install_tensorflow

Install TensorFlow and its dependencies

Description

install_tensorflow() installs just the tensorflow python package and it’s direct dependencies. For a more complete installation that includes additional optional dependencies, use keras::install_keras().

Usage

 
install_tensorflow( 
  method = c("auto", "virtualenv", "conda"), 
  conda = "auto", 
  version = "default", 
  envname = NULL, 
  extra_packages = NULL, 
  restart_session = TRUE, 
  conda_python_version = NULL, 
  ..., 
  pip_ignore_installed = TRUE, 
  python_version = conda_python_version 
)

Arguments

Arguments	Description
method	Installation method. By default, “auto” automatically finds a method that will work in the local environment. Change the default to force a specific installation method. Note that the “virtualenv” method is not available on Windows.
conda	The path to a `conda` executable. Use `"auto"` to allow `reticulate` to automatically find an appropriate `conda` binary. See Finding Conda and `conda_binary()` for more details.
version	TensorFlow version to install. Valid values include: - `"default"` installs 2.9 - `"release"` installs the latest release version of tensorflow (which may be incompatible with the current version of the R package) - A version specification like `"2.4"` or `"2.4.0"`. Note that if the patch version is not supplied, the latest patch release is installed (e.g., `"2.4"` today installs version “2.4.2”) - `nightly` for the latest available nightly build. - To any specification, you can append “-cpu” to install the cpu version only of the package (e.g., `"2.4-cpu"`) - The full URL or path to a installer binary or python *.whl file.
envname	The name, or full path, of the environment in which Python packages are to be installed. When `NULL` (the default), the active environment as set by the `RETICULATE_PYTHON_ENV` variable will be used; if that is unset, then the `r-reticulate` environment will be used.
extra_packages	Additional Python packages to install along with TensorFlow.
restart_session	Restart R session after installing (note this will only occur within RStudio).
…	other arguments passed to `reticulate::conda_install()` or `reticulate::virtualenv_install()`, depending on the `method` used.
pip_ignore_installed	Whether pip should ignore installed python packages and reinstall all already installed python packages. This defaults to `TRUE`, to ensure that TensorFlow dependencies like NumPy are compatible with the prebuilt TensorFlow binaries.
python_version, conda_python_version	Pass a string like “3.8” to request that conda install a specific Python version. This is ignored when attempting to install in a Python virtual environment. Note that the Python version must be compatible with the requested Tensorflow version, documented here: https://www.tensorflow.org/install/pip#system-requirements

Details

You may be prompted to download and install miniconda if reticulate did not find a non-system installation of python. Miniconda is the recommended installation method for most users, as it ensures that the R python installation is isolated from other python installations. All python packages will by default be installed into a self-contained conda or venv environment named “r-reticulate”. Note that “conda” is the only supported method on M1 Mac. If you initially declined the miniconda installation prompt, you can later manually install miniconda by running reticulate::install_miniconda().

Section

Custom Installation

install_tensorflow() or keras::install_keras() isn’t required to use tensorflow with the package. If you manually configure a python environment with the required dependencies, you can tell R to use it by pointing reticulate at it, commonly by setting an environment variable:

Sys.setenv("RETICULATE_PYTHON" = "~/path/to/python-env/bin/python")

Apple Silicon

Tensorflow on Apple Silicon is not officially supported by the Tensorflow maintainers. However Apple has published a custom version of Tensorflow compatible with Arm Macs. install_tensorflow() will install the special packages tensorflow-macos and tensorflow-metal on Arm Macs. See https://developer.apple.com/metal/tensorflow-plugin/ for instructions on how to do the equivalent manually. Please note that this is an experimental build of both Python and Tensorflow, with known issues. In particular, certain operations will cause errors, but can often be remedied by pinning them to the CPU. For example:

x <- array(runif(64*64), c(1, 64, 64)) 
keras::layer_random_rotation(x, .5)  # Error: 
# No registered 'RngReadAndSkip' OpKernel for 'GPU' devices 
# Pin the operation to the CPU to avoid the error 
with(tf$device("CPU"), keras::layer_random_rotation(x, .5) ) # No Error

Additional Packages

If you wish to add additional PyPI packages to your Keras / TensorFlow environment you can either specify the packages in the extra_packages argument of install_tensorflow() or install_keras(), or alternatively install them into an existing environment using the reticulate::py_install() function. Note that install_keras() includes a set of additional python packages by default, see ?keras::install_keras for details.

install_tensorflow