Accessing the HEASARC CALDB Remotely
Users of HEASOFT 5.0
(aka FTOOLS 5.0) and later versions can remotely access files in the HEASARC
CALDB directly. Remote Access has the following advantages:
- HEASOFT users can run CALDB-aware tools (like pcarf, ascaarf,
etc.) without having to make sure that they have the necessary CALDB
files installed and accessible. This means that a user who want to
run pcarf, for example, no longer needs to actually have the CALDB for
the ROSAT PSPC installed locally (i.e., no more tar files to download
and untar!)
- Users no longer have to worry about updating their local
installations of the CALDB every time a new data file is released, so
maintenance is much easier.
To enable Remote Access:
- download the file
https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/FTP/caldb/software/tools/caldb.config
and set the environment $CALDBCONFIG to point to that file. For
example if you download the file to /local/user/caldb.config, then
% setenv CALDBCONFIG /local/user/caldb.config
or, if you're using the bash shell:
% CALDBCONFIG=/local/user/caldb.config; export CALDBCONFIG
- download the file
https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/FTP/caldb/software/tools/alias_config.fits
and set the environment variable $CALDBALIAS to point
to that file. For example, if you download the file to
/local/user/alias_config.fits, then
% setenv CALDBALIAS /local/user/alias_config.fits
or, for bash shell users:
% CALDBALIAS=/local/user/alias_config.fits; export CALDBALIAS
- set the environment variable $CALDB to
https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/FTP/caldb
% setenv CALDB https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/FTP/caldb
or, for bash shell users:
% CALDB=https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/FTP/caldb; export CALDB
Now, whenever an ftool task which needs a file from the HEASARC
CALDB (for example ascaarf or pcarf), if the key
CALDB is given at the prompt for the filename, the task will
connect to the HEASARC CALDB via the specified protocol, check the appropriate
caldb.indx file for the name of the appropriate file, download
the file to the current working directory, and continue the task.
Downloading Remote Files: quzcif will download remote CALDB files to the user's current working directory if the retrieve parameter for quzcif is set to "yes". This enables the user to use these local calibration files later on. However if the user does not have permission to write to the current working directory, quzcif will produce an error when trying to download the remote file.
History
- Update June 12, 2020: Virtual file access in CFITSIO has been fixed, and the HEASARC no longer allows (insecure) ftp connections. Remote access users should download HEASOFT 6.21 or later versions and
set the $CALDB environment variable to https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/FTP/caldb.
- Update April 5, 2017: The HEASARC now uses secure (https) connections on all its servers, and unfortunately this breaks virtual file access in CFITSIO, which means that remote access to the HEASARC CALDB is also broken using https or http (which is re-directed to https). Remote access users should download HEASOFT 6.21 or later versions and
set the $CALDB environment variable to https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/caldb. Note that CFITSIO ftp access to the HEASARC servers is broken in versions of HEASOFT prior to HEASOFT 6.21.
- Update (March 30, 2010): Some users are reporting that using ftp://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/caldb for $CALDB is causing access problems. Setting $CALDB to
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/FTP/caldb is working.
- November 8, 2006: Some remote users are experiencing problems with remote access. If you are currently having problems please contact the CALDB manager via e-mail. Try setting the CALDB environment variable to ftp://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/caldb instead of http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/FTP/caldb
- March 2, 2004: Changes to the GSFC network are currently causing problems with accessing the CALDB remotely. If you are experiencing problems please contact the CALDB manager via e-mail. A patch to FTOOLS 5.3 should be available shortly.
(Update (20 May 2004): The FTOOLS patch release 5.3.1 fixes this problem.)
Page author:
Michael F.
Corcoran
Last updated: Wednesday, 20-Oct-2021 10:29:29 EDT.
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