I'm very happy to release a new version of the Semi-Automatic OS v. 6, a free virtual machine based on Debian Linux, for the land cover classification of remote sensing images. It includes the Semi-Automatic Classification Plugin (SCP) and QGIS, already configured along with all the required dependencies (OGR, GDAL, Numpy, SciPy, and Matplotlib).
The main features are:
- based on Debian (code name Buster) 64 bit with LXQT desktop environment;
- includes QGIS 3.4.8 LTR;
- includes the Semi-Automatic Classification Plugin v. 6.2.9;
- includes a sample dataset of a Landsat image (available from the U.S. Geological Survey) that is the input for the first basic tutorial of the user manual.
The main installation steps are:
- 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;
- Download the virtual machine (about 1.4 GB) from here ;
- Extract the downloaded virtual machine content in a directory (it requires about 4 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/);
- 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 64 bit 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 the 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;
- Start the Semi-Automatic OS by clicking the Start button;
- 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.
For any comment or question, join the Facebook group about the Semi-Automatic Classification Plugin.