Installation and operation of the LHCb Silicon Tracker detector

The LHCb experiment is designed to perform high-precision measurements of CP violation and rare decays of B hadrons. The construction and installation of the Silicon Tracker (ST) was completed by early summer 2008. The Silicon Tracker covers a sensitive area of about 12 m2 using silicon micro-strip technology and must withstand a radiation dose of 5 × 10 13 1 MeV n / cm 2 equivalent after 10 years of operation. In these proceedings the preparation of the detectors for the first LHC beams is reported. Selected results from the detector commissioning in LHCb are shown, including the first beam-related events accumulated during the LHC injection and synchronization tests in September 2008. Lessons are drawn from the experience gathered during the installation and commissioning.