diff --git a/bdistrib.sh b/bdistrib.sh
index b210c1ff..9f809c33 100755
--- a/bdistrib.sh
+++ b/bdistrib.sh
@@ -73,6 +73,12 @@ echo "copying pin"
 mkdir -p distrib/qira/pin
 cp -av pin/makefile pin/pin_build.sh pin/qirapin.cpp distrib/qira/pin/
 
+echo "copying cda"
+mkdir -p distrib/qira/cda distrib/qira/cda/clang
+cp -av cda/*.py distrib/qira/cda/
+cp -av cda/clang/*.py distrib/qira/cda/clang/
+cp -Rav cda/static distrib/qira/cda/
+
 # package up the python, hopefully this includes pymongo driver
 # hmm, it doesn't, user will need to install
 #cd bin
diff --git a/cda/cachegen.py b/cda/cachegen.py
index 988a37b6..a29e4b73 100755
--- a/cda/cachegen.py
+++ b/cda/cachegen.py
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python2.7
 import os
 import sys
+import cda_config
 
 basedir = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__))
 #sys.path.append(basedir+"/clang/llvm/tools/clang/bindings/python")
 import clang.cindex as ci
-#ci.Config.set_library_file(basedir+"/clang/build/Release+Asserts/lib/libclang.so")
-ci.Config.set_library_file(basedir+"/libclang.so")
+ci.Config.set_library_file(cda_config.LIBCLANG_PATH)
 
 import pickle
 from clang.cindex import CursorKind
@@ -122,9 +122,8 @@ def parse_file(filename, args=[]):
 
 def parse_files(files, args=[]):
   args.append("-I")
-  #args.append(basedir+"/clang-latest/build/Release+Asserts/lib/clang/3.4.2/include")
   # for unbuilt clang
-  args.append(basedir+"/include")
+  args.append(cda_config.CLANG_INCLUDES)
   for fn in files:
     print "CDA: caching",fn
     try:
diff --git a/cda/cda_config.py b/cda/cda_config.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d7e374ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cda/cda_config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#ci.Config.set_library_file(basedir+"/clang/build/Release+Asserts/lib/libclang.so")
+#ci.Config.set_library_file(basedir+"/libclang.so")
+LIBCLANG_PATH = '/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libclang.so.1'
+#args.append(basedir+"/clang-latest/build/Release+Asserts/lib/clang/3.4.2/include")
+#args.append(basedir+"/include")
+CLANG_INCLUDES = '/usr/lib/llvm-3.4/lib/clang/3.4/include'
+
diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
index 0fd7fe23..c3ebb199 100755
--- a/install.sh
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ PIP="pip"
 if [ $(which apt-get) ]; then
   echo "installing apt packages"
   sudo apt-get install build-essential python-dev python-pip debootstrap
+  echo "installing cda packages"
+  sudo apt-get install codesearch clang
 elif [ $(which pacman) ]; then
   echo "installing pip"
   sudo pacman -S base-devel python2-pip
diff --git a/middleware/qira.py b/middleware/qira.py
index 52310900..dc587295 100755
--- a/middleware/qira.py
+++ b/middleware/qira.py
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
     raise Exception("--web-host must be a valid IPv4/IPv6 address")
 
   # handle arguments
-  if sys.argv[0] == "cda":
+  if sys.argv[0][-3:] == "cda":
     print "*** called as cda, not running QIRA"
     args.cda_only = True
 
diff --git a/middleware/qira_program.py b/middleware/qira_program.py
index c45c9e51..d54bb41b 100644
--- a/middleware/qira_program.py
+++ b/middleware/qira_program.py
@@ -261,10 +261,15 @@ class Program:
     return raw.encode("hex")
 
   def research(self, re):
-    csearch = qira_config.BASEDIR + "/cda/codesearch-latest/csearch"
-    out = subprocess.Popen([csearch, "-n", "--", re], stdout=subprocess.PIPE, env={"CSEARCHINDEX": self.cindexname})
-    dat = out.communicate()
-    return dat[0].split("\n")[:-1]
+    try:
+      #csearch = qira_config.BASEDIR + "/cda/codesearch-latest/csearch"
+      csearch = "/usr/bin/csearch"
+      out = subprocess.Popen([csearch, "-n", "--", re], stdout=subprocess.PIPE, env={"CSEARCHINDEX": self.cindexname})
+      dat = out.communicate()
+      return dat[0].split("\n")[:-1]
+    except:
+      print "ERROR: csearch not found"
+      return []
 
   def getdwarf(self):
     if not qira_config.WITH_DWARF:
@@ -325,11 +330,17 @@ class Program:
 
     (files, self.dwarves, self.rdwarves, dirs) = cachewrap("/tmp/qira_dwarfcaches", self.proghash, parse_dwarf)
 
-    cindex = qira_config.BASEDIR + "/cda/codesearch-latest/cindex"
     self.cindexname = get_cachename("/tmp/qira_cindexcaches", self.proghash)
     if not os.path.isfile(self.cindexname):
       if os.fork() == 0:
-        os.execve(cindex, [cindex,"--"]+files, {"CSEARCHINDEX": self.cindexname})
+        try:
+          #cindex = qira_config.BASEDIR + "/cda/codesearch-latest/cindex"
+          cindex = "/usr/bin/cindex"
+          os.execve(cindex, [cindex,"--"]+files, {"CSEARCHINDEX": self.cindexname})
+        except:
+          print "ERROR: cindex not found"
+        exit(0)
+          
       # no need to wait
 
     # cda