We provide a Linux virtual machine with a fully working ROOT and Garfield++ system. We have made two virtual machines that are adapted to different hardware (CPU architecture): AMD (or x64) and ARM. People with AMD Ryzen or Intel Core processors are recommended to download the AMD virtual machine. People with Mac M1-4 processors are recommended to download the ARM virtual machine. People with Windows are recommended to download the Win11 virtual machine.
Step 1: Download the virtual machine & install Virtual Box
The virtual machines can be downloaded here:
GDSims-2026-Xubuntu-AMD64.tar.gz [Updated 10/05/2026]
GDSims-2026-Xubuntu-ARM64.tar.gz
GDSims-2026-Xubuntu-Win11.tar.gz
The virtual machine works with Oracle Virtual Box software (version 7.0 or higher)
that can be downloaded for Windows, Linux and MacOS from the following webpage:
Once installed virtual box, there will be folder VirtualBox VMs. Unpack the zip-file in this directory and open VirtualBox. Click in the menu on "Open" and select the directory that you created unpacking the zip-file. The virutal machine should now appear in left menu. Click on it and the virtual machine should start. The password for the user "student" is "password".
Step 2: Test the Virtual Machine:
Now you can test the garfield installation. Open a terminal (e.g. from the bottom menu) and go into the "Software/garfield" directory and source the script "startgarfield.sh":
AMD & WIN:
cd Software
source SetupGEANTandGARFIELD.sh
cd GARFIELDPP_w_GEANT4_from_source_20260225
In the WIN VM unfortunately a copy-paste error slope into the SetupGEANTandGARFIELD.sh file. The file should look like this:
#!/bin/bash
source ~/Software/GEANT4_from_source_20260510/build/geant4make.sh
source ~/Software/GARFIELDPP_with_GEANT4_from_source_20260510/build/setupGarfield.sh
ARM:
cd Software/garfield
source startgarfield.sh
Both AMD and ARM:
Then go to the examples and compile and execute an example:
cd Examples/Gem
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make
./Gem
You should be running a simulation of an electron traveling in a single-gem detector:
Make a screenshot of the Electric Field and the Electron Drift inside the GEM detector and send it to: drd1-gdsims2026@cern.ch with subject title: "GDSims2026 - Test Virtual Machine - <your name>
Extra instruction for all VMs:
install the private key for access to the remote VM with ANSYS:
Run the following commands in a terminal session:
sudo apt install curl
curl -s https://guide.recas.ba.infn.it/plain-text/school_key.sh > key.sh
bash key.sh
If you get an error (happens mostly in Windows VMs) ending with 'no version information available' then run the following command:
env -u LD_LIBRARY_PATH curl -s https://guide.recas.ba.infn.it/plain-text/school_key.sh > key.sh
don't forget at the end to source the key.sh file:
bash key.sh
Extra: troubleshooting
Unfortunately different architectures required different virtual machines, reducing somewhat the universality of this solution. Maintaing several VMs up to date is error-prone and we would like to excuse us for any oversight. Here below we will list a few shortcomings and we will help you during the school to update your VM.
ARM VM: Paraview
Paraview has been installed in a conda environment which is implemented in the key.sh file. To activate the environment to use paraview open a new terminal and write
mamba activate paraview61
after which you can use paraview. This environment has to be used only for paraview, so it is recommended to open paraview in a separate terminal. Verifiy you have version 6.1
paraview --version
ARM VM: missing python packages
to download the missing python packages execute the following lines in the terminal:
sudo apt install python3-pip python3-venv python3-dev
python3 -m pip install --break-system-packages --user matplotlib numpy scipy uproot