Installation Guide

Complete Installation Instructions for Windows and Linux

About This Guide

This guide provides comprehensive installation instructions for OptiOmega on both Windows and Linux operating systems. Choose the appropriate section below based on your platform.

Note

If you require assistance with Windows or Linux installation, contact Optiwave support:

Windows Installation

OptiOmega for Windows can be installed using the provided setup executable.

Important

NVIDIA GPU drivers: This product requires an Nvidia GPU with at least CUDA 12.0 support. Use the link below to check the CUDA capability of your GPU. https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-gpus

Befor you begin installation of OptiOmega, please make sure appropriate GPU drivers are installed. You can follow the instructions on Nvidia’s website from the link below how to set up the drivers if they are not already set up in your system. https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/

Installation Steps

Step 1: Locate the Setup Executable

Find the setup.exe file in your OptiOmega installation package.

Step 2: Run the Installer

Double-click setup.exe to launch the installation wizard.

Step 3: Follow the Installation Wizard

Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation:

Step 4: Verify Installation

After installation completes, verify that OptiOmega has been installed successfully.

Setting Up Visual Studio Code

OptiOmega includes pre-configured Visual Studio Code settings file to streamline your development workflow. VSCode is the recommended way to use OptiOmega but it supports other python IDE’s as well.

Prerequisites

Install Visual Studio Code

If you don’t already have VS Code installed, download it from https://code.visualstudio.com/

Install Python Extension

  1. Open Visual Studio Code

  2. Click on the Extensions icon in the left sidebar (or press Ctrl+Shift+X)

  3. Search for “Python” (published by Microsoft)

  4. Click “Install”

Setting Up Your Project

Step 1: Create a Project Folder

Create a new folder for your OptiOmega project. For example, create a folder named MyProject in a location of your choice (e.g., C:\Users\UserName\OptiOmegaProjects\MyProject).

Step 2: Copy VS Code Settings

Copy the .vscode folder from C:\Program Files\Optiwave Software\OptiOmega 1\VSCode to your MyProject folder. The .vscode/settings.json file contains the correct Python interpreter path and other project-specific settings.

Step 3: Open Project in VS Code

Open Visual Studio Code and use File → Open Folder to open your MyProject folder.

Step 4: Select Python Interpreter

Note

This step is only necessary if the interpreter settings are not automatically picked up after copying the .vscode folder.

  1. Open or create a Python file (e.g., test.py) in your project

  2. At the bottom-right corner of the VS Code window you should see the Python interpreter displayed (it will only appear when a Python file is open)

  3. Click on the interpreter name to open the selection menu

  4. Select the interpreter that shows OptiOmegaEnv

  5. If the interpreter OptiOmegaEnv is not visible, you can manually navigate to the expected interpreter path and choose it as the default interpreter.

Expected interpreter path: C:\Users\UserName\OptiOmega1Python3.12.4\OptiOmegaEnv\Scripts\python.exe.

Important

The Python interpreter selection menu at the bottom-right corner will only appear when you have a Python file (.py) open in the editor.

Step 5: Verify Configuration

To verify everything is set up correctly:

  1. Create a simple test file in your project (e.g., test.py)

  2. Add a simple import to test OptiOmega packages:

    import pyOptiShared
print("OptiOmega is configured correctly!")

  3. Run the file (press F5 or use the Run menu)

  4. If the message prints without errors, your setup is complete!

Tip

VS Code Tip: You can press Ctrl+Shift+P and type “Python: Select Interpreter” to access the interpreter selection menu at any time.

Linux Installation

OptiOmega can be installed on Linux systems using either a scripted installation (recommended) or manual installation process. Both methods are documented below.

Important

NVIDIA GPU drivers: This product requires an Nvidia GPU with at least CUDA 12.0 support. Use the link below to check the CUDA capability of your GPU. https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-gpus

Befor you begin installation of OptiOmega, please make sure appropriate GPU drivers are installed. You can follow the instructions on Nvidia’s website from the link below how to set up the drivers if they are not already set up in your system. https://docs.nvidia.com/datacenter/tesla/driver-installation-guide/

Manual Installation

For advanced users or custom installations, follow the manual installation process below. The steps and commands in this guide may need to be modified depending on your Linux distribution

Prerequisites

Warning

Root or sudo access is required for installation. Some steps need elevated privileges to install system dependencies and configure the environment.

Required Files

Before beginning the installation, ensure you have the following files in your installation source directory:

  • requirements.txt - Python package dependencies

  • bin/ - OptiOmega source files

  • dependencies/ - Offline Python packages

  • documentation/ - Documentation

  • tests/ - Test scripts

  • licensing_drivers/ - Licensing Drivers

System Dependencies

Install the required build dependencies for your distribution. See the following links for further information on how to install dependencies and build python.

https://devguide.python.org/getting-started/setup-building/#build-dependencies

https://devguide.python.org/getting-started/setup-building/#compile-and-build

Select the appropriate commands for your Linux distribution. Please refer to the links above for other Linux distributions:

Note

Before starting the installation process it is recommended to update your system to make sure the latest packages installed.

Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y build-essential wget curl llvm make \
     libssl-dev zlib1g-dev libffi-dev libbz2-dev libreadline-dev \
     libsqlite3-dev libncurses5-dev libncursesw5-dev xz-utils tk-dev

Rocky/RHEL/CentOS

# Base packages
sudo dnf install gcc openssl-devel bzip2-devel libffi-devel wget tar make
sudo dnf groupinstall -y "Development Tools"

# Additional libraries
sudo dnf install gdbm-devel tk-devel libX11-devel libXext-devel \
    libXrender-devel libXrandr-devel libXcursor-devel libuuid-devel \
    ncurses-devel sqlite-devel readline-devel libnsl epel-release dkms
Installation Steps

Step 1: Set Installation Variables

Define the installation paths. You can adjust these to match your preferred directory structure:

export INSTALL_DIR="$HOME/Optiwave/OptiOmega1"
export PYTHON_VERSION="3.12.7"
export PYTHON_PREFIX="$INSTALL_DIR/Python312"
export VENV_FOLDER="$PYTHON_PREFIX/OptiOmegaEnv"

Set the source directory to your source directory path:

export SOURCE_DIR="/path/to/your/source/files"

Step 2: Create Installation Directory

Create the main installation directory structure:

mkdir -p "$INSTALL_DIR"
cd "$SOURCE_DIR"

Step 3: Extract and Build Python

Extract the Python source code and compile it with optimizations:

# Extract Python source
tar -xzf Python-${PYTHON_VERSION}.tgz
cd Python-${PYTHON_VERSION}

# Configure with optimizations
./configure --prefix="$PYTHON_PREFIX" --enable-optimizations

# Build (using all CPU cores)
make -j$(nproc)

# Install
make altinstall

# Clean up
cd ..
rm -rf Python-${PYTHON_VERSION}

Note

The make step may take 5-15 minutes depending on your system specifications. The --enable-optimizations flag improves runtime performance but increases build time.

Step 4: Create Virtual Environment

Set up an isolated Python environment for OptiOmega:

# Create virtual environment
$PYTHON_PREFIX/bin/python3.12 -m venv "$VENV_FOLDER"

# Activate the virtual environment
source "$VENV_FOLDER/bin/activate"

Step 5: Install Python Dependencies

Install dependencies from dependencies folder:

pip install --upgrade pip
pip install --no-index --find-links="$SOURCE_DIR/dependencies" \
    -r "$SOURCE_DIR/requirements.txt"

Step 6: Install OptiOmega Packages

Copy the OptiOmega Python modules to the virtual environment’s site-packages directory:

# Get site-packages location
SITE_PACKAGES=$("$VENV_FOLDER/bin/python" -c \
    'import site; print(site.getsitepackages()[0])')

cp -r "$SOURCE_DIR/bin/pyFDTDKernel" "$SITE_PACKAGES/"
cp -r "$SOURCE_DIR/bin/pyModeSolver" "$SITE_PACKAGES/"
cp -r "$SOURCE_DIR/bin/pyOptiShared" "$SITE_PACKAGES/"

Step 7: Copy Additional Files

Copy source files, documentation, and test scripts to the installation directory:

# Copy all source files
mkdir -p "$INSTALL_DIR/bin"
cp -r "$SOURCE_DIR/bin/"* "$INSTALL_DIR/bin/"

# Copy documentation
mkdir -p "$INSTALL_DIR/documentation/"
cp -r "$SOURCE_DIR/documentation/"* "$INSTALL_DIR/documentation/"


# Copy tests
mkdir -p "$INSTALL_DIR/tests"
cp -r "$SOURCE_DIR/tests/"* "$INSTALL_DIR/tests/"

Step 8: License Setup

Please refer to the instructions under LicensingDrivers/licensing_driver_installation.txt

Step 9: Run Tests (Optional)

Verify the installation by running the test scripts:

cd "$INSTALL_DIR/tests"
for test_script in *.py; do
    [ -f "$test_script" ] || continue
    echo "Running $test_script..."
    python "$test_script"
    if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
        echo "✓ $test_script passed"
    else
        echo "✗ $test_script failed"
    fi
done

Directory Structure

After installation, your directory structure will look like this:

~/Optiwave/OptiOmega1/
├── Python312/
│   ├── bin/
│   │   └── python3.12
│   ├── lib/
│   ├── include/
│   └── OptiOmegaEnv/          # Virtual environment
│       ├── bin/
│       │   ├── activate
│       │   └── python
│       └── lib/
│           └── python3.12/
│               └── site-packages/
│                   ├── pyFDTDKernel/
│                   ├── pyModeSolver/
│                   └── pyOptiShared/
├── bin/                        # OptiOmega source files
├── documentation/                       # Documentation
└── tests/                      # Test scripts

Uninstalling OptiOmega

To completely remove OptiOmega from your system:

rm -rf ~/Optiwave/OptiOmega1

Warning

This will permanently delete all OptiOmega files, including any custom scripts or data stored in the installation directory. Make sure to backup any important files before uninstalling.

