<p>It looks like @planetmaker's suggestion of using WSL will work.</p>
<p>On my Windows machine I've had Ubuntu 18.04 installed for a while, so have tested using that; but this should work with the latest version of Ubuntu as well.</p>
<p>Here goes:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start Ubuntu from the Windows Start Menu</li>
<li>In the Ubuntu terminal window which appears, type <code>sudo apt install iraf</code></li>
<li>The <code>sudo</code> command will ask for your password, so type it in and press enter.</li>
<li>Now you'll see a whole load of text, like this:</li>
</ol>
<pre><code>Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
  blt cpp-7 fontconfig-config fonts-dejavu-core g++-7 gcc-7 gcc-7-base iraf-noao javascript-common libasan4 libblas3
  libcfitsio5 libcilkrts5 libcminpack1 libdrm-amdgpu1 libdrm-common libdrm-intel1 libdrm-nouveau2 libdrm-radeon1
  libdrm2 liberfa1 libfontconfig1 libfontenc1 libfuntools1 libgcc-7-dev libgfortran4 libgl1 libgl1-mesa-dri
  libgl1-mesa-glx libglapi-mesa libglvnd0 libglx-mesa0 libglx0 libice6 libjbig0 libjpeg-turbo8 libjpeg8 libjs-jquery
  libjs-jquery-datatables liblapack3 libllvm10 libpciaccess0 libsensors4 libsm6 libstarlink-ast-err0 libstarlink-ast0
  libstarlink-pal0 libstdc++-7-dev libtcl8.6 libtiff5 libtk-img libtk8.6 libubsan0 libwcs5 libwcstools1 libx11-xcb1
  libxaw7 libxcb-dri2-0 libxcb-dri3-0 libxcb-glx0 libxcb-present0 libxcb-shape0 libxcb-sync1 libxcomposite1
  libxdamage1 libxfixes3 libxft2 libxi6 libxinerama1 libxmu6 libxpa1 libxpm4 libxrandr2 libxrender1 libxshmfence1
  libxss1 libxt6 libxtst6 libxv1 libxxf86dga1 libxxf86vm1 python3-astropy python3-numpy python3-pluggy python3-ply
  python3-psutil python3-py python3-pyraf python3-pytest python3-pytest-arraydiff python3-pytest-astropy
  python3-pytest-doctestplus python3-pytest-openfiles python3-pytest-remotedata python3-stsci.tools python3-tk saods9
  saods9-doc saods9-tclpackages tcl tcl-signal tcl-xpa tcl8.6 tcllib tclxml tk tk-html1 tk-mpeg tk-table tk8.6
  tk8.6-blt2.5 tkblt tkcon tksao x11-common x11-utils xbitmaps xterm
Suggested packages:
  blt-demo gcc-7-locales g++-7-multilib gcc-7-doc libstdc++6-7-dbg gcc-7-multilib libgcc1-dbg libgomp1-dbg libitm1-dbg
  libatomic1-dbg libasan4-dbg liblsan0-dbg libtsan0-dbg libubsan0-dbg libcilkrts5-dbg libmpx2-dbg libquadmath0-dbg
  iraf-dev apache2 | lighttpd | httpd lm-sensors libstdc++-7-doc libtk-img-doc libxml2-utils python-astropy-doc
  python3-astropy-affiliated python3-beautifulsoup python3-h5py python3-matplotlib python3-pandas python3-scipy
  python3-tz gfortran python-numpy-doc python3-nose python3-numpy-dbg python-ply-doc python-psutil-doc subversion
  ipython3 python3-urwid tix python3-tk-dbg python3-pyds9 xpa-tools tcl-tclreadline tcllib-critcl mesa-utils
  xfonts-cyrillic
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  blt fontconfig-config fonts-dejavu-core iraf iraf-noao javascript-common libblas3 libcfitsio5 libcminpack1
  libdrm-amdgpu1 libdrm-intel1 libdrm-nouveau2 libdrm-radeon1 liberfa1 libfontconfig1 libfontenc1 libfuntools1
  libgfortran4 libgl1 libgl1-mesa-dri libgl1-mesa-glx libglapi-mesa libglvnd0 libglx-mesa0 libglx0 libice6 libjbig0
  libjpeg-turbo8 libjpeg8 libjs-jquery libjs-jquery-datatables liblapack3 libllvm10 libpciaccess0 libsensors4 libsm6
  libstarlink-ast-err0 libstarlink-ast0 libstarlink-pal0 libtcl8.6 libtiff5 libtk-img libtk8.6 libwcs5 libwcstools1
  libx11-xcb1 libxaw7 libxcb-dri2-0 libxcb-dri3-0 libxcb-glx0 libxcb-present0 libxcb-shape0 libxcb-sync1
  libxcomposite1 libxdamage1 libxfixes3 libxft2 libxi6 libxinerama1 libxmu6 libxpa1 libxpm4 libxrandr2 libxrender1
  libxshmfence1 libxss1 libxt6 libxtst6 libxv1 libxxf86dga1 libxxf86vm1 python3-astropy python3-numpy python3-pluggy
  python3-ply python3-psutil python3-py python3-pyraf python3-pytest python3-pytest-arraydiff python3-pytest-astropy
  python3-pytest-doctestplus python3-pytest-openfiles python3-pytest-remotedata python3-stsci.tools python3-tk saods9
  saods9-doc saods9-tclpackages tcl tcl-signal tcl-xpa tcl8.6 tcllib tclxml tk tk-html1 tk-mpeg tk-table tk8.6
  tk8.6-blt2.5 tkblt tkcon tksao x11-common x11-utils xbitmaps xterm
The following packages will be upgraded:
  cpp-7 g++-7 gcc-7 gcc-7-base libasan4 libcilkrts5 libdrm-common libdrm2 libgcc-7-dev libstdc++-7-dev libubsan0
11 upgraded, 108 newly installed, 0 to remove and 277 not upgraded.
Need to get 103 MB of archives.
After this operation, 526 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n]
</code></pre>
<ol start="5">
<li>Press enter to accept the default (capitalised) answer of &quot;Y&quot;</li>
<li>Watch as it downloads and installs over one hundred packages...</li>
<li>When it's done then you can run the new program by typing <code>irafcl</code> and pressing enter:</li>
</ol>
<pre><code>This package contains tasks for viewing and manipulating 3d images.
It is a pre-release version, and does not reflect the ultimate
partitioning of n-dimensional image tasks within IRAF

