  Antiferromagnetic hexagonal MnTe is a promising material for spintronic
devices relying on the control of antiferromagnetic domain orientations. Here
we report on neutron diffraction, magnetotransport, and magnetometry
experiments on semiconducting epitaxial MnTe thin films together with density
functional theory (DFT) calculations of the magnetic anisotropies.
  The easy axes of the magnetic moments within the hexagonal basal plane are
determined to be along $\left<1\bar100\right>$ directions. The spin-flop
transition and concomitant repopulation of domains in strong magnetic fields is
observed.
  Using epitaxially induced strain the onset of the spin-flop transition
changes from $\sim2$~T to $\sim0.5$~T for films grown on InP and SrF$_2$
substrates, respectively.
