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-AMDiS (Adaptive MultiDimensional Simulations) is a C++ library to solve a broad class of partial differential equations (PDE) using adaptive finite elements.
+AMDiS (Adaptive MultiDimensional Simulations) is a C++ library to solve a broad class of partial differential equations (PDEs) using adaptive finite elements. Here you will find some information and tutorials about AMDiS usage/installation/extension...
 
-Install AMDiS by using cmake:
+## Installation of AMDiS (Linux)
+The buildsystem of AMDiS is based on [CMake](https://cmake.org). For an installation with default parameters, create a build directory and call cmake:
 ```
-cmake AMDiS
-make && make install
+mkdir build && cd build
+cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=[install_dir] ../AMDiS
+make
+[sudo] make install
 ```
+where `[install_dir]` is some directory the files should be installed in. There, subdirectories `lib/amdis/`, `include/amdis/` and `share/amdis/` are created and filled. Here, we assume that `../AMDiS` (relative to the build directory) contains the file `CMakeLists.txt` that configures the build process.
+
+### System requirements
+AMDiS build with c++ compilers supporting the c++11 standard, e.g.
+- gcc, version >= 4.7
+- clang, version >= 3.1
+- intel, version >= 2013
+
+We assume the following libraries to be found in standard location:
+- [boost](http://boost.org) (modules: system, iostreams, filesystem, program_options, and date_time), version >= 1.48
+- [CMake](https://cmake.org), version >= 3.1
+
+For the parallel AMDiS we require additionally
+- [ParMETIS](http://glaros.dtc.umn.edu/gkhome/metis/parmetis/overview), version >= 4.0
+- [PETSc](https://www.mcs.anl.gov/petsc), version >= 3.3
+
+When PETSc is configured with ParMETIS, the version from PETSc can be used directly.
+
+### CMake options
+When configuring AMDiS several options can be modified. For an interactive gui, use either `ccmake`, or `cmake-gui`.
+
+| Option         | Type | Description |
+| -------------- | ---- | ----------- |
+| ENABLE_UMFPACK | BOOL | Compile with support for suitesparse UMFPack library |
+| ENABLE_COMPRESSION | BOOL | Allow compressed output of .vtk and .arh files. Need zlib and libbz2 to be installed on the system. |
+| ENABLE_PARALLEL_DOMAIN | BOOL | Switch to parallel AMDiS. Needs PETSc and ParMETIS to be installed. |
+| PETSC_DIR | PATH | Path to the PETSc root directory, containing the lib/ and include/ subdirectories. |
+| PARMETIS_DIR | PATH | Path to the ParMETIS root directory, containing the lib/ and include/ subdirectories. |
+| ENABLE_EXTENSIONS | BOOL | Add additional features, not yet part of the standard AMDiS. Experimental! Should be used with care. |