  NOAO/IRAF Debian 2.16.1+2018.03.10-2 Wed, 14 Mar 2018 09:02:35 +0000

  This product includes results achieved by the IRAF64 project in 2006-
  2009 directed by Chisato Yamauchi (C-SODA/ISAS/JAXA).

  Welcome to IRAF.  To list the available commands, type ? or ??.  To get
  detailed information about a command, type `help &lt;command&gt;'.  To run  a
  command  or  load  a  package,  type  its name.   Type  `bye' to exit a
  package, or `logout' to get out  of the CL.

  Visit http://iraf.net if you have questions.

  The following commands or packages are currently defined:

      dataio.     images.     lists.      obsolete.   proto.      utilities.
      dbms.       language.   noao.       plot.       system.

ecl&gt;
</code></pre>
<p>Now, although it's installed and runs its command-line interface, I think that you'll encounter various issues when trying to run it: among the packages installed were some which require X Windows, and those won't work when running under Windows (you'll see error messages talking about being unable to access devices, or &quot;Can't open display. DISPLAY is not set&quot;).</p>
<p>I advise you to test anything 'graphical' - that is, anything that tries to draw graphics to a display - before you invest too much time.</p>
<p>I think you might end up having to install a virtual machine instead.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-10T17:27:43.730Z
(it says in the help "Type `bye' to exit a package", but Ctrl+D works just the same and is quicker)
Aaron F
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-10T19:51:56.747Z
Thanks a lot, I'm able to it As if you were on my new question on the installation of iraf. Thanks a lot. I asked the maintainer of iraf, He suggested me to leave iraf, because it's dead. Better to go with astropy, which is as per google search available for windows as well.
Himanshu
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-10T17:24:45.793Z
2021-04-10T17:24:45.793Z
Aaron F
<p>My professor asks to me install IRAF for the photometry project but We have a hard time installing it and also I'm more comfortable with the Windows environment (because there is other software that not in Linux that currently installed on my pc). So I'm looking for software that substitutes IRAF and works on windows. It would be a great help.</p>
<p><strong>note:</strong> While comments have proposed adding a Linux environment and running there, I'm asking for an <em>IRAF alternative that runs directly in Windows.</em></p>
<hr />
<p>I followed the suggestion given by @planetmaker but still some of the things that I do not understand as I'm new to the Linux environment. Hope someone will help me: If you go to <a href="https://iraf-community.github.io/install.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">IRAF</a>, then I have followed all the step: The last step I have executed is ./install this leads me to</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Welcome to the IRAF installation script.   This script will first
prompt you for several needed path names.   Once  the  installation is
complete, you will be allowed to do some minimal system configuration.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>For each prompt: hit  to accept the default value, 'q' to quit,
or 'help' or '?' to print an explanation of the prompt.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The next steps from the installation guide, I do not understand it. Can any help me though this?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-09T16:00:17.927Z
what about the linux subsystem for windows? With its help you should be able to run that just fine. That said, it is recommended to make use of other resources, like usage astropy as a python-based solution. https://www.stsci.edu/contents/newsletters/2018-volume-35-issue-03/removing-the-institutes-dependence-on-iraf-you-can-do-it-too
planetmaker
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-09T16:17:57.207Z
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-win10  You mean something like this. Can after this, I can install IRAF on the window?
Himanshu
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-09T16:21:48.553Z
either WSL as planetmaker suggests, or install Virtualbox and any Linux as a VM. Personally I use Linux for work and Windows for play. It's just easier because you're not fighting with the operating system all the time just to try and get some work done.
Aaron F
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-09T17:05:21.173Z
I'm asking for an alternate to IRAF that I can run in the window. But recommendations seem to be something else. I'm not asking for installing Linux on Windows.
Himanshu
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-09T19:48:40.503Z
Pretty sure there isn't one.
ProfRob
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-10T06:51:30.173Z
@planetmaker Can you help me with the edited part of this question?
Himanshu
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-10T06:52:00.353Z
@AaronF Can you too help me with the edited part of this question?
Himanshu
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-10T17:06:43.933Z
hi @YoungKindaichi, I think that you don't have to compile from source. Looking at the IRAF page you linked, it says that "On some systems, IRAF can be directly installed from the package repositories". So you might only have to run `sudo apt install iraf` (assuming you've chosen Ubuntu or another Debian-based Linux) and that will install it for you. Installing from source is a little more complicated, and I wouldn't recommend it if you're not yet used to working in Linux (you end up chasing dependencies of dependencies and it takes ages and leaves the system in a mess)
Aaron F
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-10T17:26:30.173Z
I just posted an answer. I worry that it won't work properly as soon as you start trying to do real work with it, though, due to the Linux system devices which aren't available in Windows. But it should be easy enough to test it out and see whether it's suitable or not.
Aaron F
<photometry><software>
IRAF Like software that work on Window
Himanshu
# IRAF Like software that work on Window

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-04-09)

My professor asks to me install IRAF for the photometry project but We have a hard time installing it and also I'm more comfortable with the Windows environment (because there is other software that not in Linux that currently installed on my pc). So I'm looking for software that substitutes IRAF and works on windows. It would be a great help.

**note:** While comments have proposed adding a Linux environment and running there, I'm asking for an *IRAF alternative that runs directly in Windows.*

---

I followed the suggestion given by @username_1 but still some of the things that I do not understand as I'm new to the Linux environment. Hope someone will help me: If you go to [IRAF](https://iraf-community.github.io/install.html), then I have followed all the step: The last step I have executed is ./install this leads me to

> Welcome to the IRAF installation script. This script will first
> prompt you for several needed path names. Once the installation is
> complete, you will be allowed to do some minimal system configuration.

> For each prompt: hit to accept the default value, 'q' to quit,
> or 'help' or '?' to print an explanation of the prompt.

The next steps from the installation guide, I do not understand it. Can any help me though this?

