If you meet all the [requirements](mar-forecast-intro) to set up a MAR-based weather forecast, follow the next steps carefully to first set up a folder hierarchy that will act as the backbone of the forecast.
1. On your target computer (i.e. where the forecast will run), e.g. a cluster, create a new directory at a suitable location to store the software and main resources of the operational forecast chain. **This directory must be permanent** as it will both contain the main software, the `MARsim` archives used for the forecast as well as logs written by various parts of the operational chain. This directory will be subsequently refered to as `$DIR`.
