windows) or "runWRFPortal" (under Linux you will have to chmod +x to make the script runnable) to launch the program. After that, you can place a shortcut to wrf-portal on your desktop. WRF Domain Wizard is imbedded inside WRF Portal. |
Requirements to run WRF Portal
Minimum: Java 1.5
Recommended: Java 1.6 (Java 6) for much better performance
390 MB of RAM (memory) available
1024 x 768 (or better) video display
WPS and WRF version 2.2 or later already installed on some computer you can connect to from WRF Portal
Ruby (required to run default WRF scripts) installed on some computer you can connect to from WRF Portal. Ruby is standard on most Linux/Mac systems.
Version 2.01 -Numerous small bug fixes. Improved reliability of monitoring and launching workflows on a variety of computing platforms. Updated file viewing capabilities (from File Browser to include .png, .jpg, .gif, NetCDF, and GRIB files).
Version 1.43 -Added additional display support files for Panoply viewer (color tables and map overlays)
Version 1.42 -Cosmetic improvements to WDW Horiz Editor, new version of Panoply NetCDF/GRIB/HDF viewer tool creates Google Earth (.kmz) files! From the Panoply window, choose a field to view in the map window, then go to "File" menu, "Export KMZ As." to export it to a Google Earth .kmz file. You can then load that .kmz file in Google Earth.
Version 1.41 - -Now redirecst both stdout AND stderr to the log file (for diagnostic/debugging reasons)
-WDW-Namelist.input editor doesn't initialize additional nests correctly when you added a nest to an existing domain
-WDW-Enable centerpt lat/lon after projection chosen. Also added centerpt lat/lon to Nests table.
-WDW-The SSH dialog displays the name of the local computer and adds that computer name to the drop down box (so users can choose it). If the user chooses the local computer name, the username/password boxes are disabled.
-WDW-Added Hurricane WRF (HWRF) support for WRF Domain Wizard (still under testing)
Version 1.40 - Increased version number to 1.40 so it is in sync with WDW version number. WDW - Added non-linear vertical grid stretcher window to the namelist.input editor screen, other minor improvements to namelist.input editor. Added error checking for invalid parent grid ratios, improved suggested timestep value in namelist.input for NMM domains
Version 1.14 -Portal - Fixed Task Manager bug where Import button wasn't enabled, fixed bug where general settings tab didn't appear and task dep did, removed hardcoding of /bin/csh and /bin/ksh for running csh and ksh scripts. Eliminated need to specify the /bin/ruby path (it figures it out automatically now)
Version 1.13 -WRF Domain Wizard - added more error checking for namelist.input editor. Portal - Improved the Diff tool, now auto download Panoply viewer on first use
Version 1.12 -WRF Domain Wizard change: Improved the accuracy of displaying the main grid when standardLon is different than centerPtLon
Version 1.11 -WRF Domain Wizard change: mproved the accuracy of displaying the main grid and nests over the map
Version 1.10 - support for PBS batch queue system with internal workflow manager, added backup/restore feature for standalone version of portal (HSQL database version), fixed problems with launching workflows on some systems, added external workflow manager support for complex dependencies based on files-time-deadlines and ability to run multiple tasks simultaneously, Fixed bug related to saving namelist.input, add dx-degrees and dy-degrees columns to the nests editor in WDW, minor Mac UI improvements, default computer mistakenly reset when running WDW inside WRF Portal, updated external workflow manager to version 1.5, other minor UI fixes
Version 1.04 - NMM projection bug, visualizing NMM files including nests, set WPS dir button in DW config dialog didn't work in some situations, namelist.input editor didn't set max_dom correctly sometimes, other minor UI fixes
Version 1.03 - Added support for viewing (visualizing) GRIB1 and GRIB2 files, improved file browser tool, also fixed WDW bug related to save/load the following parameters from namelist.wps, (ungribOutFormat, ungribPrefix, metgridFgName, metgridIoFormMetgrid)
Version 1.02 - Fixed WRF Domain Wizard bug where parent_ids weren't being set correctly in namelist.input file
Version 1.01 - Fixed directory name bug (for loading domains) that, apparently, only afflicted Mac users
Version 1.00 - Added support for computer aliases (useful when logging into supercomputer where front end node name can be different each time), added support for importing file into multiple tasks at one time (useful when you have workflow with many tasks running the same script), added GUI editor for namelist.input (inside WRF Domain Wizard tool) and made other fixes to WDW, improved Linux support --AIX-Ubuntu-Debian, numerous small bug fixes.
Version 0.96 - WDW improvements --higher quality jpegs, error msg and instructions if Panoply download fails due to firewall, minor gui improvements
Version 0.95 - Updated ssh library, new code for loading/saving jpeg images, minor GUI enhancements
Version 0.94 - Improved WRF 3 support, minor bug fixes and improvements.
Version 0.93 - Updates to WRF Domain Wizard for WRF 3 namelist.input, WPS 3 "lat-lon" regional and global domains, and visualizing NetCDF files in IDV and Google Earth.
If WRF Portal won't start after you click the "launch" link above, you probably don't have Java installed on your computer. The software requires Java 1.5 or later to be installed on your desktop computer in order to run. Java 6 (or 1.6) is highly recommended for performance reasons. You can download the free Java Runtime Environment (JRE) here. Just download the JRE, install it, and then click the "launch" link (above) again.
If Java is installed on your desktop computer and yet the "launch" link still doesn't work, then Java Web Start isn't configured correctly on your computer's web browser. Here are instructions on how setup *.jnlp association for Java Web Start in various web browsers.
| Optional: download the External (Ruby) Workflow Manager (version 1.5) | |
Download external workflow manager, version 1.5 (1 Mb) The older version 1.01 is here. WRF Portal comes with an internal (Java) workflow manager built in. It is able to run your tasks (like ungrib, metgrid, real, and wrf) without a batch system (such as SGE or LSF). It will also report any errors and create log files for you. The External Workflow Manager requires Ruby to run. Since it runs on the server on which WRF is installed, even if you shut down WRF Portal, it continues running and monitoring your jobs. It is also more robust (it can resubmit jobs on failure). You must have SGE or LSF installed in order to use the external workflow manager. Here is some documentation on the workflow manager. When To Install and Use the External Workflow Manager Note: when using the External Workflow Manager, you can shut down WRF Portal after starting a workflow run, and the external workflow manager will continue to monitor the run and submit new jobs. Next time you start WRF Portal, it will update itself with the status of that workflow run. When To Use the Internal Workflow Manager If you don't use SGE or LSF to submit jobs (true on most desktop linux systems), then your only option is to use the internal workflow manager (note, however, that the Internal Workflow manager is flexible enough to use SGE or LSF if you want it to). Use this workflow manager if you don't want to bother with downloading and installing the External Workflow Manager. Note: when using the Internal Workflow Manager, WRF Portal must continue running in order to be able to monitor and submit new jobs from your workflow. Known Issues:
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