NDTS Daemon Installation

NDTS Daemon & GUI Installation (Spectrometer Workstation)

The NDTS Daemon and GUI must be installed separately on each NAN connected spectrometer

Prerequisites

1. Gateway IP address
2. Exact Instrument Name (set in the Facility Dashboard – no spaces)
3. Workstation UUID (generated when the spectrometer was added)

WARNING: If you are installing on Alma Linux make sure that the chkconfig package is installed before proceeding. Without this service package, the NDTS Workstation will not properly install or run on Alma.

Installation Steps

# Copy the .gz file to the workstation
tar xf data-transport-daemon.<distro>-<version>.tar.gz
cd dtdaemon-installer
sudo ./install.sh
# → Prompts:
#   • Gateway IP address
#   • Instrument name  (e.g., nmr600)
#   • Workstation UUID

Updating the Daemon

# Best practice: ensure no acquisition is running and the UI is closed
cd dtdaemon-installer
sudo ./install.sh              # updates binaries and restarts the daemon

Uninstalling the Daemon

# Download the latest installation package and execute uninstall.sh
sudo ./uninstall.sh

Rolling Back the Daemon

# The system is designed to allow roll-back to any previous version
# However, best practice would be to only roll-back one version in the event that a new version was causing issues.
# Download previous version and install
tar xf data-transport-daemon.<distro>-<old-version>.tar.gz
cd dtdaemon-installer
sudo ./install.sh

Configuring the Daemon

The NDTS daemon reads its settings from a simple key/value dat file

Location

/opt/nan-dtdaemon/data/ndtd_configuration.dat

The file may list parameters in any order. Edit with nano or your favorite editor

sudo nano /opt/nan-dtdaemon/data/ndtd_configuration.dat

Changes take effect only after the daemon restarts (see below).

Required Parameters (no defaults)

Parameter	Purpose
gateway_ip_address	IP address of the on-site NDTS Gateway
gateway_port	TCP port used by the Gateway (usually 60195)
instrument_name	Spectrometer name exactly as entered in the Facility Dashboard
instrument_workstation_uuid	UUID generated for this workstation in the Facility Dashboard

Optional Parameters

Parameter	Default	Notes
log_level	info	Six log levels exist with different levels of information: fatal < error < warning < info < debug < trace (trace is extremely verbose and should only be used when debugging issues as it will fill the disk if left on too long)
use_accounting	false	TopSpin only – set true for TopSpin versions < 4.x
highest_job_number	8999	Experiments with a higher job number are ignored

Example File

gateway_ip_address=155.37.253.192
gateway_port=60195
instrument_name=nmr600
instrument_workstation_uuid=7b20d851-546c-497d-8fad-ef9223b09eab
log_level=info
# use_accounting=true      # (uncomment if needed)
# highest_job_number=9999  # (override default)

Managing the Daemon Service

The daemon uses SysV service scripts for maximum compatibility

The system is designed to be running at all times. The NDTS GUI may be used to turn off data harvesting when needed. If the daemon must be existed, use the stop command below.

Note that starting the daemon while it is running will not start a new instance and will not cause issues.

sudo /sbin/service data-transport-daemon start
sudo /sbin/service data-transport-daemon stop
sudo /sbin/service data-transport-daemon restart
sudo /sbin/service data-transport-daemon status

After adjusting the Daemon configuration file restart the daemon and verify the status

sudo /sbin/service data-transport-daemon restart
sudo /sbin/service data-transport-daemon status

Log Files

• Daemon log:

  /opt/nan-dtdaemon/logs/nan-dtdaemon.log

• Audit of processed experiments:

  /opt/nan-dtdaemon/logs/ndtd_audit.txt

Installed NDTS Files and Directory Structure

All daemon-related files reside under /opt/nan-dtdaemon (except the SysV service script). Knowing where each file lives helps with troubleshooting, backups, and upgrades.

Top-Level Executable and Service Script

Path	Purpose
/opt/nan-dtdaemon/data-transport-daemon	Main daemon executable. Forks, then exits; detects if another instance is running.
/etc/init.d/data-transport-daemon	SysV script used by /sbin/service for start/stop/status and boot-time launch.

User-Interface Scripts

File(s)	Role
nan_gui  /  nan_gui.tcl	Launch shell + Tcl code for the NDTS Workstation UI.
topspin_finder.sh  /  vnmrj_finder.sh	Locate spectrometer software and pull metadata.
tcllib/	Supporting Tcl libraries for the UI.

Version Marker

/opt/nan-dtdaemon/running_workstation_version-X.Y.Z

Filename contains the current daemon version; file body is the daemon start timestamp.

Logs

/opt/nan-dtdaemon/logs/

• nan-dtdaemon.log – main runtime log
• ndtd_audit.txt – one line per processed experiment

Data Directory

/opt/nan-dtdaemon/data/

File / Sub-dir	Purpose
experiment_addenda.dat	Selected user, plus placeholders for sample & project (auto-filled by UI).
ndtd_configuration.dat	Key = value daemon configuration (gateway IP, log_level, etc.).
processing_history.dat	Unix timestamps of all acquisitions already handled (read at daemon start).
users_checksum.dat	MD5 of last user list; delete to force refresh.
users.dat	Current NMRhub user list sent by the Gateway (never edit manually).
user-configuration.dat	Per-user defaults: harvesting on/off, change-user permission.
samples/	Cached sample metadata.
projects/	Cached project metadata.
studies/	Cached study metadata.

Spool Directory

/opt/nan-dtdaemon/spool/

Temporary copy of any acquisition that failed to reach the Gateway. Daemon retries each spooled item at every heartbeat until sent.

Summary Diagram

/opt/nan-dtdaemon
├─ data-transport-daemon          ← executable
├─ nan_gui   ─┐
├─ nan_gui.tcl│ UI layer
├─ topspin_finder.sh│
├─ vnmrj_finder.sh ┘
├─ tcllib/                    ← Tcl support
├─ running_workstation_version-X.Y.Z
├─ logs/
│  ├─ nan-dtdaemon.log
│  └─ ndtd_audit.txt
├─ data/
│  ├─ ndtd_configuration.dat
│  ├─ experiment_addenda.dat
│  ├─ processing_history.dat
│  ├─ users*.dat …
│  ├─ samples/ projects/ studies/
└─ spool/                     ← unsent acquisitions

Refer back to Running and Monitoring the Daemon for log locations and service commands.