The following are instructions on how to install the Xilinx LabTools iMPACT software on an SLC5 machine. This procedure can be generalized to the Red Hat Linux distribution or any other RPM installation.

1. To support the LabTools installation of relevant iMPACT cable drivers, you must first install the "fxload" package

      $ sudo yum install fxload
      

2. Furthermore, to support the usage of a USB JTAG cable (which avoids the need for a Parralel Programming cable), you must install the libusb 1.0 library. Instructions for this installation can be found here. Follow them carefully!!
3. Download "LabTools - 14.4 Utilities: All Platforms" tar file from the Xilinx Download Page. You need to be registered with Xilinx to do this step... If you are not, you can sign up, but you might be better off lassoing an already-registered user.
4. Go to the location of the download and unzip the tarball

      $ tar -xvf Xilinx_LabTools_14.4_P.49d.3.0.tar
      

5. Run the installation script as root

      $ cd Xilinx_LabTools_14.4_P.49d.3.0/
      $ sudo ./xsetup
      

6. Follow the installation procedure as presented in the dialogue boxes.
   1. In the fourth window, pay attention to where you want to install the software, so that following installation, you know where to find the environment configurations scripts and such.
   2. In the fifth window (following the terms agreements and the selection of "LabTools" for installation), BE SURE TO SELECT "Install Cable Drivers" before proceeding!!
7. You will now be presented with a license window. For this step, you will need to copy an existing Xilinx license file on your SLC5 machine to the directory ~/.Xilinx (if one doesn't already exist there), to find someone with an existing membership who can create a license file for you, or to buy your own license. Once you have a license file for your SLC5 machine, place it the directory ${HOME}/.Xilinx
8. Finally, after the installation is finished, you need to set up the environment prior to running the software

      $ source <installationDir>/14.4/LabTools/settings64.[c]sh
      $ export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=<libsbSharedLibsPath>:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
      

9. Your installation is complete! You are now ready to run the iMPACT software on your SLC5 machine!

      $ impact
      

NOTE (by dzou): Having recently installed impact on a SLC6 machine there was a detail which was preventing the Xilinx USB Cable from working. Notes from Jeroen Hegeman who found the bug:

The problem was as usual in a detail: in the USB settings file deployed by Xilinx here /etc/udev/rules.d/xusbdfwu.rules an environment variable name was spelled in capitals instead of lower-case: $TEMPFILE instead of $tmpfile. Took me a while to find that again.

-- CharlieHill - 25 Mar 2013