Environment setup

Tip

If you have any issues with installation, please feel free to open a github issue and we will try to help you get unstuck.

Installing Python using conda

In this tutorial, we will install Python via miniforge, a distribution of Python based in the conda package manager.

Note

If you already have anaconda, miniconda, or miniforge installed, those will work as well and you can skip to the bottom of this page to set up the conda environment.

1. In your web browser, navigate to the miniforge page.

2. Scroll down to the “Miniforge3” header of the “Downloads” section. Click the link to download the appropriate version for your operating system. Note that even if you have a new Apple computer with an M1 processor, you should download the OS X x86_64 version.

   • Windows: Miniforge3-Windows-x86_64

   • Mac with Intel processor: Miniforge3-MacOSX-x86_64

   • Mac with M1 (“Apple silicon”): Miniforge3-MacOSX-x86_64

   • Linux with an Intel processor: Miniforge3-Linux-x86_64

3. Once you have downloaded miniforge installer, run it to install Python.

   • Windows

     1. Find the file you downloaded (Miniforge3-Windows-x86_64.exe) and double click to execute it. Follow the instructions to complete the installation.

     2. Once the installation has completed, you can verify it was correctly installed by searching for the “miniforge prompt” in your Start menu.

   • Mac OS

     1. Open your Terminal (you can search for it in spotlight - cmd + space)

     2. Navigate to the folder you downloaded the installer to. For example, if the file was downloaded to your Downloads folder, you would enter:

        cd ~/Downloads
        

     3. Execute the installer with the command below. You can use your arrow keys to scroll up and down to read it/agree to it.

        bash Miniforge3-MacOSX-x86_64.sh -b
        

     4. To verify that your installation worked, close your Terminal window and open a new one. You should see (base) to the left of your prompt.

     5. Finally, initialize miniforge with the command below. This makes sure that your terminal is set up correctly for your python installation.

        conda init
        

   • Linux

     1. Open your terminal application

     2. Navigate to the folder you downloaded the installer to. For example, if the file was downloaded to your Downloads folder, you would enter:

        cd ~/Downloads
        

     3. Execute the installer with the command below. You can use your arrow keys to scroll up and down to read it/agree to it.

         bash Miniforge3-Linux-x86_64.sh -b
        

     4. To verify that your installation worked, close your Terminal window and open a new one. You should see (base) to the left of your prompt.

     5. Finally, initialize miniforge with the command below. This makes sure that your terminal is set up correctly for your python installation.

        conda init
        

Setting up your environment

0. Open your terminal.

   • Windows: Open the “miniforge prompt” from your start menu

   • Mac OS: Open Terminal (you can search for it in spotlight - cmd + space)

   • Linux: Open your terminal application

1. Download the workshop repository and move into the downloaded folder by entering the following command:

   cd ultrack-i2k2024
   

2. We use an environment to encapsulate the Python tools used for this workshop. This ensures that the requirements for this workshop do not interfere with your other Python projects. To create the environment with tutorial’s dependencies (Python 3.12, ultrack, napari and other) in it, enter the following command:

   conda env create --file environment.yml
   

3. Once the environment setup has finished, activate the environment:

   conda activate ultrack-i2k2024
   

   If you successfully activated the environment, you should now see (ultrack-i2k2024) to the left of your command prompt.

4. Test that your notebook installation is working. We will be using notebooks for interactive analysis. Enter the command below and it should launch the jupyter lab application in a web browser. Once you’ve confirmed it launches, close the web browser and press ctrl+c in the terminal window to stop the notebook server.

   jupyter lab
   

5. Test your napari installation. Enter the command below in the terminal and an empty napari viewer should open. You can close the window after it opens. Please note that it takes a bit of extra time to launch napari the first time.

   napari