Linux binary conda package
==========================

1) Check GPU requirements
-------------------------

You require an OpenGL 4.3 (or higher) capable graphics card and an appropriate Linux
driver to run Met.3D.
If you use an NVIDIA GPU, we recommend the NVIDIA proprietary driver (the open-source
MESA driver also works, but you need to manually set the available GPU memory in Met.3D;
cf. the box below).
Before installing Met.3D, make sure that graphics card and driver are installed.
If everything is installed correctly, the ``glxinfo`` command should output something similar to
(the important thing is that the OpenGL core profile version is at least 4.3.0):

::

    # glxinfo | grep OpenGL
 
    OpenGL vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation
    OpenGL renderer string: GeForce GTX TITAN/PCIe/SSE2
    OpenGL core profile version string: 4.4.0 NVIDIA 340.96
    OpenGL core profile shading language version string: 4.40 NVIDIA via Cg compiler

.. important:: 
    
    Met.3D uses an Nvidia-specific OpenGL extension that queries the available GPU memory. 
    If you don't have an NVIDIA GPU or don't use the proprietary NVIDIA driver, you need to set
    your available GPU memory manually in the Met.3D settings (Edit -> Settings -> Memory Management).


2) Setup miniforge
------------------

We use the `miniforge`_ distribution for conda functionality (`miniconda`_ also works).
`miniforge`_ uses the `conda-forge` distribution channel by default, which is where
most of Met.3Ds dependencies are distributed.

If you haven't installed `miniforge`_ (or `miniconda`_), install the system into
a directory that provides enough disk space.
The default is in your home directory, but you may want to choose a different location
in case of disk quota (about 12-15 GB are required).

Install miniforge::

    wget https://github.com/conda-forge/miniforge/releases/latest/download/Miniforge3-Linux-x86_64.sh
    chmod +x Miniforge3-Linux-x86_64.sh
    ./Miniforge3-Linux-x86_64.sh

You also need to initialize mamba to use the mamba commands::

    mamba shell init

.. important::
    In the following, we assume that you use the `miniforge`_ distribution with `mamba`_.


3) Install Met.3D
-----------------

We recommend you create a separate conda environment for Met.3D,
so that it doesn't interfere with other conda environments.

Create and activate a new Met.3D conda environment::

    mamba create -n met3d_binaries
    mamba activate met3d_binaries

Next, install Met.3D in this conda environment::

    mamba install -c met3d met3d


4) Run Met.3D
-------------

To run Met.3D, activate your conda environment and start Met.3D::

    # Make sure your "met3d_binaries" conda environment is activated:
    mamba activate met3d_binaries
    # Start Met.3D:
    met3d

Known issues:
-------------

"met3d: command not found"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If the ``met3d`` command cannot be found, try to deactivate and reactivate
the conda environment into which you installed Met.3D::

    # Deactivate and reactivate your "met3d" conda environment:
    mamba deactivate met3d_binaries
    mamba activate met3d_binaries


.. _mamba: https://mamba.readthedocs.io/en/latest/installation/mamba-installation.html
.. _miniforge: https://conda-forge.org/download/
.. _miniconda: https://docs.conda.io/en/latest/miniconda.html