# XANCIL stashmaster **URL:** \ **Category:** Unified Model\ **Created:** [24 October 2022 09:35 UTC](https://cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/t/xancil-stashmaster/761 "2022-10-24T09:35:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pmonerie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/59ef9b/32.png) [@pmonerie](https://cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/u/pmonerie)\ **Post date:** [24 October 2022 09:35 UTC](https://cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/t/xancil-stashmaster/761/1 "2022-10-24T09:35:38Z")
I have generated all forcing files I need for the simulations. I now trying to use Xancil to convert my netcdf files into a proper ancillary file, for both sst and sea ice. I am asked to provide a stash master that will contain information about the data. I was wondering if you know where to get this, please? Paul-Arthur ---
**Author:** ![jeff](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/jeff/32/29_2.png) [@jeff](https://cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/u/jeff)\ **Post date:** [25 October 2022 14:48 UTC](https://cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/t/xancil-stashmaster/761/2 "2022-10-25T14:48:19Z")
Hi Can post the exact message you are getting and also the location of the files being used. Thanks. Jeff. ---
**Author:** ![pmonerie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/59ef9b/32.png) [@pmonerie](https://cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/u/pmonerie)\ **Post date:** [27 October 2022 20:15 UTC](https://cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/t/xancil-stashmaster/761/3 "2022-10-27T20:15:20Z")
Hi Jeff I want to use Xancil to convert a netcdf file into a proper ancillary file. I am running xancil on archer2. In xancil I have to provide a .nc file and a stash master, but I do not know what the stash file should looks like. Cheers Paul-Arthur ps: sorry for my late reply ---
**Author:** ![jeff](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/jeff/32/29_2.png) [@jeff](https://cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/u/jeff)\ **Post date:** [28 October 2022 09:51 UTC](https://cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/t/xancil-stashmaster/761/4 "2022-10-28T09:51:04Z")
HI Paul-Arthur You shouldn’t need to provide a STASHmaster file to create sst and sea-ice file, have you tried to run it without doing this? Jeff. ---
**Author:** ![pmonerie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/59ef9b/32.png) [@pmonerie](https://cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/u/pmonerie)\ **Post date:** [31 October 2022 11:34 UTC](https://cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/t/xancil-stashmaster/761/5 "2022-10-31T11:34:48Z")
Hi Jeff I am trying to run Xancil without using a stashmaster. For now I am having errors when trying to create the ancillary files. Xancil seems to be enable to read the ocean vertical levels of my netcdf file. This could come from the fact that there is only one level (this is SSTs) or because the dimension name is set as ‘unspecified’ but I do not see an option do not specify the vertical levels for the ocean. Cheers, Paul-Arthur ---
**Author:** ![jeff](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/jeff/32/29_2.png) [@jeff](https://cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/u/jeff)\ **Post date:** [1 November 2022 13:44 UTC](https://cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/t/xancil-stashmaster/761/6 "2022-11-01T13:44:25Z")
Can post the exact message you are getting and also the location of the files being used. Thanks. Jeff. ---
**Author:** ![pmonerie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/59ef9b/32.png) [@pmonerie](https://cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/u/pmonerie)\ **Post date:** [1 November 2022 14:02 UTC](https://cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/t/xancil-stashmaster/761/7 "2022-11-01T14:02:49Z")
The file is “sst.nc” on archer2 (/work/n02/n02/pmonerie/data\_esiwace/clim) I am getting this message if I let Xancil finds the vertical level information (using 'use input NetCDF variables to specify the ocean vertical levels) Running mkancil executable /mnt/lustre/a2fs-work1/work/y07/shared/umshared/bin/mkancil0.58 Output from /mnt/lustre/a2fs-work1/work/y07/shared/umshared/bin/mkancil0.58 executable: Writing Sea Surface Temperature ancillary file /mnt/lustre/a2fs-work2/work/n02/n02/pmonerie/data\_esiwace/clim/sst ERROR: in procedure get\_ncdiminfo 1 : NetCDF error number -49 : NetCDF: Variable not found : If I use the other option (enter NetCDF dimension to specify ocean vertical levels) I am then getting this error message: Running mkancil executable /mnt/lustre/a2fs-work1/work/y07/shared/umshared/bin/mkancil0.58 Output from /mnt/lustre/a2fs-work1/work/y07/shared/umshared/bin/mkancil0.58 executable: Getting ocean depth levels from netcdf file /mnt/lustre/a2fs-work2/work/n02/n02/pmonerie/data\_esiwace/clim/sst.nc using varname unspecified Writing Sea Surface Temperature ancillary file /mnt/lustre/a2fs-work2/work/n02/n02/pmonerie/data\_esiwace/clim/sst ERROR: in procedure get\_ncdiminfo 1 : NetCDF error number -49 : NetCDF: Variable not found : Paul-Arthur ---
**Author:** ![jeff](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/jeff/32/29_2.png) [@jeff](https://cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/u/jeff)\ **Post date:** [7 November 2022 18:07 UTC](https://cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/t/xancil-stashmaster/761/8 "2022-11-07T18:07:48Z")
I’m not sure what you have put in the xancil entry panels so it’s hard to tell what is going wrong. If you “Save Job” then it will produce a .job file, which is a copy of the current state of xancil, which I can use to see what is wrong. You can use this file to reload your xancil job, xancil -j jobfile. Looking at the xancil.namelist file it has ```auto SST_NCNAME = "", ``` which should have the sst netcdf variable name in it but because it’s blank you get the error message. Jeff. ---
**Author:** ![pmonerie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/59ef9b/32.png) [@pmonerie](https://cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/u/pmonerie)\ **Post date:** [8 November 2022 18:19 UTC](https://cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/t/xancil-stashmaster/761/9 "2022-11-08T18:19:44Z")
Hi Jeff, Thank you for your command line, that is quite useful. I have edited the netCDF file I was using, to update variable names and I have had another go at using Xancil. Not sure of what I have changed since my last attempt but it is now working. I have now generated an ancillary file for the SSTs, (/work/n02/n02/pmonerie/data\_esiwace/clim/sst\_r/qrclim.sst) using the job I have saved this time (/work/n02/n02/pmonerie/data\_esiwace/clim/sst\_r/sst\_xancil.job). I have generated my ancillary files for the sea-ice as well. I will have a go at running the model to see if it is working or not. Paul-Arthur ---
**Author:** ![system](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/uploads/cms_support/original/1X/1fd2411499ffcbc299fe756cd5cdf26e44956558.png) [@system](https://cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/u/system)\ **Post date:** [14 November 2023 00:56 UTC](https://cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/t/xancil-stashmaster/761/10 "2023-11-14T00:56:53Z")
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**Author:** ![system](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/uploads/cms_support/original/1X/1fd2411499ffcbc299fe756cd5cdf26e44956558.png) [@system](https://cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/u/system)\ **Post date:** [13 December 2023 19:56 UTC](https://cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/t/xancil-stashmaster/761/11 "2023-12-13T19:56:21Z")
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**Author:** ![RosalynHatcher](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/rosalynhatcher/32/11_2.png) [@RosalynHatcher](https://cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/u/RosalynHatcher)\ **Post date:** [14 December 2023 08:38 UTC](https://cms-helpdesk.ncas.ac.uk/t/xancil-stashmaster/761/12 "2023-12-14T08:38:52Z")