Installation

Installation#

The easiest way to install PyroLab is to install it via pip, a cross platform Python package installer. This is the recommended installation method for most users.

Considerations#

  1. Is this installation serving as a client (accessing remote resources)? The PyroLab client is designed to be platform agnostic. It should work on any OS, regardless of the OS running the server.

  2. Is this installation serving as a server (providing services/instruments)? You need to make sure that the drivers needed to connect to your devices are available on the OS of choice. For example, certain drivers are only available on Windows. Check the documentation for the driver before installing.

  3. Is this installation acting as a nameserver (server phonebook)? It is recommended you use a Linux installation for the nameserver, due to the simplicity of security, opening ports, and running servers on Linux. However, the nameserver is the simplest mechanism in PyroLab, and can run easily on any operating system.

Python Version Support#

PyroLab officially supports Python 3.9 to 3.13.

Installing PyroLab#

A note about dependencies#

Since PyroLab supports many drivers but may only be configured on specific computers with a few different devices, it does not install all potential dependencies by default.

Some drivers, for example, have dependencies that are OS-specific. And, for machines that will be acting purely as clients, you do not need the dependencies in order to access services running on other machines. Only the computer hosting a given service needs its dependencies. Be sure to visit each driver’s documentation for a listing of packages you may need to preinstall.

For drivers or services that have packages installable from PyPI, a pip install with extras is sufficient (see below). Some drivers may require additional 3rd party software to be installed (such as ThorLabs’ Kinesis DLL’s), so see the respective drivers’ documentation.

Installing with pip#

PyroLab supports many different drivers but aims to avoid clogging up your system with all the potential dependencies. Therefore, installation “extras” are provided for installing the Python dependencies of each desired feature.

For a basic installation, run:

pip install pyrolab

You can install the extras (or multiple of them) using the following command:

pip install pyrolab[feature]
pip install pyrolab[feature1,feature2,feature3]

Presently available extras are:

  • tsl550 (Santec TSL-550 Laser)

  • ppcl55x (Pure Photonics Lasers)

  • rto (Rohde-Schwarz Oscilloscopes)

  • arduino

  • monitor (Web interface for monitoring services registered with nameservers)

Installing from git#

You can also install from git by first cloning the repository. After cloning, we still recommend using an “editable” pip install to setup all the paths and register the command line program. That looks like this:

git clone https://github.com/BYUCamachoLab/pyrolab
cd pyrolab
pip install -e .
# Or, with some extras:
pip install -e .[tsl550,ppcl55x,rto,arduino]

If deep down in your soul, you truly hate pip installing and just want to add things to your PATH to install them, you can add the directory containing PyroLab to your PATH. Additionally, the command line program can be invoked by executing:

python -m pyrolab.cli

Data Directories#

PyroLab stores a fair amount of installation-specific data on the user’s computer. This includes configuration files that allow you to specify hosted services or instruments, log files, and other data files. This data is stored in the same directory as your PyroLab installation (which in turn depends on how PyroLab was installed). If you wish, you can see where PyroLab stores its data by running one of the following:

# If PyroLab is installed on the command line
pyrolab --show-data-dir

# If running from the source directory
python -m pyrolab.cli --show-data-dir

You never really should manage these files yourself, though. But if you see them show up, there’s no need for concern.

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