# Installation

This page explains how to prepare your environment for running the bot.

The freqtrade documentation describes various ways to install freqtrade

* [Docker images](docker_quickstart.md) (separate page)
* [Script Installation](#script-installation)
* [Manual Installation](#manual-installation)
* [Installation with Conda](#installation-with-conda)

Please consider using the prebuilt [docker images](docker_quickstart.md) to get started quickly while evaluating how freqtrade works.

------

## Information

For Windows installation, please use the [windows installation guide](windows_installation.md).

The easiest way to install and run Freqtrade is to clone the bot Github repository and then run the `./setup.sh` script, if it's available for your platform.

!!! Note "Version considerations"
    When cloning the repository the default working branch has the name `develop`. This branch contains all last features (can be considered as relatively stable, thanks to automated tests).
    The `stable` branch contains the code of the last release (done usually once per month on an approximately one week old snapshot of the `develop` branch to prevent packaging bugs, so potentially it's more stable).

!!! Note
    Python3.10 or higher and the corresponding `pip` are assumed to be available. The install-script will warn you and stop if that's not the case. `git` is also needed to clone the Freqtrade repository.  
    Also, python headers (`python<yourversion>-dev` / `python<yourversion>-devel`) must be available for the installation to complete successfully.

!!! Warning "Up-to-date clock"
    The clock on the system running the bot must be accurate, synchronized to a NTP server frequently enough to avoid problems with communication to the exchanges.

------

## Requirements

These requirements apply to both [Script Installation](#script-installation) and [Manual Installation](#manual-installation).

!!! Note "ARM64 systems"
    If you are running an ARM64 system (like a MacOS M1 or an Oracle VM), please use [docker](docker_quickstart.md) to run freqtrade.
    While native installation is possible with some manual effort, this is not supported at the moment.

### Install guide

* [Python >= 3.10](http://docs.python-guide.org/en/latest/starting/installation/)
* [pip](https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/installing/)
* [git](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Getting-Started-Installing-Git)
* [virtualenv](https://virtualenv.pypa.io/en/stable/installation.html) (Recommended)
* [TA-Lib](https://ta-lib.github.io/ta-lib-python/) (install instructions [below](#install-ta-lib))

### Install code

We've included/collected install instructions for Ubuntu, MacOS, and Windows. These are guidelines and your success may vary with other distros.
OS Specific steps are listed first, the common section below is necessary for all systems.

!!! Note
    Python3.10 or higher and the corresponding pip are assumed to be available.

=== "Debian/Ubuntu"
    #### Install necessary dependencies

    ```bash
    # update repository
    sudo apt-get update

    # install packages
    sudo apt install -y python3-pip python3-venv python3-dev python3-pandas git curl
    ```

=== "MacOS"
    #### Install necessary dependencies

    Install [Homebrew](https://brew.sh/) if you don't have it already.

    ```bash
    # install packages
    brew install gettext libomp
    ```
    !!! Note
        The `setup.sh` script will install these dependencies for you - assuming brew is installed on your system.

=== "RaspberryPi/Raspbian"
    The following assumes the latest [Raspbian Buster lite image](https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian/).
    This image comes with python3.11 preinstalled, making it easy to get freqtrade up and running.

    Tested using a Raspberry Pi 3 with the Raspbian Buster lite image, all updates applied.


    ```bash
    sudo apt-get install python3-venv libatlas-base-dev cmake curl
    # Use piwheels.org to speed up installation
    sudo echo "[global]\nextra-index-url=https://www.piwheels.org/simple" > tee /etc/pip.conf

    git clone https://github.com/freqtrade/freqtrade.git
    cd freqtrade

    bash setup.sh -i
    ```

    !!! Note "Installation duration"
        Depending on your internet speed and the Raspberry Pi version, installation can take multiple hours to complete.
        Due to this, we recommend to use the pre-build docker-image for Raspberry, by following the [Docker quickstart documentation](docker_quickstart.md)

    !!! Note
        The above does not install hyperopt dependencies. To install these, please use `python3 -m pip install -e .[hyperopt]`.
        We do not advise to run hyperopt on a Raspberry Pi, since this is a very resource-heavy operation, which should be done on powerful machine.

