M-Labs recommends installing ARTIQ through Nix (on Linux) or MSYS2 (on Windows). It is also possible to use Conda (on either platform), but this is not preferred, and likely to become unsupported in the near future.
First, install the Nix package manager. Some distributions provide a package for it. Otherwise, use the official install script, as described on the `Nix website <https://nixos.org/download/>`_, e.g.: ::
Answer "Yes" to the questions about setting Nix configuration options (for more details see :ref:`installing-details` below.) You should now have a minimal installation of ARTIQ, where the usual front-end commands (:mod:`~artiq.frontend.artiq_run`, :mod:`~artiq.frontend.artiq_master`, :mod:`~artiq.frontend.artiq_dashboard`, etc.) are all available to you.
This installation is however relatively limited. Without further instructions, Nix takes its cues from the main ARTIQ flake (the ``flake.nix`` file at the root of the repository linked in the command) and creates a dedicated Python environment for the ARTIQ commands alone. This means that other useful Python packages, which are not necessary to run ARTIQ but which you might want to use in experiments (pandas, matplotlib...), are not available.
Modifying the environment and making additional packages visible to the ARTIQ commands requires using the Nix language and writing your own flake. Create an empty directory with a file ``flake.nix`` containing the following: ::
To spawn a shell in this environment, navigate to the directory containing the ``flake.nix`` and run: ::
$ nix shell
The resulting shell will have access to ARTIQ as well as any additional packages you may have added. You can exit this shell at any time with CTRL+D or with the command ``exit``. Note that a first execution of ``nix shell`` on a given flake may take some time; repetitions of the same command will use stored versions of packages and run much more quickly.
You might be interested in creating multiple directories containing separate ``flake.nix`` files to represent different sets of packages for different purposes. If you are familiar with Conda, using Nix in this way is similar to having multiple Conda environments.
To find more packages you can browse the `Nix package search <https://search.nixos.org/packages>`_ website. If your favorite package is not available with Nix, contact M-Labs using the helpdesk@ email.
If you find you prefer using flakes to your original ``nix profile`` installation, you can remove it from your system by running: ::
$ nix profile list
finding the entry with its ``Original flake URL`` listed as the GitHub ARTIQ repository, noting its index number (in a fresh Nix system it will normally be the only entry, at index 0), and running: ::
While using flakes, ARTIQ is not strictly 'installed' in a permanent way. However, Nix will keep collected packages in ``/nix/store`` for each flake, which over time or with many different flakes and versions can take up large amounts of storage space. To clear this cache, run ``nix-collect-garbage``. (After a garbage collection, ``nix shell`` will require some time again when first used).
When installing and initializing ARTIQ using commands like ``nix shell``, ``nix develop``, or ``nix profile install``, you may encounter prompts to modify certain configuration settings. These settings correspond to the ``nixConfig`` section in the ARTIQ flake: ::
do you want to allow configuration setting 'extra-sandbox-paths' to be set to '/opt' (y/N)?
do you want to allow configuration setting 'extra-substituters' to be set to 'https://nixbld.m-labs.hk' (y/N)?
do you want to allow configuration setting 'extra-trusted-public-keys' to be set to 'nixbld.m-labs.hk-1:5aSRVA5b320xbNvu30tqxVPXpld73bhtOeH6uAjRyHc=' (y/N)?
The first is necessary in order to be able to use Vivado to build ARTIQ gateware (e.g. :doc:`building_developing`). The latter two are necessary in order to use the M-Labs nixbld server as a binary cache; refusing these will result in Nix attempting to build these binaries from source, which is possible to do, but requires a considerable amount of time (on the order of hours) on most machines.
It is recommended to accept all three settings by responding with ``y``. If asked to permanently mark these values as trusted, choose ``y`` again. This action saves the configuration to ``~/.local/share/nix/trusted-settings.json``, allowing future prompts to be bypassed.