**Tags:** photometry, software

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: what about the linux subsystem for windows? With its help you should be able to run that just fine. That said, it is recommended to make use of other resources, like usage astropy as a python-based solution. https://www.stsci.edu/contents/newsletters/2018-volume-35-issue-03/removing-the-institutes-dependence-on-iraf-you-can-do-it-too  
> **username_0**: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-win10  You mean something like this. Can after this, I can install IRAF on the window?  
> **username_2**: either WSL as username_1 suggests, or install Virtualbox and any Linux as a VM. Personally I use Linux for work and Windows for play. It's just easier because you're not fighting with the operating system all the time just to try and get some work done.  
> **username_0**: I'm asking for an alternate to IRAF that I can run in the window. But recommendations seem to be something else. I'm not asking for installing Linux on Windows.  
> **username_3**: Pretty sure there isn't one.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Can you help me with the edited part of this question?  
> **username_0**: @AaronF Can you too help me with the edited part of this question?  
> **username_2**: hi @YoungKindaichi, I think that you don't have to compile from source. Looking at the IRAF page you linked, it says that "On some systems, IRAF can be directly installed from the package repositories". So you might only have to run `sudo apt install iraf` (assuming you've chosen Ubuntu or another Debian-based Linux) and that will install it for you. Installing from source is a little more complicated, and I wouldn't recommend it if you're not yet used to working in Linux (you end up chasing dependencies of dependencies and it takes ages and leaves the system in a mess)  
> **username_2**: I just posted an answer. I worry that it won't work properly as soon as you start trying to do real work with it, though, due to the Linux system devices which aren't available in Windows. But it should be easy enough to test it out and see whether it's suitable or not.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-04-10. Score: 2

It looks like @username_1's suggestion of using WSL will work.
On my Windows machine I've had Ubuntu 18.04 installed for a while, so have tested using that; but this should work with the latest version of Ubuntu as well.
Here goes:

Start Ubuntu from the Windows Start Menu
In the Ubuntu terminal window which appears, type sudo apt install iraf
The sudo command will ask for your password, so type it in and press enter.
Now you'll see a whole load of text, like this:

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
  blt cpp-7 fontconfig-config fonts-dejavu-core g++-7 gcc-7 gcc-7-base iraf-noao javascript-common libasan4 libblas3
  libcfitsio5 libcilkrts5 libcminpack1 libdrm-amdgpu1 libdrm-common libdrm-intel1 libdrm-nouveau2 libdrm-radeon1
  libdrm2 liberfa1 libfontconfig1 libfontenc1 libfuntools1 libgcc-7-dev libgfortran4 libgl1 libgl1-mesa-dri
  libgl1-mesa-glx libglapi-mesa libglvnd0 libglx-mesa0 libglx0 libice6 libjbig0 libjpeg-turbo8 libjpeg8 libjs-jquery
  libjs-jquery-datatables liblapack3 libllvm10 libpciaccess0 libsensors4 libsm6 libstarlink-ast-err0 libstarlink-ast0
