Setup your machine to be GIS ready!
Since 2009, I started to use Macbook Pro with OS X Snow Leopard along with Windows XP installed via Parallels Desktop to support my work as Earth Observation and Climate Analyst. I tried a lot to install and configure various geo tools and their dependencies in my Mac.
There are many paths to installing and configuring software, not all of them complementary. The following guidelines reflect current technology stack (hardware and software). Tested using Macbook Pro 15-inch 2018, 2.9 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i9 and 32 GB 2400 MHz DDR4, running on macOS Big Sur 11.1 and Windows Server 2019 via Parallels Desktop 16.1.2.
macOS Spatial Stack
Text Editor
I prefer to use Sublime Text as my text editor, because it rich of features, light and powerful. You can download from the website: https://www.sublimetext.com/3
Install subl Terminal extension for Sublime Text 3, so you can call it via Terminal. Type below code in your Terminal
sudo ln -s "/Applications/Sublime Text.app/Contents/SharedSupport/bin/subl" /usr/local/bin/subl
Beside Sublime Text, there are many competitors which have similar feature, Give it try Visual Studio Code and Atom.
Command Line Tools for Xcode
Install Command Line Tools (CLT) for Xcode, paste below code in your terminal and follow the process.
xcode-select --install
Or you can download it from Apple Developer website (you must have Apple Developer account): https://download.developer.apple.com/Developer_Tools/Command_Line_Tools_for_Xcode_12.3/Command_Line_Tools_for_Xcode_12.3.dmg
Homebrew
Next, install Homebrew. As stated in their website, Homebrew installs the stuff you need that Apple (or your Linux system) didn’t. Paste below code in your terminal and follow the process.
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
Install Homebrew formula
To install a formula, we just need to type brew install formulaname in Terminal, then Homebrew will do the job. I will install various tools to support our works. For example a famous download manager called WGET, below is the example:
brew install wget
Install Homebrew geospatial and climate library
To work on geospatial and climate related activities, we need various library below.
Geospatial: gdal, json-c, libgeotiff, libpng, libspatialite, libtiff, libxml2, openjpeg, proj, sqlite
Climate: hdf4, hdf5, netcdf, cdo, nco, ncl
I just type below code in Terminal, then everything will install automatically. But if you missed some formula, you can easily install it.
brew install libgeotiff
brew install netcdf
and so on.
GDAL/OGR, CDO, NCO and NCL also available as Homebrew formula, but I will install it via Anaconda.
QGIS
QGIS installer for macOS available from the official website: https://qgis.org/downloads/macos/qgis-macos-pr.dmg
PostgreSQL
I prefer to use Postgres.app because it’s the easiest way to get started with PostgreSQL + PostGIS on the Mac. You can download latest software via this link: https://postgresapp.com/downloads.html
Installing a graphic client like pgAdmin will make a perfect combination.
R and RStudio
I used R to do statistical computing, the installer available from this link: https://cloud.r-project.org/bin/macosx/R-4.0.3.pkg
Then installing the graphic client RStudio also important if you are typical GUI person. RStudio can be download from this link: https://download1.rstudio.org/desktop/macos/RStudio-1.3.1093.dmg
Panoply
Panoply is my favorite apps for plots geo-referenced and other arrays from netCDF, HDF, GRIB, and other datasets. You can download the latest software from this link https://www.giss.nasa.gov/tools/panoply/download/PanoplyMacOS-4.12.2.dmg
Anaconda
I am aware macOS already shipped with their own python, now I would like to install python again using Anaconda. The reason? I agree with most of answer in Reddit forum:
User level install of the version of python you want
Able to install/update packages completely independent of system libraries or admin privileges
conda tool installs binary packages, rather than requiring compile resources like pip - again, handy if you have limited privileges for installing necessary libraries.
More or less eliminates the headaches of trying to figure out which version/release of package X is compatible with which version/release of package Y, both of which are required for the install of package Z
Comes either in full-meal-deal version, with numpy, scipy, PyQt, spyder IDE, etc. or in minimal / alacarte version (miniconda) where you can install what you want, when you need it
No risk of messing up required system libraries
So, I choose Anaconda to support my works on earth observation and scientific data computing using python. You can find the latest installer via this link https://repo.anaconda.com/archive/Anaconda3-2020.11-MacOSX-x86_64.pkg
After you install Anaconda, I assume located in ~/opt/anaconda3 You need to configure the specific environment for GIS and climate works.
When you open Terminal after install Anaconda, it will activating the base environment by default. To prevent that, type below command
conda config --set auto_activate_base false
Create conda environment called gis, when conda asks you to proceed, type y.
conda create --name gis
Activate the environment
conda activate gis to deactivate environment, type conda deactivate
Install python, numpy, scipy, matplotlib and jupyter via Conda-Forge channel
conda install -c conda-forge python numpy scipy matplotlib jupyter
Install GIS (gdal, pandas, geopandas, rasterio, xarray, rioxarray, cartopy) and Climate (cdo, nco, ncl, metpy) package.
conda install -c conda-forge gdal pandas geopandas rasterio xarray rioxarray cartopy
conda install -c conda-forge cdo nco ncl metpy
Please continue if you need more package.
Python IDE
I used PyCharm from Jetbrain as my IDE. You can download the latest installer for community edition via this link https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/download/download-thanks.html?platform=mac&code=PCC
Configuring a conda environment in PyCharm
In the Settings/Preferences dialog (⌘,), select Project: <project name> | Project Interpreter.
Alternatively, from the Welcome screen, select Configure.
Select Preferences.
Select Project Interpreter.
In the Project Interpreter page, click the gear icon and select Add.
In the left-hand pane of the Add Python Interpreter dialog box, select Conda Environment. The following actions depend on whether the conda environment existed before.
