Installation

There are two ways to install Tangelo: from the Python Package Index (PyPI), or from source. Installing from PyPI is simpler, but limited to public release versions; installing from source is slightly more complicated but allows you to run cutting-edge development versions.

Installing from the Python Package Index

The latest release version of Tangelo can always be found in the Python Package Index. The easiest way to install Tangelo is via Pip, a package manager for Python.

1. Install software dependencies

Install the following software:

  • Python 2.7
  • Pip

On Linux and OS X computers, your local package manager should be sufficient for installing these. On Windows, please consult this guide for advice about Python and Pip.

2. Install the Tangelo Python package

Use this command in a shell to install the Tangelo package and its dependencies:

pip install tangelo

You may need to run this command as the superuser, using sudo or similar.

Building and Installing from Source

Tangelo is developed on GitHub. If you wish to contribute code, or simply want the very latest development version, you can download, build, and install from GitHub, following these steps:

1. Install software dependencies

To build Tangelo from source, you will need to install the following software:

  • Git
  • Python 2.7
  • Virtualenv
  • Node.js
  • Grunt

2. Check out the Tangelo source code

Issue this git command to clone the Tangelo repository:

git clone git://github.com/Kitware/tangelo.git

This will create a directory named tangelo containing the source code. Use cd to move into this directory:

cd tangelo

3. Install Node dependencies

Issue this command to install the necessary Node dependencies via the Node Package Manager (NPM):

npm install

The packages will be installed to a directory named node_modules.

4. Select your Virtualenv version

If the Virtualenv executable you wish to use is invoked in a non-standard way, use the Grunt config task to let Grunt know how to invoke Virtualenv. For example, on Arch Linux systems, Virtualenv for Python 2.7 is invoked as virtualenv2. In such a case, you would issue the following Grunt command:

grunt config:virtualenv:virtualenv2

By default, Grunt will assume that Virtualenv is invokable via virtualenv. Note that, in most cases, you will not have to complete this step.

5. Begin the build process

Issue this command to kick off the Grunt build process:

grunt

The output will include several phases of action, including: bcreating a virtual environment (in the directory named venv), building documentation, creating a Tangelo package, and installing that package to the virtual environment.

Watch the output for any errorrs. In most cases, an error will halt the process, displaying a message to indicate what happened. If you need any help deciphering any such errors, drop us a note at tangelo-users@public.kitware.com.

6. Launch Tangelo

If all has gone well, you can now try to run Tangelo, using this command:

./venv/bin/tangelo

The Tangelo executable comes from installing the built Tangelo Python package into the development virtual environment, so the command assumes you are in the root of the Tangelo repository, since that is where the virtual environment is created by the build process.

If you open a web browser and go to http://localhost:8080, you should see a welcome message along with the Tangelo Sunrise. If instead you receive an error message about port 8080 not being free, you may need to launch Tangelo on a different port, using a command similar to the following:

./venv/bin/tangelo --port 9090

Running the Test Suites

Tangelo comes with a battery of server and client tests. To run these, you can invoke the Grunt test task as follows:

grunt test

This runs both the server and client tests. Each test suite can be run on its own, with:

grunt test:server

and:

grunt test:client

Each of these produces a summary report on the command line. To view details such as individual test results, or details about code coverage, you can launch Tangelo to serve the HTML reports with the Grunt serve task:

grunt serve:test

and point a web browser at http://localhost:50047.