Installing with Pip

Pip is a package installer for Python that can be used to install the Cantera Python module from PyPI.

Caution

There are a few important limitations to note when Cantera is installed from PyPI:

• These packages are compiled without native HDF5 support. The new options for saving and restoring SolutionArray and flame objects to/from HDF5 files are not available.

• These packages are compiled using single-threaded implementations of LAPACK functions, and cannot make use of multiple cores to speed up reactor network or flame simulations.

If you want either of these features, you can install the Conda packages instead.

Prerequisites

The first step in installing the Cantera Python module using pip is to make sure you have a compatible version of Python installed and are able to run pip from the command line. Packages for Cantera 3.1.0 are available for Python versions 3.8, 3.9, 3.10, 3.11, 3.12, and 3.13.

If you don’t already have Python installed, it can be downloaded from python.org or installed using your operating system’s package manager.

To check that you are able run pip, open a terminal / command prompt and run the following command:

Linux / macOS

python3 -m pip --version

Windows

py -m pip --version

If the above command doesn’t work, see the instructions at packaging.python.org for how to get pip working with your Python installation.

Virtual Environments

Virtual environments provide a way keeping separate sets of Python packages installed for different projects, where different environments can have different versions of packages that might otherwise conflict. To create and activate a virtual environment named ct-env to be used with Cantera, run the commands:

Linux / macOS

python3 -m venv ct-env
source ct-env/bin/activate

Windows

py -m venv ct-env
ct-env\Scripts\activate

The second command should be run in the terminal each time you want to use the specified environment.

Installing Cantera

To install the Cantera Python module, first activate your virtual environment, if you’re using one. Then, run the command:

Linux / macOS

python3 -m pip install cantera

Windows

py -m pip install cantera

You can test that your installation is working by importing the Cantera module and creating a Solution object:

Linux / macOS

python3 -c 'import cantera; gas = cantera.Solution("gri30.yaml"); gas()'

Windows

py -c "import cantera; gas = cantera.Solution('gri30.yaml'); gas()"

You should get the following output:

 gri30:

      temperature   300 K
         pressure   1.0133e+05 Pa
          density   0.081894 kg/m^3
 mean mol. weight   2.016 kg/kmol
  phase of matter   gas

                         1 kg             1 kmol
                    ---------------   ---------------
         enthalpy             26469             53361  J
  internal energy       -1.2108e+06        -2.441e+06  J
          entropy             64910        1.3086e+05  J/K
   Gibbs function       -1.9447e+07       -3.9204e+07  J
heat capacity c_p             14311             28851  J/K
heat capacity c_v             10187             20536  J/K

                     mass frac. Y      mole frac. X     chem. pot. / RT
                    ---------------   ---------------   ---------------
               H2                 1                 1           -15.717
    [  +52 minor]                 0                 0

Installing a Pre-release

Sometimes, a pre-release (alpha or beta) version of Cantera may be available to install. However, pip defaults to installing the latest stable version. To allow installation of a pre-release, add the --pre flag:

Linux / macOS

python3 -m pip install --pre cantera

Windows

py -m pip install --pre cantera

You can check the version that was installed by running:

Linux / macOS

python3 -c 'import cantera; print(cantera.__version__)'

Windows

py -c "import cantera; print(cantera.__version__)"