Configure your .bash_profile or .zshrc
Apart from having a home directory to create and store files, users need an environment that gives them access to the tools and resources. When a user logs in to a system, the user’s work environment is determined by the initialization files. These initialization files are defined by the user’s startup shell, which can vary depending on the release. The default initialization files in your home directory enable you to customize your working environment.
Open .bash_profile or .zshrc using Sublime Text. Both files are located in your home folder ~/. Type in your Terminal
subl ~/.bash_profile
subl ~/.zshrc
Both file is a personal initialization file for configuring the user environment. The file is defined in your home directory and can be used for the following:
Modifying your working environment by setting custom environment variables and terminal settings
Instructing the system to initiate applications
Below is example of my .zshrc file
Windows Spatial Stack
Currently I used Windows Server 2019 running on Parallels Desktop 16. If you use Windows 10 Pro, I suggest you install Windows Subsystem for Linux https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-win10
It will make your life easier when you try to run unix-based code/apps.
Text Editor
As follow in macOS Spatial Stack, I prefer to use Sublime Text as my text editor, because it rich of features, light and powerful. You can download from the website: https://www.sublimetext.com/3
ArcGIS Desktop and ArcGIS Pro
I assume you have installed ArcGIS Desktop and ArcGIS Pro in your Windows. If you don’t have it, you can request a free 21-day trial of ESRI product via this link https://www.esri.com/en-us/arcgis/products/arcgis-online/trial or buy Personal Use version via ESRI store https://www.esri.com/en-id/store
After you got the license via email, save it to your local drive. The license will be like 371xxxxx_v9.elf9 for hardware key file or
000F206F635Av9.txt for license key file or EVA123456789 for Authorization number or ArcGISProAdvance_SingleUse_123456.prvc for provisiong text file.
The license will allow you to pre-populate authorization numbers in the Software Authorization Wizard instead of manually entering the information;
Save the license file to your machine and don’t share it with anyone. In case it is used for software authorization on another machine, any previous authorization will be invalidated;
Launch the Software Authorization Wizard by clicking “Authorize Now” in the ArcGIS Administrator for ArcGIS Desktop and ArcGIS Engine, or the License Server Administrator for License Manager installations. For ArcGIS Server products, select “Authorize” in the respective post-installer;
Select the option “I have received an authorization file from Esri and am now ready to finish the authorization process;
Browse to the saved provisioning file; or enter the Authorization number.
Select ”Authorize with Esri now over the Internet.” Select the website or email option if your machine does not have an Internet connection;
Review the pre-populated authorization information and enter any additional information required;
On the subsequent panels, you will see the authorization numbers entered for the core product as well as any extensions if applicable;
Press 'Next' to complete the authorization process.
Now, lets tune to make ArcGIS Desktop run faster, follow this step: https://github.com/ncss-tech/geo-pit/wiki/How-to-Make-ESRI-Desktop-ArcMap-Faster
Anaconda
You can install the latest Anaconda for Windows via this link https://repo.anaconda.com/archive/Anaconda3-2020.11-Windows-x86_64.exe
To avoid breaking ArcGIS (or other software), uncheck the checkboxes (a) make Anaconda the default Python and (b) add Anaconda's Python to the PATH. I will install Anaconda3 at C:/Anaconda3
Then you can follow step-by-step above in macOS Spatial Stack section on creating environment, activate and deactivate, install package via channel.
Workflow to set up Anaconda with ArcGIS Pro 2.7
Create an Anaconda environment that is compatible with ArcGIS Pro
Copy the folder arcgispro-py3 from C:\Program Files\ArcGIS\Pro\bin\Python\envs and paste to C:\Anaconda3\envs
Rename the copied folder arcgispro-py3 in C:\Anaconda3\envs to arcgispro
Test the virtual environment
At the Anaconda Command Prompt, type: conda activate arcgispro
Type: conda list. You can see the list of packages installed
Add more packages
Let's add the Python Spatial Analysis Library (pysal) module.
Type the following command at the Anaconda Prompt: conda install pysal
Configure ArcGIS to see Anaconda and vice versa
Anaconda Python to ArcPy
Edit the ArcGISPro.pth (path) file within "C:\Anaconda3\envs\arcgispro\lib\site-packages".
Change the relative ArcPy path to C:\Program Files\ArcGIS\Pro\Resources\ArcPy
Change the relative ArcToolBox path to C:\Program Files\ArcGIS\Pro\Resources\ArcToolBox\Script
Arcpy to Anaconda Python
Create a zconda.pth (path) file with the content "C:\Anaconda3\envs\arcgispro\lib\site-packages" in it.
Then Copy zconda.pth to C:\Program Files\ArcGIS\Pro\bin\Python\envs\arcgispro-py3\lib\site-packages
Testing in ArcGIS Pro
Start ArcGIS Pro, open the Python window
type "import pysal"
type "pysal." A popup menu with a list of pysal-provided functions is a pretty good sign the install succeeded.
Testing in PyCharm
Start PyCharm, in File\Settings…, choose Project then Project Interpreter
Ignore the drop down list for Project Interpreter, and click the cog button to Add Local, and in the file browser pick C:\Anaconda3\envs\arcgispro\python.exe
To run your script, right click it in the Project window, and choose either Run or Debug
Restart PyCharm for the Python Console to use the arcpro environment.
Source: https://gis.stackexchange.com/a/202704
R
You can download R for windows via this link https://cloud.r-project.org/bin/windows/base/R-4.0.3-win.exe
Then follow with install R bridge for ArcGIS https://r.esri.com to combine the power of ArcGIS and R to solve your spatial problems. The installation procedure, check the Github pages https://github.com/R-ArcGIS/r-bridge-install
