Install FAST on macOS

Requirements

Make sure you have all the necessary requirements before installing FAST:

  • macOS 10.13 or newer.
  • Install homebrew if you don't already have it. Then, install the following packages using homebrew:
    brew install openslide libomp

Some optional requirements are needed for video streaming, these can be installed later.

Choose your installation method

Install FAST for Python
If you wish to use FAST with Python using the pyFAST package.
Install FAST for C++
If you wish to develop a C++ application using FAST.

Python

To install FAST for python (3.6 or newer), you may simply install FAST using pip, preferably using a clean python environment without conda/anaconda/similar:

pip install pyfast

To test that your installation works you can do the following from your terminal (powershell):

# Start python
python

Then run the following python code, which should display the FAST logo on your screen. If you can get an error, please see troubleshoot section below.

import fast

importer = fast.ImageFileImporter\
    .create(fast.Config.getDocumentationPath() + '/images/FAST_logo_square.png')

renderer = fast.ImageRenderer.create()\
    .connect(importer)

fast.SimpleWindow2D.create()\
    .connect(renderer)\
    .run()

To start using FAST for python, you might want to look at the Python tutorials and the Python examples page.

C++

To install FAST for C++ development, download an archive (fast_mac_X.X.X.tar.xz) from the FAST release page. Extract the contents to your drive.

When you try to run FAST, Mac will give you a security warning because FAST is not code signed (Apple charges money for this..). Apple insists on giving you this warning for every binary in the release, you can add an exception for each of them or you can disable the gatekeeper completely by opening your terminal and writing:

sudo spctl --master-disable

You can re-enable the gatekeeper later if you wish:

sudo spctl --master-enable

To test if your FAST installation works, you can the following from your terminal:

cd '/path/to/where/you/extracted/FAST/bin/'
./systemCheck

You should now see the FAST logo on your screen along with some technical information on OpenCL. To start using FAST, you might want to look at the C++ introduction tutorial and the C++ examples page.

Troubleshoot

Uninstall