Install Python

Python version 3.8 up through 3.12 is required to run FOQUS.

We recommend using either the Miniconda or Anaconda Python distribution and package management system. The choice of Miniconda or Anaconda is up to the user, with Miniconda being smaller and quicker to download while Anaconda is larger but more self-contained. For Windows users, Anaconda is likely a better choice as it also comes with the “Anaconda Prompt” which is a command terminal already set up for working with Anaconda. The primary advantage of using Miniconda or Anaconda is being able to isolate and customize a python environment specifically for FOQUS without having to modify your existing system python environment. It does this by allowing the ordinary user the ability to create self-contained python environments without any need for administrator privileges. These separate environments can have different set of packages, isolating version dependencies when working with multiple python projects.

If you have a working version of Python 3.8 through 3.12, which you prefer over Anaconda, you can skip these steps.

Anaconda or Miniconda Install and Setup

  1. Download one of Miniconda or Anaconda.

  2. Install the above package following the install instructions for your operating system.

  3. Create a ccsi-foqus conda environment; this environment will be referred to as ccsi-foqus in the installation documentation, but you can use any name you like. If you would like to install multiple version of FOQUS (for example a stable version and the latest development version), this can be done by running the following command multiple times with different environment names after the --name flag in the below command. In a terminal (or on Windows in the Anaconda Prompt) type:

    conda create --name ccsi-foqus -c conda-forge python=3.12 pywin32=306

    Then follow the prompts. This will create a new conda environment with a minimal set of packages. To use a different version of python, change the version specified after python= in the command.

    Note

    The command above installs the pywin32 Conda package immediately after creating the Conda environment. The pywin32 package is strictly required to run FOQUS on Windows, and should be installed with Conda from the conda-forge channel or errors might occur. For other platforms (Linux, macOS), the pywin32 package is not required. However, the pywin32 package itself is still available, and therefore the command above is compatible with all platforms for which FOQUS is supported.

  4. Activate the environment on Linux in a terminal type:

    conda activate ccsi-foqus

If you create an environment in which to install FOQUS, you will need to ensure that environment is active before installing FOQUS. On Windows, once FOQUS is installed a batch file is created that will activate the proper environment when running FOQUS. On Linux or Mac, you will need to activate the appropriate environment before running FOQUS.