Geant4 Installation Guide

Contact me: geant4.toolkit.zabihiATgmail.com

GEANT4 installation on Ubuntu

There are several ways to install Geant4 on your computer. Which one is available or best for you depends on both your operating system and usage requirements. In all cases, always use the most recent Geant4 release to ensure use of the latest bug fixes, features, and help the developers and community to provide quick user support. Here, I describe my way:)

To install Geant4 there are several steps. Just follow them carefully.

Step 1 – Update and Upgrade :

First of all, you must update and upgrade your Ubuntu platform. For doing that, it's better to change Ubuntu update center's setting. So  follow bellow steps: 

•  Search ''update'' on Ubuntu's search engine and then select ''software updater'' then choose setting. In the first tab of setting page , change ''download from'' from ''server for your country'' to ''main server'' and also tick the check marks like bellow figure. Untick (deselect) “restricted” parts.

• In the next tab (other softwares) just tick the ''source code''s and deselect all other parts. Then close the window.

Now enter commands in terminal for updating and upgrading platform  and wait to complete the process.

•  sudo apt-get update
• sudo apt-get upgrade

Step 2 – Software Required to Build Geant4

Enter bellow commands in terminal one by one and wait to complete (Be sure have seen "done" for each one).

Note: pay attention about the probable error and notification, all of the processes should be finished correctly. 

*  sudo apt-get install g++ 

*  sudo apt-get install  libxmu-dev 

*  sudo apt-get install  freeglut3-dev

*  sudo apt-get install  mesa-common-dev

*  sudo apt-get install  mesa-utils

*  sudo apt-get install  libglu1-mesa

*  sudo apt-get install libgl1-mesa-dev

*  sudo apt-get install  libgl1-mesa-dri

*  sudo apt-get install  libxi-dev 

*  sudo apt-get install  libxerces-c-dev

*  sudo apt-get install expat 

*  sudo apt-get install libexpat-ocaml

*  sudo apt-get install libexpat-ocaml-dev 

Step 3 –  install CMake 3.3 or higher.

Geant4 uses CMake to configure a build system for compiling and installing the toolkit headers, libraries and support tools.  In this step we must install CMake compiler on our platform. First go to cmake page and download the Uinx/Linux Source with .tar.gz format. (Source distributions:)

Then unpack downloaded file and copy the folder in your home page or any directory you want. Now open cmake folder and open terminal in the same folder (directory). Then write three bellow commands one by one. Wait to complete the configuring and making installation. When configuring complete you must face with comment like this: ''CMake has bootstrapped. Now run make'' 

• ./configure (If  the downloaded file is complete, just type two frist letters then click the tap key. It must be filled out)
• make -j6 (6 is number of core  of your system)
• make install

NOTE: When you enter this command and face with an error which said , cmake couldn't make a folder in a certain path because it became denied by ubuntu , use bellow command in each path to make it possible to create folders in that path. Or just add sudo before make or make install 

• sudo chmod ¬R 777 /path

Step 4 –  install QT

Just type on your terminal:

 sudo apt-get install qtdeclarative5-dev qml-module-qtquick-controls

Step 5 –  install GEANT4

First go to  geant4 homepage and download source file and data files. 

After download, just extract source file and leave data files compact and then copy both folder (data and geant4-source) to ''/usr/local/include/'' . Before copying the files, please type this command on terminal

• sudo chmod ¬R 777 /usr/local/include/

Then create a build folder beside your source folder. Finally, you would have three folders (data – geant4-source – geant4-build)
Now go to this path "/usr/local/include/geant4-source/cmake/Modules". Then find and open  ''Geant4InstallData.cmake'' file and press Ctrl+F and type '' cern '' to find a CERN's URL. Now delete the URL (as follow)
set GEANT4_DATASETS_URL  http://geant4.cern.ch/support/source 
Now replace the data folder's path :
set GEANT4_DATASETS_URL     /usr/local/include/data/
Save the file and  go back to geant4-build and right-click and select open in the terminal and then enter following commands:

cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local/include/geant4.10.07_install 

/usr/local/include/geant4.10.07_source

 -DGEANT4_INSTALL_DATA=ON

-DGEANT4_INSTALL_EXAMPLES=ON

-DGEANT4_USE_OPENGL_X11=ON

-DGEANT4_USE_GDML=ON 

-DGEANT4_USE_RAYTRACER_X11=ON

  -DGEANT4_BUILD_MULTITHREADED=ON

 -DGEANT4_USE_QT=ON


This is the installation path (will create once installation done): /usr/local/include/geant4.10.07_install    
And this is the source path:  /usr/local/include/geant4.10.07_source 

Replace 'geant4.10.07' with your version.
Note: pay attention to see  ''configuring done''

Then type:

    • make ­-jn

If your computer has n core you should enter n after j. The last command for installing geant4 is mentioned here:

    • make install

Step6 –  Configuring the Environment

Go to Home page on your computer and unhidden files in this directory by pressing Ctrl+H and then open '' .bashrc '' file and copy these two commands at the end of these text files and save it:

source /usr/local/include/geant4.10.07/bin/geant4.sh

source /usr/local/include/geant4.10.07/share/Geant4-10.7.2/geant4make/geant4make.sh

Check the exact directory with your system.

Step7 –  Run an example

To run a project  first go to example's directory in 

 /usr/local/include/geant4.10.7_install/share/Geant4­10.7

 and copy'' examples'' folders in home page. Now open example in home directory an then choose one of three folders (Basic/B1 )

Then  create a Build folder inside the B1 folder. Go to the Build folder and open terminal and type:

cmake ..

then

make -jn

then

./exampleB1

Download PDF  file (Geant4 Installation Guide).

Tutorial on Geant4 for users interested to begin or improve their usage of Geant4:  25-31 May 2021 CERN

Geant4 First Steps Course:  John Apostolakis

Geant4 Advanced Course 2021 @ CERN

the Fourth Geant4 International User Conference 2022

Google it:      geant4 site:videos.cern.ch