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Gaussian 16 Installation Instructions for Mac OS X
In order to run Gaussian 16, several UNIX environment variables must be set in each user’s account. If you are
comfortable using UNIX, Gaussian 16 can be set up using the normal instructions for binary UNIX systems. The
following alternate instructions make minimal use of UNIX commands. These instructions are appropriate for both
the full program and for the Gaussian 16 Utilities.
1. Install the program
Insert the Gaussian 16M DVD. Open the tar folder, and double-click the M*.tbz file; the name will vary somewhat
with different revisions and depending on whether you are installing the full program or just the utilities. On most
systems, Archive Utility will be started and the .tbz file will be expanded to a folder named g16 on either your
Desktop or in your Downloads folder (if the latter exists).
After Archive Utility has finished expanding the file, drag the resulting g16 folder to the desired location for the
G16 binaries (or the G16 Utilities). The usual installation location is the Applications folder. Do not rename the g16
folder. There is no need to modify any files inside the g16 folder in order to install the G16 binaries or the utilities.
Note that the full directory path to the g16 folder cannot contain any spaces.
2. Determine your default UNIX shell
User accounts originally created using Mac OS X 10.0.x, 10.1.x, or 10.2.x default to using the tcsh shell. Accounts
created using Mac OS X 10.3.x or later default to the bash shell. To determine which shell your account uses, open
a Terminal window and type the following command:
$ echo $SHELL
Notes:
• The initial $ above is the shell prompt and should not be typed. Your prompt may look different.
• The Terminal application is found in the Applications/Utilities folder.
Follow the instructions in the next step for the shell you are using.
3. Set the UNIX environment variables
Each user who will run Gaussian must perform this step. Mac OS X prevents the user from viewing or editing
certain UNIX files from the Finder, but one can run a few simple UNIX commands to get around this limitation for
specific files. Open a Terminal window. Run the following commands:
tcsh shell bash shell
$ cd $ cd
$ touch .login $ touch .bash_profile
$ ln -s .login my_login $ ln –s .bash_profile my_profile
Exit the Terminal program and open the file my_login or my_profile with a text editor such as TextEdit. Assuming
that the g16 folder was placed in the Applications folder, add the two lines for your shell to the file (the file may be
empty at this point; if not, add these lines to the end of the file):
tcsh shell bash shell
setenv g16root /Applications export g16root=/Applications
source $g16root/g16/bsd/g16.login . $g16root/g16/bsd/g16.profile
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You may also want to add a third line to define a destination directory for G16M temporary files. For example:
tcsh shell bash shell
setenv GAUSS_SCRDIR /dir export GAUSS_SCRDIR=/dir
where dir is the full path to the selected scratch folder: e.g., /Users/your_username/Scratch. You will need to create
the specified folder if it does not already exist.
Note that if you already have lines in the .login or .profile file which refer to g09, g03 or some earlier version, you
should replace them with the above lines. Save the file as plain text (not RTF) and exit. You are now ready to install
GaussViewM, following the steps on its instruction sheet.
Additional Setup Step when Multiple Users will run G16M
If multiple users will log into the Macintosh computer and run G16M, then they must all be placed into the same
group, and that group must be the owner of the G16M software files. The latter can be accomplished with the chgrp
-R command. For example, the following command will set the group ownership of the G16M files to group chem
(assuming the same installation location as above):
$ sudo chgrp -R chem /Applications/g16
These steps are essential on systems where users are placed into separate, individual groups by default. You may
need to ask your system administrator to help you set up things properly.
