A sneak peak image of an enviroment I am developing as part of the ‘Caerleon artificial-agency research collaboration’ on ReactionGrid..

Here is the long promised instructions for using the pre-compiled version of OpenSim provided by OsGrid to make a local sandbox version of OpenSim.

This will utilize the inbuilt database and allow you to test and build stuff on a local computer – which you could then export to a live grid such as SL or ReactionGrid…

_____________

tested (most recently) on OSX 10.6.2 and  OSgrid OpenSimulator 0.6.8.96be5e5

These instructions work for me.. It might be a good idea to do a time machine backup before ferreting around in the terminal…just in case)

1.    install mono: mono is the underlying framework that OpenSim runs on – the code that runs the code that runs openSim http://www.mono-project.com (to install you pretty much just double click and accept and put in password)
2.    download the prebuilt version of openSim from OsGrid webpage: http://www.osgrid.org/elgg/pg/utilities/software
3.    unpack and move the ‘bin’ folder to a new folder called opensim in your root user directory (ie: the folder with the little house picture and your user name)
4.    open the ‘bin’ folder by double clicking (there are LOTS of files in here be careful with the next two instructions to choose the right ones)
5.    rename the file opensim.ini to opensim.ini.osgrid
6.    rename opensim.ini.example to opensim.ini
7.    open a terminal window (applications –> utilities –> terminal)
8.    move to the right directory in the terminal by typing “cd ~/opensim/bin” (no quote marks)
9.    then type  “mono OpenSim.exe” (without the quote marks)
10.    lots of text will scrawl past then you need to add some details… The fields –> ‘new region name’ , ‘ master avatar first name’ , ‘master avatar last name’ and ‘master avatar sandbox password’ all need your attention.. The rest you can hit enter (which chooses the default)
11.    more text will scroll and it might take a minute or so, but you will end up with a command prompt saying Region (myRegionName) #
12.    login using meerkat (download from http://meerkatviewer.org/ )–> start meerkat –> choose ‘local’ in the pull down grid menu –> login using the credentials you specified above
13.    you should appear as ‘ruth’ on a small island in the middle of a large expanse of water
14.    to shutdown OpenSim go back to the terminal window and type ‘shutdown’
15.    now got to http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Server_Commands and read up on all the other stuff you can do with your local install..

** if you mess something up in step 10, the easiest thing to do is delete the file userName/opensim/bin/Regions/regions.ini and then start again at step 7.

(hope these steps are useful – but remember if any of it is unfamiliar to you to do a backup first)

A list of the web resources I used to get my opensim install up and running with hyper-grid functionality and inter-grid messaging functionality.

http://opensimulator.org/ is the obvious place to start and to return to when/if things get stuck

HOSTING:

advice on choosing a server: http://chapter-and-metaverse2.blogspot.com/2008/11/hosting-sim.html

the vps (Virtual Private Server) solution I chose:  http://tektonic.net/vps.php

(there is a lot of stuff out there about why/why not use a vps solution over a full server to run opensim, it seems to boil down to resources and RAM, which the tektonic US$15/month package is certainly at the lower end of BUT this is very much about finding an economical and accessible way to run a sim. Which in the end might mean some things don’t quite run at their full potential or the server falls over every now and then, but hey… this lets think about it romantically and call it issues with the new frontier.)

from paying my inital $15 through paypal to getting the email saying all was good and ready to go took all of 10 minutes. I chose a debian system with mysql, php and phpMyAdmin pre installed. (though in hindsight I have a feeling Ubuntu would have been an easier install path)

INSTALL:

All of the folowing resources were helpful in one way or other to getting opensim installed

http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Debian_4_Build_Instructions
(I used ‘apt-get’ in place of ‘aptitute’ in these instruction and all went well)

http://www.virtualwhite.com/?m=200808
(this link provides some of the configuration info missing in the previous link)

LOGGING IN:

http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Connecting

USING YOUR SIM IN HYPERGRID MODE:

http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Hypergrid (despite the security issues this is one of the most exciting reasons to get a stanalonde sim up and running. Teleporting and exploring the (hopefully expanding in size) hypergrid.)

and finally

INTER-GRID IM COMMUNICATION:

The Parralel Selves Message Bridge: http://justincc.wordpress.com/2009/02/04/the-parallel-selves-message-bridge/ (makes it possible to be working in your opensim and communicate via IM with people logged in the Linden Grid.)

well perhaps not, an odd sort of bug, but somehow one of my objects I have been working as part of a self replicating SL native ‘plant’ life has offered me an inventory item… and here is the proof…

The object ‘branch’ in Second Life has offered you inventory.
Log in to accept to decline this inventory.

= branch is owned by Nonnatus Korhonen
= http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caerleon%20Isle/97/0/21

.

i just noticed this discussion of oracle by Aleister Kronos.

http://slambling.blogspot.com/2008/05/oracle-of-culturegion.html

oracle will be de-rezzed forever at the end of this week – though i already have plans for some of its parts in a the institute of the self on new caerleon.

an experiment in exponential self replication based on simple recurring cell divisions (the cells take a little while to get going..this is a five minute time lapse of a thirty minute period.)

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

oracle is at once both a standalone work and a part of an ongoing investigation which investigates perception and interpretation of language and representation of form. a viewer is asked to provide a questions to the oracle which that place in the amphora at one end of the structure. this question is then passed through a series of nodes in a network as individual words which are re-ordered (depending on the current state of the network) and then subjected to web searches for further insight. the viewer will then be offered a text, spoken directly to them by the oracles mouth piece, which they can take away and interpret in their own time and way.

oracle – first shown on the cultureregion / design island sim. may/june 2008

i asked the oracle (which i will write about shortly) a simply question: is this the way of the world?

its reply:

“
[6:55] oracle-voice: Nonnatus Korhonen: I say to you : is darkness? does anyone have some ideas on . . a cow making a solar system the man with the is What . . man
[6:55] oracle-voice: Nonnatus Korhonen: I say to you : . . .
man on the moon Who was the first life . be
[6:55] oracle-voice: Nonnatus Korhonen: I say to you : moon . . . life you misuse, a you think that man . . a cow
[6:56] oracle-voice: Nonnatus Korhonen: I say to you : . . . What man . . . oh man, I dont
[6:56] oracle-voice: Nonnatus Korhonen: I say to you : you think that man . . . What proclaimed he
[6:56] oracle-voice: Nonnatus Korhonen: I say to you : have some ideas on . . drones
[6:56] oracle-voice: Nonnatus Korhonen: I say to you : think if a man Who was
[6:56] oracle-voice: Nonnatus Korhonen: I say to you : . .
In cant means system . An End To The

“

navigators(iteration 2.0) is a slowly evolving and mutating audio field and is a new build of an older work.

It is is currently installed at the palace of memory project space:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Strutter/247/233/22

Please make sure you have basic shaders enable to ensure the ‘glow’ renders.