Setting up your Python environment

43.2. Setting up your Python environment#

Last revised: 22-Apr-2026

Overview#

To run the Jupyter notebooks you will need a Python installation together with a number of scientific computing libraries (NumPy, SciPy, Matplotlib, and others). We manage these using conda, a package and environment manager that works on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

We recommend installing conda via Miniforge, a minimal, community-maintained distribution that is free to use without licensing restrictions and comes pre-configured with the conda-forge package channel. This replaces Anaconda’s defaults channel, which includes licensing terms that are problematic for many users.

1. Installing Miniforge3 (fresh installation)#

If you do not have conda installed, follow the instructions for your operating system below.

macOS#

Open a terminal and run one of the following commands depending on your hardware:

Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3 — most Macs from 2020 onwards):

curl -L https://github.com/conda-forge/miniforge/releases/latest/download/Miniforge3-MacOSX-arm64.sh -o Miniforge3.sh
bash Miniforge3.sh

Intel Mac:

curl -L https://github.com/conda-forge/miniforge/releases/latest/download/Miniforge3-MacOSX-x86_64.sh -o Miniforge3.sh
bash Miniforge3.sh

Follow the prompts, accept the license, and allow the installer to initialise conda in your shell. When the installation is complete, close and reopen your terminal.

Linux#

Open a terminal and run:

curl -L https://github.com/conda-forge/miniforge/releases/latest/download/Miniforge3-Linux-x86_64.sh -o Miniforge3.sh
bash Miniforge3.sh

Follow the prompts as for macOS above.

Windows#

Download the Windows installer from the Miniforge Latest Release page, selecting the Windows x86_64 options. This will download Miniforge3-Windows-x86_64.exe.

Run the installer and follow the graphical prompts. We recommend:

  • Installing for the current user only (does not require administrator privileges)

  • Ideally you will accept the default installation path. This may not be possible if the path contains special characters (including spaces and accents). You should get a warning if this is the case, which will require setting up another installation path.

  • You have the option to “Add Miniforge to my PATH environment variable” if you intend to use conda from a standard Command Prompt or PowerShell window. However, this has been found to cause problems for many users and the official recommendation is to not do this. Instead, you will use the Miniforge Prompt that is added to your Start menu.

Verify the installation#

Once installed, open the Miniforge Prompt (Windows) or a new terminal (macOS/Linux) and verify the installation:

conda --version

You should see version 24.x or later. Miniforge3 should be configured with the conda-forge channel by default, in which case no further channel configuration is needed. However, to be sure, continue with the next step.

2. Updating an existing conda installation (even if just installed)#

Follow these steps to ensure your conda installation is compatible with current best practices.

Step 1 — Update conda to version 23.10.0 or later#

Conda 23.10.0 introduced libmamba as the default dependency solver, which is significantly faster than the old solver. Check your current version and update if needed:

conda --version
conda update -n base conda

Verify the version is 23.10.0 or higher before proceeding.

Step 2 — Switch from the defaults channel to conda-forge#

The Anaconda defaults channel has licensing restrictions that are problematic for many academic users. You can verify your channel configuration with:

conda config --show channels

The output should list only conda-forge.

If the defaults channel is used in your installation, then you should replace it with conda-forge:

conda config --remove channels defaults
conda config --add channels conda-forge
conda config --set channel_priority strict

The strict channel priority setting is strongly recommended when using conda-forge exclusively — it prevents packages from different channels from being mixed, which can cause subtle dependency conflicts.

3. Creating the course environment#

The Python packages needed for this course are specified in the environment.yml file in the repository. Navigate to the LFD_for_Physicists directory you cloned from GitHub (see cloning instructions) and create the environment:

conda env create -f binder/environment.yml

The environment creation will take a few minutes. When it completes successfully you will see a message with instructions for activating the environment.

Activating and deactivating the environment#

conda activate 2026-env-lfd       # activate
conda deactivate              # deactivate when done

On Windows, run these commands in the Miniforge Prompt.

4. Launching JupyterLab#

We recommend JupyterLab as the interface for working with the course notebooks. Once the environment is activated, launch it with:

cd content
jupyter lab

This will open JupyterLab in your browser. Navigate to the notebook you want to open using the file browser on the left.

Note

If you prefer the classic single-document notebook interface, Jupyter Notebook v7 is also supported. Start it with jupyter notebook. The old classic Notebook interface (nbclassic) is no longer maintained and should not be used.

Verifying the correct kernel#

When a notebook is open, check that the kernel shown in the upper right corner of JupyterLab reads Python [conda env:2026-env-lfd]. If it shows a different kernel, click on it and select the correct environment from the list.

5. Updating the course environment#

The environment.yml file is updated from time to time as new packages are added. After pulling the latest changes from the repository, update your environment with:

conda deactivate
conda env update -f binder/environment.yml --prune
conda activate 2026-env-lfd

The --prune flag removes packages that are no longer listed in the environment file, keeping the environment clean.

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