Quick Start

Download the Code

You can download the latest version on the GitHub repository. You can download the code from the repository using any Git client. To download the code using the standard git clone, type:

> git clone https://github.com/PrincetonUniversity/athena

To retrieve the latest update, move into the code directory and type:

> git pull

For more information, please consult the documentation of the Git client you use.

Testing that the code runs

A comprehensive way of testing that the code works is to run the regression test suite. From within the athena/ directory, go to the regression directory and run some tests:

> cd tst/regression
> python run_tests.py hydro/sod_shock mhd/mhd_carbuncle

This should take only a few minutes on a modern laptop. At the end of the execution, a summary of the test pass/fail results will be printed. Note, when the Python script is executed without arguments, by default it will run all regression tests, which possibly take several hours and includes tests with specific library dependencies that might be missing from your system (MPI, parallel HDF5, FFTW, ...).

Configuring and compiling

Athena++ is compiled from an automatically generated Makefile. From the top-level directory, the code can be configured and compiled as follows:

> python configure.py <options>
> make clean
> make

This places the executable athena in the bin/ directory. Available configuration options are covered in Configuring.

Running

The code is easily run by specifying an input file:

> cd bin
> ./athena -i <path/filename>

Additional command line options are covered in Running the Code.