Installation

Quick Start

1. Get a Python 3 version of the conda package manager (eg Anaconda, miniconda, etc).
2. Clone https://github.com/Ulm-IQO/qudi.git
3. Install the qudi conda environment suitable for your operating system (located in the tools directory of the qudi code).
4. Copy the default example config into a 'config/local' subdirectory so that you can edit it without impacting the project examples.

1. Run start.py in this conda environment.

See below for more specific instructions.

The options

Anaconda vs Manual

Qudi is a Python 3 program that need some modules to work. In order to use Python version 3 and theses dependencies, Qudi might be used with Anaconda, a free open source tool that let your computer have multiples "environments" installed at the same time, and just switch from one to another in a command terminal.

This tool also ease the installation as you can create an environment for Qudi with all the modules needed by importing them from the .yml file in the tool folder.

It is highly recommended you use this option. If however you want to go manual, you can find more information here

Git vs Download

If you just want to run Qudi as is, you can download the source code from GitHub and use this installation guide to run it.

However, Qudi is in constant development for new features and bug fixes, so it is highly recommended to use Git, even for production environment.

Git is a very popular free and open source version control system that let developers track changes in the source code and keep things organized. It is also a tool that can let you set up and update your production environment easily. GitHub, the website that host the Git repository is an tool built on top of Git to add some capabilities and a more user friendly interface.

PyCharm vs others

PyCharm is a integrated development environment (IDE) built for Python. It has a Community Edition that is free and open source.

PyCharm is a very good code editor for Python that will help you dive into the code and modify it efficiently. It is compatible with Anaconda environments to detect available modules. It is great for wringing documentation as it has an real time rendering tool.

If you intend to use Qudi, it is recommended to setup Pycharm on your machine.

Windows installation

1. Get Git for Windows from https://git-for-windows.github.io/ and TortoiseGIT from https://tortoisegit.org/ and install it.
2. Get the Anaconda Python 3.x distribution from https://www.anaconda.com/download/ . Choose Install for all users and register Python in the system.
3. Get PyCharm from https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/download and install it.
4. Do a git clone of https://github.com/Ulm-IQO/qudi.git
5. In the checked out folder, go to the tools folder and execute the install-python-modules-windows.bat file.
6. Open the checked out folder in PyCharm and configure the project interpreter to be C:\Anaconda3\envs\qudi\python.exe.
7. Configuring the project interpreter is described on this site: https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/help/configuring-python-interpreter-for-a-project.html .
8. Now you can open start.py in the PyCharm project and execute it by right clicking the file tab and choosing execute.

Desktop shortcut

You can create a Desktop shortcut to launch Qudi easily on your machine.

• On your Desktop, right click and go to New->Shortcut
• For the location you need to copy the following target
  • windir%\System32\cmd.exe "/K" <path-to-activation-script> "<path-to-qudi-environment>" && cd "<path-to-qudi-directory>" && python "start.py"
  • In order for the shortcut to work on every windows setup, you need to specify 3 things :
    • <path-to-activation-script> : the path to the Anaconda activate.bat file, for example C:\ProgramData\Miniconda3\Scripts\activate.bat.
    • <path-to-qudi-environment> : this can be found using command conda info --envs in a terminal.
    • <path-to-qudi-directory> : the path where Qudi's start.py can be found.
• Click Next
• Give the name you want fot the shortcut : Qudi
• Click Finish
• (Optional) Right click on the newly created shortcut and go to Proprerties
  • Click Change Icon... and browse for the artwork\logo\logo_qudi.ico logo

Troubleshooting

Please note, in Windows you cannot switch directly between partitions with cd (i.e. between C: and D:). If Qudi's program is stored in another partition, you need to change the command to : windir%\System32\cmd.exe "/K" <path-to-activation-script> "<path-to-qudi-environment>" && D: && cd "<path-to-qudi-directory-on-D-partition>" && python "start.py"

Linux installation

1. Install git using system package manager.
2. Do git clone https://github.com/Ulm-IQO/qudi.git .
3. Install a conda package manager. Miniconda is nice and easy.
4. Install the qudi conda environment from tools/conda-env-linx64-qt5.yml .
5. Activate the qudi conda environment.
6. Change to the qudi code directory and run start.py using ./start.py or python3 start.py or similar.