------

## Freqtrade repository

Freqtrade is an open source crypto-currency trading bot, whose code is hosted on `github.com`

```bash
# Download `develop` branch of freqtrade repository
git clone https://github.com/freqtrade/freqtrade.git

# Enter downloaded directory
cd freqtrade

# your choice (1): novice user
git checkout stable

# your choice (2): advanced user
git checkout develop
```

(1) This command switches the cloned repository to the use of the `stable` branch. It's not needed, if you wish to stay on the (2) `develop` branch.

You may later switch between branches at any time with the `git checkout stable`/`git checkout develop` commands.

??? Note "Install from pypi"
    An alternative way to install Freqtrade is from [pypi](https://pypi.org/project/freqtrade/). The downside is that this method requires ta-lib to be correctly installed beforehand, and is therefore currently not the recommended way to install Freqtrade.

    ``` bash
    pip install freqtrade
    ```

------

## Script Installation

First of the ways to install Freqtrade, is to use provided the Linux/MacOS `./setup.sh` script, which install all dependencies and help you configure the bot.

Make sure you fulfill the [Requirements](#requirements) and have downloaded the [Freqtrade repository](#freqtrade-repository).

### Use /setup.sh -install (Linux/MacOS)

If you are on Debian, Ubuntu or MacOS, freqtrade provides the script to install freqtrade.

```bash
# --install, Install freqtrade from scratch
./setup.sh -i
```

### Activate your virtual environment

Each time you open a new terminal, you must run `source .venv/bin/activate` to activate your virtual environment.

```bash
# activate virtual environment
source ./.venv/bin/activate
```

[You are now ready](#you-are-ready) to run the bot.

### Other options of /setup.sh script

You can as well update, configure and reset the codebase of your bot with `./script.sh`

```bash
# --update, Command git pull to update.
./setup.sh -u
# --reset, Hard reset your develop/stable branch.
./setup.sh -r
```

```
** --install **

With this option, the script will install the bot and most dependencies:
You will need to have git and python3.10+ installed beforehand for this to work.

* Mandatory software as: `ta-lib`
* Setup your virtualenv under `.venv/`

This option is a combination of installation tasks and `--reset`

** --update **

This option will pull the last version of your current branch and update your virtualenv. Run the script with this option periodically to update your bot.

** --reset **

This option will hard reset your branch (only if you are on either `stable` or `develop`) and recreate your virtualenv.
```

-----

## Manual Installation

Make sure you fulfill the [Requirements](#requirements) and have downloaded the [Freqtrade repository](#freqtrade-repository).

### Install TA-Lib

#### TA-Lib script installation

```bash
sudo ./build_helpers/install_ta-lib.sh
```

!!! Note
    This will use the ta-lib tar.gz included in this repository.

##### TA-Lib manual installation

[Official installation guide](https://ta-lib.github.io/ta-lib-python/install.html)

```bash
wget http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/ta-lib/ta-lib-0.4.0-src.tar.gz
tar xvzf ta-lib-0.4.0-src.tar.gz
cd ta-lib
sed -i.bak "s|0.00000001|0.000000000000000001 |g" src/ta_func/ta_utility.h
./configure --prefix=/usr/local
make
sudo make install
# On debian based systems (debian, ubuntu, ...) - updating ldconfig might be necessary.
sudo ldconfig  
cd ..
rm -rf ./ta-lib*
```

### Setup Python virtual environment (virtualenv)

You will run freqtrade in separated `virtual environment`

```bash
# create virtualenv in directory /freqtrade/.venv
python3 -m venv .venv

# run virtualenv
source .venv/bin/activate
```

### Install python dependencies

```bash
python3 -m pip install --upgrade pip
python3 -m pip install -r requirements.txt
# install freqtrade
python3 -m pip install -e .
```

[You are now ready](#you-are-ready) to run the bot.

### (Optional) Post-installation Tasks

!!! Note 
    If you run the bot on a server, you should consider using [Docker](docker_quickstart.md) or a terminal multiplexer like `screen` or [`tmux`](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tmux) to avoid that the bot is stopped on logout.

On Linux with software suite `systemd`, as an optional post-installation task, you may wish to setup the bot to run as a `systemd service` or configure it to send the log messages to the `syslog`/`rsyslog` or `journald` daemons. See [Advanced Logging](advanced-setup.md#advanced-logging) for details.

