A valid LDAS username and password is required to access LIGO frame data and metadata. The procedure for getting an LDAS username and password is described in a FAQ article entitled "How to get an LDAS username/password". Having gotten them, you should store them using the procedure described below so that various LIGOtools utilities can use them without having to prompt you to enter them each time. getFrames, getMeta, guild, Diagnostic Test Tools, lidax, FrameCacheQuery, and the 'ldasjob' Tcl library are some of the things in LIGOtools which make use of this facility. For the 'ldasjob' Tcl library and utilities built using it (such as FrameCacheQuery), you must store your LDAS username and password as described below; there is no provision for prompting you for it at run time.
To store your LDAS username and password, simply type
ldaspw
and follow the prompts. Your password will not be echoed to the
screen during this process. The password will be encrypted and
stored, with the username, in a file called ".ldaspw" in your
home directory. The permissions for this file are set so that only
you can read it. You only have to do this once, unless your password
changes; if it does, simply run ldaspw again to update it.
If you have two or more LDAS usernames, you can store all of them in your ~/.ldaspw file simultaneously by running ldaspw multiple times. In this case, you will be prompted to indicate which one is the default username that will be used by LIGOtools software if you do not specify a username explicitly. Note that there is no provision for associating certain usernames/passwords with certain LDAS systems, and you can only store one password for each username. Therefore, you should keep the same username/password on all LDAS systems, if possible.