Windows

Warning

Before you install make sure that you have an up-to-date version of Python installed. We recommend you use 3.8.2 or newer. Python can be downloaded and installed from https://www.python.org/downloads/. On Windows you may also need to install the C++ command line build tools as some cryptographic libraries need to be recompiled in 3.8.2 or newer. The installation of cls is optional and only needed for encryption.

Prerequisites for Windows

First, check if any of these commands are not installed. If they are not, please install them first. To check if they are available use the where command to check the following commands must return a valid path:

where cls
where ssh

Check and install the prerequisites

Prerequisite	Check in CMD.exe	Link for installation document
cls	C:> where cls	How to install cls on Windows
ssh	C:> where ssh	How to install ssh on Windows
python 3.8.2 (or newer), 64 bit	C:> python –version	How to install python on Windows

Please also run the check if you have the 64 bit vesrsion of python which must return True:

`C:> python -c 'import sys;print("%x" % sys.maxsize, sys.maxsize > 2**32)'`

Install

Note

Likely the code will work with earlier versions starting from 3.7.4. We know that Python 3.6 has bugs and should not be used. Although cloudmesh previously was supported in Python 2.7 and newer, we have removed Python 2 as a supported platform.

On Windows 10 you can install cloudmesh by either using

• a Windows native installation,

• a Linux Subsystem installation,

• a Docker installation,

approach.

In case you use the docker install you must use the professional or the educational version of Windows, as the Home edition is not supporting it.

Windows Container Approach

The user container for cloudmesh shell is called cmsd (cloudmesh shell docker). It can be installed with pip as follows

pip install cloudmesh-cmsd

Please note that in order for you to develop cloudmesh you need to do this within the container. However, we do recommend that Windows developer use the Windows native cloudmesh approach. However regular users will have very transparent access to cloudmesh as most commands are just passed along to the container.

The manual page for cmsd is located at ../cmsd

Linux Subsystem Installation Approach

See our separate section on this.

venv Setup on Windows CMD.EXE

On Windows, you run the following command from your home directory at C:UsersUSERNAME:

python -m venv ENV3
source ENV3\Scripts\activate
python -m pip install --upgrade pip

Next, create a Windows system variable named ENV3 and update the variable value to C:UsersUSERNAMEENV3Scriptsactivate.

Figure: Setting the ENV3 variable

Then add the ENV3 variable name to the Path variable.

Figure: Add the variable to the path

Lastly, to simplify the venv activation call, create a new ENV3.bat file under the default directory, and add the following content to the file.

C:\Users\USERNAME\ENV3\Scripts\activate.bat

Note

The same can be done in Windows Powershell by creating an ENV3.ps1 to reference the activation command.

Test the venv activation

We recommend that you test the venv activation. In a command prompt, type ENV3 while under the home directory; or if the bat file was not created, simply reference the system variable %ENV3%.

Example using bat file activation:

C:\Users\USERNAME> ENV3

...

(ENV3) C:\Users\USERNAME>

Example using Windows environment variable:

C:\Users\USERNAME> %ENV3%

(ENV3) C:\Users\USERNAME>

In both cases, you will see the command prompt starting with (ENV3).

Validate Python and Pip Version in venv

Check if you have the right version of python and pip installed with

python --version
pip --version

Now you are ready to install cloudmesh.