  libstarlink-pal0 libstdc++-7-dev libtcl8.6 libtiff5 libtk-img libtk8.6 libubsan0 libwcs5 libwcstools1 libx11-xcb1
  libxaw7 libxcb-dri2-0 libxcb-dri3-0 libxcb-glx0 libxcb-present0 libxcb-shape0 libxcb-sync1 libxcomposite1
  libxdamage1 libxfixes3 libxft2 libxi6 libxinerama1 libxmu6 libxpa1 libxpm4 libxrandr2 libxrender1 libxshmfence1
  libxss1 libxt6 libxtst6 libxv1 libxxf86dga1 libxxf86vm1 python3-astropy python3-numpy python3-pluggy python3-ply
  python3-psutil python3-py python3-pyraf python3-pytest python3-pytest-arraydiff python3-pytest-astropy
  python3-pytest-doctestplus python3-pytest-openfiles python3-pytest-remotedata python3-stsci.tools python3-tk saods9
  saods9-doc saods9-tclpackages tcl tcl-signal tcl-xpa tcl8.6 tcllib tclxml tk tk-html1 tk-mpeg tk-table tk8.6
  tk8.6-blt2.5 tkblt tkcon tksao x11-common x11-utils xbitmaps xterm
Suggested packages:
  blt-demo gcc-7-locales g++-7-multilib gcc-7-doc libstdc++6-7-dbg gcc-7-multilib libgcc1-dbg libgomp1-dbg libitm1-dbg
  libatomic1-dbg libasan4-dbg liblsan0-dbg libtsan0-dbg libubsan0-dbg libcilkrts5-dbg libmpx2-dbg libquadmath0-dbg
  iraf-dev apache2 | lighttpd | httpd lm-sensors libstdc++-7-doc libtk-img-doc libxml2-utils python-astropy-doc
  python3-astropy-affiliated python3-beautifulsoup python3-h5py python3-matplotlib python3-pandas python3-scipy
  python3-tz gfortran python-numpy-doc python3-nose python3-numpy-dbg python-ply-doc python-psutil-doc subversion
  ipython3 python3-urwid tix python3-tk-dbg python3-pyds9 xpa-tools tcl-tclreadline tcllib-critcl mesa-utils
  xfonts-cyrillic
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  blt fontconfig-config fonts-dejavu-core iraf iraf-noao javascript-common libblas3 libcfitsio5 libcminpack1
  libdrm-amdgpu1 libdrm-intel1 libdrm-nouveau2 libdrm-radeon1 liberfa1 libfontconfig1 libfontenc1 libfuntools1
  libgfortran4 libgl1 libgl1-mesa-dri libgl1-mesa-glx libglapi-mesa libglvnd0 libglx-mesa0 libglx0 libice6 libjbig0
  libjpeg-turbo8 libjpeg8 libjs-jquery libjs-jquery-datatables liblapack3 libllvm10 libpciaccess0 libsensors4 libsm6
  libstarlink-ast-err0 libstarlink-ast0 libstarlink-pal0 libtcl8.6 libtiff5 libtk-img libtk8.6 libwcs5 libwcstools1
  libx11-xcb1 libxaw7 libxcb-dri2-0 libxcb-dri3-0 libxcb-glx0 libxcb-present0 libxcb-shape0 libxcb-sync1
  libxcomposite1 libxdamage1 libxfixes3 libxft2 libxi6 libxinerama1 libxmu6 libxpa1 libxpm4 libxrandr2 libxrender1
  libxshmfence1 libxss1 libxt6 libxtst6 libxv1 libxxf86dga1 libxxf86vm1 python3-astropy python3-numpy python3-pluggy
  python3-ply python3-psutil python3-py python3-pyraf python3-pytest python3-pytest-arraydiff python3-pytest-astropy
  python3-pytest-doctestplus python3-pytest-openfiles python3-pytest-remotedata python3-stsci.tools python3-tk saods9
  saods9-doc saods9-tclpackages tcl tcl-signal tcl-xpa tcl8.6 tcllib tclxml tk tk-html1 tk-mpeg tk-table tk8.6
  tk8.6-blt2.5 tkblt tkcon tksao x11-common x11-utils xbitmaps xterm
The following packages will be upgraded:
  cpp-7 g++-7 gcc-7 gcc-7-base libasan4 libcilkrts5 libdrm-common libdrm2 libgcc-7-dev libstdc++-7-dev libubsan0
11 upgraded, 108 newly installed, 0 to remove and 277 not upgraded.
Need to get 103 MB of archives.
After this operation, 526 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n]