Using OptiOmega

Running OptiOmega Without IDE

Before using OptiOmega, you must activate the virtual environment:

source ~/Optiwave/OptiOmega1/Python312/OptiOmegaEnv/bin/activate

Once activated, you can run your OptiOmega Python scripts:

python your_script.py

Setting Up Visual Studio Code

OptiOmega includes pre-configured Visual Studio Code settings file to streamline your development workflow. VSCode is the recommended way to use OptiOmega but it supports other python IDE’s as well.

Prerequisites

Install Visual Studio Code

If you don’t already have VS Code installed, download it from https://code.visualstudio.com/

Install Python Extension

  1. Open Visual Studio Code

  2. Click on the Extensions icon in the left sidebar (or press Ctrl+Shift+X)

  3. Search for “Python” (published by Microsoft)

  4. Click “Install”

Setting Up Your Project

Step 1: Create a Project Folder

Create a new folder for your OptiOmega project:

mkdir -p ~/OptiOmegaProjects/MyProject
cd ~/OptiOmegaProjects/MyProject

Step 2: Copy VS Code Settings

Copy the .vscode folder from your OptiOmega installation to your project folder:

cp -r ~/Optiwave/OptiOmega1/VSCode/.vscode ~/OptiOmegaProjects/MyProject/.vscode

The .vscode/settings.json file contains the correct Python interpreter path and other project-specific settings.

Step 3: Open Project in VS Code

Open your project folder in Visual Studio Code:

code .

Or use File → Open Folder from the VS Code menu.

Step 4: Select Python Interpreter

  1. Open or create a Python file (e.g., test.py) in your project

  2. At the bottom-right corner of the VS Code window you should see the Python interpreter displayed (it will only appear when a Python file is open)

  3. Click on the interpreter name to open the selection menu

  4. Select the interpreter that shows OptiOmegaEnv

  5. If the interpreter OptiOmegaEnv is not visible, you can manually navigate to the expected interpreter path and choose it as the default interpreter.

Expected interpreter path: ~/Optiwave/OptiOmega1/Python312/OptiOmegaEnv/bin/python

Important

The Python interpreter selection menu at the bottom-right corner will only appear when you have a Python file (.py) open in the editor.

Step 5: Verify Configuration

To verify everything is set up correctly:

  1. Create a simple test file in your project (e.g., test.py)

  2. Add a simple import to test OptiOmega packages:

    import pyOptiShared
print("OptiOmega is configured correctly!")

  3. Run the file (press F5 or use the Run menu)

  4. If the message prints without errors, your setup is complete!

Tip

VS Code Tip: You can press Ctrl+Shift+P and type “Python: Select Interpreter” to access the interpreter selection menu at any time.

Editing in VSCode

Below are some advantages of editing your code in the Visual Studio Code:

1. When any of the following classes : pyFDTDSolver, FDTDSimResults, FDTDModeData, etc., is used while defining your structure for simulation, defining your FDTD or Mode simulation settings, or extracting simulation results. The VSCode editor automatically shows the methods under these classes and allows the auto-completion of the code. This also guides the python beginners to write a simulation code with ease. The example of pyFDTDSolver class showing it’s various methods can be seen in the following gif:

pyFDTDSolver for Simulation Settings
../_images/VSCode_Methods_zoomed.gif

2. When any method of any class is used and the mouse is hovered over the brackets (), VSCode editor automatically shows the documentation for all the arguments/variables within that method. This aids in the completion of the code. The documentation for arguments of different methods of the pyFDTDSolver is shown in the following gif:

Arguments documentation for methods of pyFDTDSolver class
../_images/VSCode_ObjectArgs_zoomed.gif

3. To visualize the results stored in the .HDF5 files directly from the VSCode, H5Web extension must be installed in the VSCode editor under the EXTENSIONS tab. Hit Ctrl + Shift + X anywhere in the VSCode window to open the extension tab. In the seacrh bar, enter H5Web and select install.

Troubleshooting

Build Failures

Issue

Solution

Missing SSL support

Install openssl-devel or libssl-dev before building Python

Missing bz2 support

Install bzip2-devel or libbz2-dev before building Python

Permission denied errors

Use sudo for system directories or install to user home directory

Compilation fails

Ensure all development tools are installed for your distribution

Virtual Environment Issues

Cannot activate venv

Ensure Python was built correctly with all required dependencies

Module not found

Verify packages were copied to the correct site-packages directory

Import errors

Check that all dependencies in requirements.txt were installed successfully

Permission errors

Ensure proper ownership and permissions were set

sudo chown -R $USER:$USER "$SOURCE_DIR"
chmod -R u+rwX "$SOURCE_DIR"

Scripted Installation Issues

Script not found

Ensure you are in the correct directory containing the installation scripts

Permission denied when running scripts

Make sure the scripts are executable: chmod +x install_dependencies.sh install_optiomega.sh