------

## Installation with Conda

Freqtrade can also be installed with Miniconda or Anaconda. We recommend using Miniconda as it's installation footprint is smaller. Conda will automatically prepare and manage the extensive library-dependencies of the Freqtrade program.

### What is Conda?

Conda is a package, dependency and environment manager for multiple programming languages: [conda docs](https://docs.conda.io/projects/conda/en/latest/index.html)

### Installation with conda

#### Install Conda

[Installing on linux](https://conda.io/projects/conda/en/latest/user-guide/install/linux.html#install-linux-silent)

[Installing on windows](https://conda.io/projects/conda/en/latest/user-guide/install/windows.html)

Answer all questions. After installation, it is mandatory to turn your terminal OFF and ON again.

#### Freqtrade download

Download and install freqtrade.

```bash
# download freqtrade
git clone https://github.com/freqtrade/freqtrade.git

# enter downloaded directory 'freqtrade'
cd freqtrade      
```

#### Freqtrade install: Conda Environment

```bash
conda create --name freqtrade python=3.12
```

!!! Note "Creating Conda Environment"
    The conda command `create -n` automatically installs all nested dependencies for the selected libraries, general structure of installation command is:

    ```bash
    # choose your own packages
    conda env create -n [name of the environment] [python version] [packages]
    ```

#### Enter/exit freqtrade environment

To check available environments, type

```bash
conda env list
```

Enter installed environment

```bash
# enter conda environment
conda activate freqtrade

# exit conda environment - don't do it now
conda deactivate
```

Install last python dependencies with pip

```bash
python3 -m pip install --upgrade pip
python3 -m pip install -r requirements.txt
python3 -m pip install -e .
```

Patch conda libta-lib (Linux only)

```bash
# Ensure that the environment is active!
conda activate freqtrade

cd build_helpers
bash install_ta-lib.sh ${CONDA_PREFIX} nosudo
```

[You are now ready](#you-are-ready) to run the bot.

### Important shortcuts

```bash
# list installed conda environments
conda env list

# activate base environment
conda activate

# activate freqtrade environment
conda activate freqtrade

#deactivate any conda environments
conda deactivate                              
```

### Further info on anaconda

!!! Info "New heavy packages"
    It may happen that creating a new Conda environment, populated with selected packages at the moment of creation takes less time than installing a large, heavy library or application, into previously set environment.

!!! Warning "pip install within conda"
    The documentation of conda says that pip should NOT be used within conda, because internal problems can occur.
    However, they are rare. [Anaconda Blogpost](https://www.anaconda.com/blog/using-pip-in-a-conda-environment)

    Nevertheless, that is why, the `conda-forge` channel is preferred:

    * more libraries are available (less need for `pip`)
    * `conda-forge` works better with `pip`
    * the libraries are newer

Happy trading!

-----

## You are ready

You've made it this far, so you have successfully installed freqtrade.

### Initialize the configuration

```bash
# Step 1 - Initialize user folder
freqtrade create-userdir --userdir user_data

# Step 2 - Create a new configuration file
freqtrade new-config --config user_data/config.json
```

You are ready to run, read [Bot Configuration](configuration.md), remember to start with `dry_run: True` and verify that everything is working.

To learn how to setup your configuration, please refer to the [Bot Configuration](configuration.md) documentation page.

### Start the Bot

```bash
freqtrade trade --config user_data/config.json --strategy SampleStrategy
```

!!! Warning
    You should read through the rest of the documentation, backtest the strategy you're going to use, and use dry-run before enabling trading with real money.

-----

## Troubleshooting

### Common problem: "command not found"

If you used (1)`Script` or (2)`Manual` installation, you need to run the bot in virtual environment. If you get error as below, make sure venv is active.

```bash
# if:
bash: freqtrade: command not found

# then activate your virtual environment
source ./.venv/bin/activate
```

### MacOS installation error

Newer versions of MacOS may have installation failed with errors like `error: command 'g++' failed with exit status 1`.

This error will require explicit installation of the SDK Headers, which are not installed by default in this version of MacOS.
For MacOS 10.14, this can be accomplished with the below command.

```bash
open /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/Packages/macOS_SDK_headers_for_macOS_10.14.pkg
```

If this file is inexistent, then you're probably on a different version of MacOS, so you may need to consult the internet for specific resolution details.