Alternatively, you can also use the option `accept-flake-config <https://nix.dev/manual/nix/stable/command-ref/conf-file#conf-accept-flake-config>`_ on a per-command basis by appending ``--accept-flake-config``, for example: ::
Should you wish to revert to the default settings, you can do so at any time by editing the appropriate options in the aforementioned configuration files.
and Nix tries to build some packages from source, this means that you are using `multi-user mode <https://nix.dev/manual/nix/stable/installation/multi-user>`_ in Nix, which may be the case for example when Nix is installed via ``pacman`` in Arch Linux. By default, users accessing Nix in multi-user mode are "unprivileged" and cannot use untrusted substituters. To change this, edit ``/etc/nix/nix.conf`` and add the following line (or append to the key if the key already exists): ::
Setting users as trusted users will effectively grant root access to those users. See the `Nix documentation <https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/command-ref/conf-file#conf-trusted-users>`_ for more information.
We recommend using our `offline installer <https://nixbld.m-labs.hk/job/artiq/extra-beta/msys2-offline-installer/latest>`_, which contains all the necessary packages and requires no additional configuration. After installation, simply launch ``MSYS2 with ARTIQ`` from the Windows Start menu.
As above in the Nix section, you may find yourself wanting to add other useful packages (pandas, matplotlib, etc.). MSYS2 uses a port of ArchLinux's ``pacman`` to manage (add, remove, and update) packages. To add a specific package, you can simply use a command of the form: ::
For more see the `MSYS2 documentation <https://www.msys2.org/docs/package-management/>`_ on package management. If your favorite package is not available with MSYS2, contact M-Labs using the helpdesk@ email.
Installing ARTIQ via Conda is not recommended. Instead, Linux users should install it via Nix and Windows users should install it via MSYS2. Conda support may be removed in future ARTIQ releases and M-Labs can only provide very limited technical support for Conda.
First, install `Anaconda <https://www.anaconda.com/download>`_ or the more minimalistic `Miniconda <https://conda.io/en/latest/miniconda.html>`_. After installing either Anaconda or Miniconda, open a new terminal and verify that the following command works::
Executing just ``conda`` should print the help of the ``conda`` command. If your shell cannot find the ``conda`` command, make sure that the Conda binaries are in your ``$PATH``. If ``$ echo $PATH`` does not show the Conda directories, add them: execute e.g. ``$ export PATH=$HOME/miniconda3/bin:$PATH`` if you installed Conda into ``~/miniconda3``.
Controllers for third-party devices (e.g. Thorlabs TCube, Lab Brick Digital Attenuator, etc.) that are not shipped with ARTIQ can also be installed with this script. Browse `Hydra <https://nixbld.m-labs.hk/project/artiq>`_ or see the list of NDSPs in this manual to find the names of the corresponding packages, and list them at the beginning of the script.
On Windows, if the last command that creates and installs the ARTIQ environment fails with an error similar to "seeking backwards is not allowed", try re-running the command with admin rights.
For commercial use you might need a license for Anaconda/Miniconda or for using the Anaconda package channel. `Miniforge <https://github.com/conda-forge/miniforge>`_ might be an alternative in a commercial environment as it does not include the Anaconda package channel by default. If you want to use Anaconda/Miniconda/Miniforge in a commercial environment, please check the license and the latest terms of service.
When you upgrade ARTIQ, as well as updating the software on your host machine, it may also be necessary to reflash the gateware and firmware of your core device to keep them compatible. New numbered release versions in particular incorporate breaking changes and are not generally compatible. See :doc:`flashing` for instructions.
Run ``$ nix profile upgrade`` if you installed ARTIQ into your user profile. If you use a ``flake.nix`` shell environment, make a back-up copy of the ``flake.lock`` file to enable rollback, then run ``$ nix flake update`` and re-enter the environment with ``$ nix shell``. If you use multiple flakes, each has its own ``flake.lock`` and can be updated or rolled back separately.
Run ``pacman -Syu`` to update all MSYS2 packages, including ARTIQ. If you get a message telling you that the shell session must be restarted after a partial update, open the shell again after the partial update and repeat the command. See the `MSYS2 <https://www.msys2.org/docs/updating/>`__ and `Pacman <https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Pacman>`_ manuals for more information, including how to update individual packages if required.
When upgrading ARTIQ or when testing different versions it is recommended that new Conda environments are created instead of upgrading the packages in existing environments. As a rule, keep previous environments around unless you are certain that they are no longer needed and the new environment is working correctly.
Switching between Conda environments using commands such as ``$ conda deactivate artiq-7`` and ``$ conda activate artiq-8`` is the recommended way to roll back to previous versions of ARTIQ.
