4.2. Chemkin Linux Environment

Ansys Chemkin uses a combination of environment variables and shell scripts to establish its operational environment. Our environment setup scripts also define aliases to run the Chemkin Interface and Chemkin Visualizer. Other executables can be invoked directly from the command line once the Chemkin environment is established or you can define launch scripts and aliases to execute them using the chemkin alias as an example.

Environmental definition scripts must be executed to define the Ansys Chemkin environment. If you are using KDE, Gnome, etc., then open a Linux X-window shell to perform these commands. You need to know what type of shell window you are using. If you are unsure, in your shell type this command:

echo $SHELL

Next, in your shell window, type

source <installation-root>/v242/reaction/chemkinpro.linuxx8664/bin/chemkinpro_setup.<extension>

where <extension> depends on which shell you are using: bash, sh, ksh, similar shell users should use the .ksh extension. csh, tcsh, similar shell users should use the .csh extension.

Table 4.3: Chemkin Environment Variables for Linux shows environment variables that are established or changed by the setup scripts.

Table 4.3: Chemkin Environment Variables for Linux

Variable	Description
REACTION_DIR	Variable points to the subdirectory where Ansys Chemkin is installed.
CHEMKIN_BIN	Variable points to the location of the bin directory (executables).
PATH	Variable is the search path for Ansys Chemkin executables.
LD_LIBRARY_PATH	This is a required variable.
RD_JRE_BIN	Variable points to the location of the Java runtime environment.
CHEMKIN_RELEASE_NUMBER	Variable is the release number.
CHEMKIN_TITLE	Used by the Ansys Chemkin user interface to display detailed version information.
CHEMKIN_USER_PATH	Variable allows user-specified shared objects to supercede the install.
RD_APP_TITLE	Used by the Ansys Chemkin user interface to display the name of the application, such as "Ansys Chemkin."
RD_APP_RELEASE_NUMBER	Variable is the release number of the application.

Table 4.4: Chemkin Local Aliases for Linux shows shell local aliases that are established by the setup scripts for Ansys Chemkin.

Table 4.4: Chemkin Local Aliases for Linux

Alias	Description
chemkin	Command starts the Ansys Chemkin Interface.
rdworkbench	Command starts the Reaction Workbench Interface.

Table 4.5: Chemkin Optional Environment Variables for Linux shows environment variables that are optional and can be defined to customize the user environment for the Ansys Chemkin Interface and Chemkin Visualizer.

Table 4.5: Chemkin Optional Environment Variables for Linux

Variable	Description
CHEMKIN_HOME	This is an optional variable. If defined, it provides the preferred location of a user’s local sample files and training files, as well as chemistry sets, profile files, or project files that are created by the Ansys Chemkin Interface. By default, its path includes the Ansysrelease number, and it is located in your $HOME directory.
CHEMKIN_USER	This is an optional variable. It will define the preferred name and location of the user preferences file.

Table 4.6: Chemkin scripts shows scripts that are packaged with Ansys Chemkin that are used to launch the Chemkin Interface.

Table 4.6: Chemkin scripts

Scripts	Description
chemkin	This sh shell script sources chemkin_setup.ksh, then defines `CHEMKIN_HOME` if it is not already defined, then defines more variables and locations used by Java Virtual Machine (JVM), and finally runs the Ansys Chemkin Interface. Note that the sourcing of chemkinpro_setup.ksh occurs even if the program is run from a C shell environment; all Chemkin spawned jobs also source chemkinpro_setup.ksh and execute in the sh shell environment. (This may be bash on Linux.)

Scripts

Description

chemkin

This sh shell script sources chemkin_setup.ksh, then defines CHEMKIN_HOME if it is not already defined, then defines more variables and locations used by Java Virtual Machine (JVM), and finally runs the Ansys Chemkin Interface. Note that the sourcing of chemkinpro_setup.ksh occurs even if the program is run from a C shell environment; all Chemkin spawned jobs also source chemkinpro_setup.ksh and execute in the sh shell environment. (This may be bash on Linux.)