New release: Semi-Automatic OS v. 3.1.0

A new version of the Semi-Automatic OS has been released.

The Semi-Automatic OS v. 3.1.0 is a lightweight virtual machine based on Debian for the land cover classification of remote sensing images. It includes the Semi-Automatic Classification Plugin v. 3.1.2 and the brand new QGIS 2.6, already configured along with all the required dependencies (OGR, GDAL, Numpy, SciPy, and Matplotlib).



The Semi-Automatic OS is based on Debian 7 32-bit, and it is designed to require very little hardware resources. It uses LXDE and Openbox as main desktop environment. This virtual machine can be useful for testing the Semi-Automatic Classification Plugin, or when the installation of the required programs in the host system is problematic.

The Semi-Automatic OS is available as a virtual machine that can be run in the open source VirtualBox, or any other virtualization program. The following is a guide for the installation of the Semi-Automatic OS in the open source program of virtualization VirtualBox.

The main installation steps are:
  1. Download VirtualBox open source software from here (select a proper version depending on your OS) and install it; at the end of the installation restart the system;
  2. Download the Semi-Automatic OS virtual machine (about 600 MB) from here;
  3. Extract the virtual machine content in a directory (it requires about 3 GB of disk space); the file is compressed in 7z format (if needed, download the open source extraction software from http://www.7-zip.org/);
  4. Run VirtualBox and create a new Debian virtual machine;
    • Click the New button;
    • Type a name for the virtual machine (for instance Semi-Automatic OS); select Linux and Debian as Type and Version respectively; click Next;

    • Set the memory size; the more is the better, but this parameter should not exceed a half of he host system RAM (for instance if the host system has 1 GB of RAM, type 512 MB); click Next;

    • In the Hard drive settings select Use an existing virtual hard drive file and select the downloaded file SemiAutomaticOS.vmdk; click Create;

  5. Start the Semi-Automatic OS by clicking the Start button;
  6. It is recommended to install the virtualbox-guest-utils in the virtual machine, from the Menu > Preferences > Synaptic Package Manager; it allows for a better integration of the Semi-Automatic OS in the host system, such as: the resize of the system window, or the folder sharing.

The Semi-Automatic OS includes a sample dataset (Landsat 8 images available from the U.S. Geological Survey) that can be used for testing purposes.


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