cereb_nest

pip installable NEST extension module, generated by pipnest.

Installation instructions

Using pip

When installed through pip the module is built for you with CMake outside of the python package folder, this means that pip cannot track the real installation status. To uninstall and reinstall see Uninstallation.

0. Install NEST following the instructions provided here (https://www.nest-simulator.org/)

1. Install using pip

pip install cereb_nest --no-cache-dir

3. Load the module after importing nest:

import nest
nest.Install("cerebmodule")

Uninstallation

To uninstall this module use pip uninstall cereb_nest and remove the (lib)cerebmodule.so files from the lib/nest/ directory in your nest installation.

Using CMake

1. Export an Environment Variable containing the installation directory of NEST. E.g.:

export NEST_INSTALL_DIR=$HOME/nest-simulator-install

2. Clone this GitHub Repository in a directory outside NEST source and build directories. E.g.:

cd $HOME
git clone https://github.com/dbbs-lab/cereb-nest/

3. Move to the cereb-nest directory and create a new folder where you will build the extension module

cd cereb-nest
mkdir build
cd build

4. Run the following CMake command (Tested with CMake 3.2.2)

cmake -Dwith-nest=${NEST_INSTALL_DIR}/bin/nest-config ../cereb_nest

The resulting output should be something similar to:

[...]
-------------------------------------------------------

You can now build and install 'cerebmodule' using
  make
  make install

The library file libcerebmodule.so will be installed to
  /home/alberto/nest-simulator-install/lib/nest
Help files will be installed to
  /home/alberto/nest-simulator-install/share/doc/nest

The module can be loaded into NEST using
  (cerebmodule) Install        (in SLI)
  nest.Install('cerebmodule')  (in PyNEST)

The module will be installed into a non-default location!
Make sure to set the environment variables:
  export NEST_MODULE_PATH=/home/alberto/nest-simulator-install/lib/nest:$NEST_MODULE_PATH
  export SLI_PATH=/home/alberto/nest-simulator-install/share/nest/sli:$SLI_PATH

 [...]

5. Execute the last two lines, generated by the CMake command.

export NEST_MODULE_PATH=/home/alberto/nest-simulator-install/lib/nest:$NEST_MODULE_PATH
export SLI_PATH=/home/alberto/nest-simulator-install/share/nest/sli:$SLI_PATH

This passage should be repeated every time the Terminal is closed. It is possible to add the two lines in your .bashrc to avoid doing this every time.

6. Make and install the module

make
make install

7. Every time you need the module, you can install it in this way:

import nest
nest.Install("cerebmodule")

8. You can now use all the nodes and synapses contained in this NEST Module.