Press enter to accept the default (capitalised) answer of "Y"
Watch as it downloads and installs over one hundred packages...
When it's done then you can run the new program by typing irafcl and pressing enter:

This package contains tasks for viewing and manipulating 3d images.
It is a pre-release version, and does not reflect the ultimate
partitioning of n-dimensional image tasks within IRAF

  NOAO/IRAF Debian 2.16.1+2018.03.10-2 Wed, 14 Mar 2018 09:02:35 +0000

  This product includes results achieved by the IRAF64 project in 2006-
  2009 directed by Chisato Yamauchi (C-SODA/ISAS/JAXA).

  Welcome to IRAF.  To list the available commands, type ? or ??.  To get
  detailed information about a command, type `help '.  To run  a
  command  or  load  a  package,  type  its name.   Type  `bye' to exit a
  package, or `logout' to get out  of the CL.

  Visit http://iraf.net if you have questions.

  The following commands or packages are currently defined:

      dataio.     images.     lists.      obsolete.   proto.      utilities.
      dbms.       language.   noao.       plot.       system.

ecl>

Now, although it's installed and runs its command-line interface, I think that you'll encounter various issues when trying to run it: among the packages installed were some which require X Windows, and those won't work when running under Windows (you'll see error messages talking about being unable to access devices, or "Can't open display. DISPLAY is not set").
I advise you to test anything 'graphical' - that is, anything that tries to draw graphics to a display - before you invest too much time.
I think you might end up having to install a virtual machine instead.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: (it says in the help "Type `bye' to exit a package", but Ctrl+D works just the same and is quicker)  
> **username_0**: Thanks a lot, I'm able to it As if you were on my new question on the installation of iraf. Thanks a lot. I asked the maintainer of iraf, He suggested me to leave iraf, because it's dead. Better to go with astropy, which is as per google search available for windows as well.  

---

