1. Installation Guide

Our software is available on GitHub. You will need to create an account if you have not done so already.

There are multiple ways to install this software. For most people, using docker will be the easiest and fastest way to run a simulation. We recommend using a commercial solver with this framework, but not all license types are compatible with docker. If using such a license, this software can also be installed and run natively with slightly more effort.

This framework can also be installed in a client-server configuration. This is most useful for groups where multiple people will want to run simulations and access results on an appropriately-sized central server. In this case, both the server and each user’s local environment will need to be configured accordingly.

1.1. Using docker

This option enables running the full framework in containers, colocated on the same machine. In this case, the only system requirement is to have docker, (including docker-compose) installed.

All the data and configuration needed to run a simulation are located in the plug repository, along with additional guidance about compatible commercial solver licenses. There are also usage examples.

1.2. Natively

The framework can be used natively after some initial setup. This first requires the following:

  • Install Julia 1.5 and create an environment as described in the REISE.jl Installation notes

  • Clone PowerSimData and REISE.jl (preferably in the same directory)

  • Install the solver you wish to use within your Julia environment (either Gurobi or GLPK)

Create a virtualenv and activate it using the following. For the activate step, it’s important to follow exactly (instead of using the source command) - this ensures that sys.executable will give back the python interpreter within this environment.

python -m venv .env
. .env/bin/activate

Install PowerSimData dependencies into a virtual environment, along with the requirements for REISE.jl:

pip install -r requirements.txt
pip install -r /path/to/REISE.jl/requirements.txt

Some one time configuration is necessary as well. Within your PowerSimData repository, create a config file called config.ini with the following contents

[PowerSimData]
DEPLOYMENT_MODE = 2
ENGINE_DIR = /full/path/to/REISE.jl
JULIA_PROJECT = /full/path/to/REISE.jl

The last step is provisioning a directory where data will be stored. Copy paste this command (still in your virtualenv):

python -c "from powersimdata.utility.config import LocalConfig; LocalConfig().initialize()"

You should now be able to run a scenario, per the following section. Note: when doing so, your working directory should be the root of the PowerSimData repository.

1.3. Client-Server Installation

Here is what needs to be done to use this framework.

1.3.1. On Laptop/Desktop

  • Fork PowerSimData (see our Working with Git/GitHub guide to set this up)

  • Generate authentication keys (SSH keys) using the ssh-keygen program

  • Create a PowerSimData/powersimdata/utility/.server_user file enclosing your username on the server if different from your local username

  • Edit PowerSimData/powersimdata/utility/server_setup.py file as follows:

    • Set SERVER_ADDRESS: your server address

    • Set DATA_ROOT_DIR: root of the file system

    • Set EXECUTE_DIR: scenario inputs and outputs will be stored there - note that these files are temporary files and are not necessary to load an already ran scenario

    • Set INPUT_DIR: all scenario inputs are stored there - after the scenario has finished running and the temporary data are extracted, the MAT-file that encloses the grid used for the scenario is stored there along with the pickle file enclosing the change table listing the transformation applied to the original grid

    • Set OUTPUT_DIR: all scenario outputs are stored there after being extracted - the list of output data is given in the PowerSimData tutorial

    • Set MODEL_DIR: this directory encloses the simulation engine

    • Set LOCAL_DIR: this directory will enclose your local file system

    • Note that BACKUP_DATA_ROOT_DIR does not need to be set unless you have a backup storage mounted on you server that you plan to use to transfer scenario data.

  • Install Python and its dependencies as instructed in our Installing Python and its Dependencies guide

  • Fork PostREISE to later analyze and plot scenario data.

1.3.2. On Server

  • Copy the generated public key in your ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file

  • Install Julia, Python and Gurobi

  • Create the above mentioned directories, i.e., DATA_ROOT_DIR, EXECUTE_DIR, INPUT_DIR, OUTPUT_DIR and MODEL_DIR

  • Create the ScenarioList.csv and ExecuteList.csv files in DATA_ROOT_DIR on the server following templates in powersimdata/utility/templates/

  • Fork REISE.jl into MODEL_DIR and install it following the instructions located in the REISE.jl installation guide

1.4. How to Run Scenario

Follow the instructions in the Scenario Framework tutorial.