1. Check that the instrument has been released.
2. To startup The NIRC2 software at the beginning of the afternoon checkout:
   • From VNC the pull-down menu, select NIRC2 Control → Start NIRC2 Software
3. To shutdown the NIRC2 software and safely stow NIRC2 at the end of the night:
   • The preferred option to shutdown NIRC2 is to select from the VNC pull-down menu NIRC2 Control → Shutdown/endnight NIRC2. This menu entry runs the script stop_all_nirc2_software. The script can also be invoked from a nirc2 terminal. Please, be aware that this script will shut down the GUIs and any terminal named xterm@waikoko or xterm@nirc2. Note that this script does not exist on waikoko.
   • The script endnight on a waikoko terminal, which is sometimes included in custom-made calibration scripts, only puts the NIRC2 stages in safe mode and shuts down part of the NIRC2 software, but it does not shut down all the NIRC2 and non-NIRC2 GUIs. Please, let your SA know by email if you are using endnight on a waikoko terminal or inside a calibration script instead of stop_all_nirc2_software on a nirc2 terminal or from the VNC pulldown menu, so that she/he can shut down the rest of the software once the execution of your calibration script is completed.