Install NEST

Standard installation

These installation instructions should work for most users who do not need custom configurations for their systems. If you want to compile NEST from source, check the Advanced installation section and CMake Options for NEST.

Ubuntu users can install NEST via the PPA repository.

  1. Add the PPA repository for NEST and update apt:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nest-simulator/nest
sudo apt-get update
  1. Install NEST:

sudo apt-get install nest

In addition to native installations from ready-made packages, we provide containerized versions of NEST in several formats:

Docker provides an isolated container to run applications. The NEST Docker container includes a complete install of NEST and is set up so you can create, modify, and run Juptyer Notebooks and save them on your host machine. (See the Note below for alternative ways to use the Docker container.)

  1. If you do not have Docker installed, follow the Docker installation instructions for your system here: https://docs.docker.com/install/.

    If you are using Linux, we strongly recommend you also create a Docker group to manage Docker as a non-root user. See instructions on the Docker website: https://docs.docker.com/install/linux/linux-postinstall/

  2. Create a directory or change into a directory that you want to use for your Jupyter Notebooks.

mkdir my_nest_scripts
cd my_nest_scripts
  1. Run the Docker container. Replace the <version> with one of the latest NEST versions (e.g., 2.20.0) or use latest for the most recent build from the source code.

docker run --rm -e LOCAL_USER_ID=`id -u $USER` -v $(pwd):/opt/data -p 8080:8080 nestsim/nest:<version> notebook
  1. Once completed, a link to a Jupyter Notebook will be generated, as shown below. You can then copy and paste the link into your browser.

    ../_images/docker_link.png
  2. You can now use the Jupyter Notebook as you normally would. Anything saved in the Notebook will be placed in the directory you started the Notebook from.

  3. You can shutdown the Notebook in the terminal by typing Ctrl-c twice. Once the Notebook is shutdown the container running NEST is removed.

Note

You can check for updates to the Docker build by typing:

docker pull nestsim/nest:<version>

Note

You can also create an instance of a terminal within the container itself and, for example, run Python scripts.

docker run --rm -it -e LOCAL_USER_ID=`id -u $USER` -v $(pwd):/opt/data -p 8080:8080 nestsim/nest:<version> /bin/bash

See the README to find out more, but note some functionality, such as DISPLAY, will not be available.

Once NEST is installed, you can run it in Python, IPython, or Jupyter Notebook

For example, in the terminal type:

python3

Once in Python you can type:

import nest

or as a stand alone application:

nest

If installation was successful, you should see the NEST splash screen in the terminal:

import nest

Installation is now complete! :doc:`Now we can start creating simulations! <../getting_started>`


If installation didn’t work, see the troubleshooting section.


Advanced installation

If you need special configuration options or want to compile NEST yourself, follow these instructions.

Download the source code for the current release.

Follow instructions for Ubuntu/Debian Installation and take a look at our CMake Options for NEST.