.. _installLinux: Installing `music21` on GNU/Linux and other operating systems ============================================================= GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, etc. generally work on `music21`. Many people, including all of the major developers of `music21` run it on various deployed GNU/Linux, Unix, AWS-Unix, Android, iOS, etc. systems throughout the world. However, no systems except recent Mac and Windows OSes are officially supported. By choosing to use Unix-like systems you should be an advanced user on your OS, able to deal with the issues of libraries, linkage, external files, etc. specific to (and different on) each Unix-like system. The music21list should not be used for installation/configuration problems on your operating system. Because of the number of different Unix variants, the list maintainers will only entertain `music21`-specific problems that can also be reproduced on Mac or Windows. To reiterate: **GNU/Linux/etc. is not a system for which support questions will be answered**. See Consulting in the FAQ for details on paid support. Check Your Version of Python ---------------------------------------------- `Music21` requires a recent version of Python. To determine the Python version you have installed, open a shell or terminal and enter the following command-line argument (where "$" is the prompt): $ python3 -V it should display something like: Python 3.10.7 if so, you're okay. If not, upgrade your version of Python. This is often a problem on some AWS configuations, Google Colab, etc. which do not ship by default with recent versions of Python. Download `music21` ---------------------------------------------- Download the newest version with: pip3 install --upgrade music21 Configure `music21` ---------------------------------------------- Configure music21 with: python3 -m music21.configure It is important to put the path to your MusicXML reader during these prompts. Music21 cannot find where your XML reader (probably MuseScore) is installed on most Unix/Linux systems. If you do not know about filepaths and how to find them, you should probably not be using GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, etc. with `music21`. On most OSes you'll find your configuration file in ~/.music21rc, but this is not guaranteed. After Installation ------------------------------- After a successful installation, you may proceed to :ref:`Notes ` to begin using `music21`. Learned Experience ------------------------------ Issues that people have reported **and solved** on non-Mac/Windows systems include: * **Android**: there is an issue with semaphores and multiprocessing in Android, this seems to be fixed with before importing `music21` running: `import _multiprocessing; _multiprocessing.sem_unlink = None` (If you have other issues that you have solved, please file a PR to add it to this section). Still have problems? ------------------------------- If you have followed all the instructions and still encounter problems, start over from scratch and try it again very carefully. If you still have problems **contact an expert in your operating system**. The `music21` maintainers cannot help with Unix installation problems except as paid support. See Consulting in the FAQ for details on paid support.