ATLAS silicon microstrip tracker operation

The Semi-Conductor Tracker (SCT) has been built and installed into the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in CERN. Together with the Pixel and Transition Radiation Tube (TRT) detectors it will provide precise tracking and vertexing information for the ATLAS Physics program. In this paper we report on the status, operational experience, and performance of the SCT in the run up to the start of the LHC.