Obtaining the source code

FABM code and test cases are available from GitHub. We recommend you get the code from there with a Git client; that will enable you to stay up to date with the code in the future. Alternatively, you can download the last release of the code as a compressed file from the releases section.

Before you begin: there is also the "FABM-plus" distribution that combines FABM with a number of popular, externally maintained biogeochemical models (e.g., PISCES, ERSEM, BFM). This is a drop-in replacement for the standard FABM and can be obtained by (1) substituting https://github.com/fabm-model/fabm-plus.git for https://github.com/fabm-model/fabm.git in the instructions below and (2) adding the --recurse-submodules argment to git clone.

Command line

On most Linux-like systems (Linux/Mac), a Git client is already installed. On Windows, you can install Git for Windows.

You can then obtain the FABM source code systems by opening a terminal window (Windows: command prompt) and executing:

git clone https://github.com/fabm-model/fabm.git

This will create a new fabm directory in the current working directory, containing among others the subdirectory src with the Fortran source code and the subdirectory testcases with example configuration files.

After you have successfully downloaded the FABM source code, you can at any later time update to its latest version by executing git pull from anywhere within the fabm directory.

TortoiseGit on Windows

On Windows, a graphical client such as TortoiseGit can also be used to obtain the source code from the Git repository. Note that TortoiseGit requires Git for Windows to be installed first.

After Git for Windows and TortoiseGit are installed, you obtain the FABM source code by right-clicking in Windows Explorer within the directory where you want to place the source code directory, and choosing "TortoiseGit", "Clone...". In the window that appears, set "URL" to https://github.com/fabm-model/fabm.git, set "Directory" to the path where you want the source code (recommended: <CURRENT_DIRECTORY>\fabm) and click OK. This should download the latest code.

If you have successfully downloaded the FABM source code, you will at any later time be able to update to its latest version by right-clicking the directory with the source code, choosing "TortoiseGit", "Sync...", and clicking the "Pull" button.