Installing the Siteopt tool¶

Installing the Siteopt tool takes place mostly in the command line. You can use command shell such as cmd or Windows Powershell in Windows or terminal in Linux. You need Spine Toolbox and Julia language for running the Siteopt tool.

System requirements¶

Windows or Linux operating system
16 GB RAM (depending on the models which you run more can be needed)
network connection for installation

Miniconda¶

Install Miniconda (https://www.anaconda.com/docs/getting-started/miniconda/install). Add Miniconda to PATH variable in Windows when asked by the installer.

Julia language¶

For the time being, do not install Julia 1.12. Install Julia language version 1.10 or 1.11. See https://julialang.org/downloads/ for instructions.

On Windows you can install by opening command prompt (cmd) and run these commands:

> winget install --name Julia --id 9NJNWW8PVKMN -e -s msstore
> juliaup add 1.10
> juliaup default 1.10

Downloading the Siteopt tool¶

Select an empty folder in your machine. Make a siteopt_toolbox folder there.

Go to https://github.com/vttresearch/siteopt_toolbox and from the green "Code" icon select download zip. Unpack the zip file into the siteopt_toolbox folder.

Running the installation script¶

You can use command shell such as cmd or Windows Powershell in Windows or terminal in Linux. In Windows you can type "cmd" in the address bar of Windows Explorer window where you have the siteopt_toolbox folder open. Otherwise you need to use "cd" to navigate to the siteopt_toolbox folder.

When the command shell is open, type

> julia install.jl

The installation can take several minutes. You can proceed to the "Input data" part below.

Spine Toolbox installation¶

You can skip this part if you run the installation script.

You need Spine Toolbox for running the Siteopt. To install it, first:

Install Miniconda (https://www.anaconda.com/docs/getting-started/miniconda/install). Add Miniconda to path variable in Windows when asked by the installer.
Create a Miniconda environment for Spine Toolbox and activate it. I.e., run the following in command prompt:

> conda init
> conda create -n spinetb python=3.12
> conda activate spinetb

N.B. If you get error CondaError: Run 'conda init' before 'conda activate', run

> source activate base
> conda activate spinetb

Install Spine toolbox:

> python -m pip install spinetoolbox 
> where python

The last command prints the Python interpreter path, which you should make note of. The command is applied in Windows. In Linux use "which python". If several paths are shown, make note of the one which is under miniconda/envs.

Exit the command prompt.

Siteopt Julia dependencies installation¶

You can skip this part if you run the installation script.

Using command prompt or terminal (Linux) go to Siteopt code folder of siteopt_toolbox and start Julia console (type "julia" in command prompt or terminal). Do not use the same terminal which you used for Spine Toolbox installation (open a new one).

Rebuilding Julia PyCall package is needed to be able to connect to the databases. This is done by running the following commands in Julia console:

using Pkg
ENV["PYTHON"] = raw"C:\path\to\your\python\python.exe" #(replace the path by the Python executable in the Miniconda environment where you installed Spine Toolbox )
Pkg.add("PyCall")
Pkg.build("PyCall")

You can find the Python path as explained in the Python dependencies of the Siteopt tool section. The packages needed by the Siteopt Julia scripts also need to be installed. Next add the correct version of these:

Pkg.activate(".")
Pkg.add(url="https://github.com/spine-tools/SpinePeriods.jl.git", rev="clustering")
Pkg.add(url="https://github.com/spine-tools/SpineOpt.jl.git", rev="elexia")
Pkg.instantiate()

You can now exit Julia session.

Input data¶

Check that you have all the necessary input files in the current_input subfolder of siteopt_toolbox. Make the current_input folder if it does not exist. Download or copy your input data to the current_input folder. Ask your optimization model provider for the data. Example input data has been provided in the example_data folder so you can just copy the contents.

Running the Siteopt tool via Toolbox¶

Spine Toolbox provides a graphical user interface for running SpineOpt and editing databases. To run it, activate the proper Miniconda environment, which you used to install Spine Toolbox. Start Spine Toolbox by command

> conda activate spinetb
> spinetoolbox

in console (e.g. "cmd" in Windows). Run "conda init" if conda activate does not work.

Adjusting Toolbox settings¶

Now Open the Siteopt toolbox project (File->Open project...). You select a folder, not a file when opening a project. Locate the siteopt_toolbox folder. Toolbox may ask you to upgrade databases. Do this. You will now see the project opened in the Toolbox window. Go to File->Settings. Go to Tools tab in the settings window. Check that in Julia box the second line points to the code folder (See figure below but the path can be different in your computer).

Correcting links¶

(This part should be done automatically later). Click the following links and make sure that in "Link properties" the scenario filter checkboxes are unchecked.

Link from Input data to Select repr periods
Link from Input with repr periods to Extract results
Link from output db to Extract results

Click File->Save project.