Skip to content

System Requirements in pixi#

System requirements define the minimal system specifications necessary during dependency resolution for a project. For instance, specifying a Unix system with a particular minimal libc version ensures that dependencies are compatible with the project's environment.

System specifications are closely related to virtual packages, allowing for flexible and accurate dependency management.

Default System Requirements#

The following configurations outline the default minimal system requirements for different operating systems:

# Default system requirements for Linux
[system-requirements]
linux = "4.18"
libc = { family = "glibc", version = "2.28" }

Windows currently has no minimal system requirements defined. If your project requires specific Windows configurations, you should define them accordingly.

# Default system requirements for macOS
[system-requirements]
macos = "13.0"

# Default system requirements for macOS ARM64
[system-requirements]
macos = "13.0"

Customizing System Requirements#

You only need to define system requirements if your project necessitates a different set from the defaults. This is common when installing environments on older or newer versions of operating systems.

Adjusting for Older Systems#

If you're encountering an error like:

× The current system has a mismatching virtual package. The project requires '__linux' to be at least version '4.18' but the system has version '4.12.14'

This indicates that the project's system requirements are higher than your current system's specifications. To resolve this, you can lower the system requirements in your project's configuration:

[system-requirements]
linux = "4.12.14"

This adjustment informs the dependency resolver to accommodate the older system version.

Using CUDA in pixi#

To utilize CUDA in your project, you must specify the desired CUDA version in the system-requirements table. This ensures that CUDA is recognized and appropriately locked into the lock file if necessary.

Example Configuration

[system-requirements]
cuda = "12"  # Replace "12" with the specific CUDA version you intend to use

Setting System Requirements environment specific#

This can be set per feature in the the manifest file.

[feature.cuda.system-requirements]
cuda = "12"

[environments]
cuda = ["cuda"]

Available Override Options#

In certain scenarios, you might need to override the system requirements detected on your machine. This can be particularly useful when working on systems that do not meet the project's default requirements.

You can override virtual packages by setting the following environment variables:

  • CONDA_OVERRIDE_CUDA
    • Description: Sets the CUDA version.
    • Usage Example: CONDA_OVERRIDE_CUDA=11
  • CONDA_OVERRIDE_GLIBC
    • Description: Sets the glibc version.
    • Usage Example: CONDA_OVERRIDE_GLIBC=2.28
  • CONDA_OVERRIDE_OSX
    • Description: Sets the macOS version.
    • Usage Example: CONDA_OVERRIDE_OSX=13.0

Additional Resources#

For more detailed information on managing virtual packages and overriding system requirements, refer to the Conda Documentation.