Plato Version 3.5
Installation Instructions for Linux

Overview

This page describes how to install the Plato suite, including the simulator and simtalk applications, on your Linux system. The installation process is simple and requires only a few steps.

Prerequisites

• A Linux distribution with systemd. The code has been tested on Ubuntu 22.04.
• Root or sudo access
• Minimum 4GB RAM and 2 CPU cores
• At least 10GB of free disk space
• Internet connection for downloading the Plato package and for simd to communicate with the central dispatcher

Easy Installation

Plato can be installed automatically in two ways if you have psq and simd installed on your system. First, before it launches simulator, simd checks the latest version of plato on the plato server website. If there is a newer version available, it will download and install it before it starts simulator. It makes this check every time it starts simulator. So, if your computer is running simulations submitted by psq, then it will automatically install plato for you. If your machine is idle and you still want the latest version installed, then you can run psq and issue the install-plato command or its abbreviation ip which signals simd to do the installation immediately.

Manual Installation

Step 1: Prepare Your Environment

1. Open a terminal window.
2. Navigate to the directory where you want to download the Plato package.
3. Download the latest Plato release. You can find the latest version on the plato website. The version shown here is 3.3-20240828T230656.linux.x86_64.tar.gz, but you should use the latest version available.

   wget http://216.16.195.147/downloads/plato.3.3-20240828T230656.linux.x86_64.tar.gz

   or

   curl -O http://216.16.195.147/downloads/plato.3.3-20240828T230656.linux.x86_64.tar.gz

Step 2: Unpack and Install the Archive

1. Unpack the archive:

   tar xzvf plato.3.3-20240828T230656.linux.x86_64.tar.gz
   cd plato
   sudo ./linuxinstall.sh

This will create the following directory structure:

• /usr/local/plato/
• /usr/local/plato/bin/
• /usr/local/plato/share/man/man1/

Optional: Install Man Pages

If you would like to install the man pages for simulator and simtalk, you can do so by copying the files to the system man directory:

sudo cp /usr/local/plato/share/man/man1/simulator.1 /usr/local/share/man/man1/

sudo cp /usr/local/plato/share/man/man1/simtalk.1 /usr/local/share/man/man1/

This step is optional, as man pages are rarely used.

Step 3: Set Your PATH

To make the simulator and simtalk commands available from any directory, add /usr/local/plato/bin to your PATH:

echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/plato/bin' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Post-Installation Verification

1. Verify that simulator is accessible:

   simulator -v

   This should display the version number of the simulator.
2. Verify that simtalk is accessible:

   simtalk -v

   This should display the version number of simtalk.

Uninstallation

To remove Plato from your system, if you still have linuxinstall.sh you can use the following command:

sudo ./linuxinstall.sh -U

Alternatively, you can follow these steps:

1. Delete the Plato directory: sudo rm -rf /usr/local/plato
2. If you installed the man pages, remove them as well:
   
   sudo rm /usr/local/share/man/man1/simulator.1
sudo rm /usr/local/share/man/man1/simtalk.1
   
   

Support and Contact Information

If you encounter any issues not covered in this guide or have questions about Plato:

• Steve Mansour: steve@mpalfunds.com

Changelog

1.0 - Initial release
2.0 - Selectable strategies
3.0 - Multi-processor support
3.2 - SimQ integration
3.3 - Updates:

• Installer script, automated installation for SimQ integration
• Added C1 C2 split of initial funds.
• Added a percentage of initial funds to set standard sell amount.
• Added TradingDays of the week. Default is Monday - Friday.

3.4 - Updates:

• Fully adjustable Fitness Score paramaters: profitability, correctness, consistency
• StdBuyAmount added to mirror StdSellAmount
• Configuration file validity check errors are now printed
• Many other small bug fixes

3.5 - Updates:

• Mutation now affects a random number of all parameters in the dna of an Investor, rather than just one
• If GracePeriod is 0, simulation will not be stopped due to data more than 5 days old
• Bug fix in Prognosticator, SQL Update issue, and a number of other small bug fixes