install_tensorflow: Install TensorFlow and its dependencies

Description

install_tensorflow() installs just the tensorflow python package and it's direct dependencies. For a more complete installation that includes additional optional dependencies, use keras3::install_keras().

Usage

install_tensorflow(
  method = c("auto", "virtualenv", "conda"),
  conda = "auto",
  version = "default",
  envname = "r-tensorflow",
  extra_packages = NULL,
  restart_session = TRUE,
  conda_python_version = NULL,
  ...,
  cuda = NULL,
  metal = FALSE,
  pip_ignore_installed = FALSE,
  new_env = identical(envname, "r-tensorflow"),
  python_version = NULL
)

Arguments

method

Installation method. By default, "auto" automatically finds a method that will work in the local environment. Change the default to force a specific installation method. Note that the "virtualenv" method is not available on Windows.

conda

The path to a conda executable. Use "auto" to allow reticulate to automatically find an appropriate conda binary. See Finding Conda and conda_binary() for more details.

version

TensorFlow version to install. Valid values include:

"default" installs 2.16
"release" installs the latest release version of tensorflow (which may be incompatible with the current version of the R package)
A version specification like "2.4" or "2.4.0". Note that if the patch version is not supplied, the latest patch release is installed (e.g., "2.4" today installs version "2.4.2")
nightly for the latest available nightly build.
To any specification, you can append "-cpu" to install the cpu version only of the package (e.g., "2.4-cpu")
The full URL or path to a installer binary or python *.whl file.

envname

The name, or full path, of the environment in which Python packages are to be installed. When NULL (the default), the active environment as set by the RETICULATE_PYTHON_ENV variable will be used; if that is unset, then the r-reticulate environment will be used.

extra_packages

Additional Python packages to install along with TensorFlow.

restart_session

Restart R session after installing (note this will only occur within RStudio).

...

other arguments passed to reticulate::conda_install() or reticulate::virtualenv_install(), depending on the method used.

cuda

logical TRUE or FALSE. If install_tensorflow() detects the platform is Linux, an Nvidia GPU is available, and the TensorFlow version is 2.14 (the default), it will install also install the required CUDA libraries through pip.

metal

Whether to install tensorflow-metal pip package on Arm Macs. This enables tensorflow to use the GPU. Pass a string to install a specific version like "tensorflow-metal==0.7.*.

pip_ignore_installed

Whether pip should ignore installed python packages and reinstall all already installed python packages.

new_env

If TRUE, any existing Python virtual environment and/or conda environment specified by envname is deleted first.

python_version, conda_python_version

Pass a string like "3.8" to request that conda install a specific Python version. This is ignored when attempting to install in a Python virtual environment. Note that the Python version must be compatible with the requested Tensorflow version, documented here: https://www.tensorflow.org/install/pip#system-requirements

Custom Installation

install_tensorflow() or keras3::install_keras() isn't required to use tensorflow with the package. If you manually configure a python environment with the required dependencies, you can tell R to use it by pointing reticulate at it, commonly by setting an environment variable:

Sys.setenv("RETICULATE_PYTHON" = "~/path/to/python-env/bin/python")

Apple Silicon

Beginning with Tensorflow version 2.13, the default tensorflow package now works on Apple Silicon. See https://developer.apple.com/metal/tensorflow-plugin/ for instructions on how to install older versions of Tensorflow on macOS. Please note that not all operations are supported on Arm Mac GPUs. You can work around the missing operations by pinning operations to CPU. For example:

x <- array(runif(64*64), c(1, 64, 64))
keras3::layer_random_rotation(x, .5)  # Error:
# No registered 'RngReadAndSkip' OpKernel for 'GPU' devices
# Pin the operation to the CPU to avoid the error
with(tf$device("CPU"), keras3::layer_random_rotation(x, .5) ) # No Error

Additional Packages

If you wish to add additional PyPI packages to your Keras / TensorFlow environment you can either specify the packages in the extra_packages argument of install_tensorflow() or install_keras(), or alternatively install them into an existing environment using the reticulate::py_install() function. Note that install_keras() includes a set of additional python packages by default, see ?keras3::install_keras for details.

Details

You may be prompted to download and install miniconda if reticulate did not find a non-system installation of python. Miniconda is the recommended installation method for most users, as it ensures that the R python installation is isolated from other python installations. All python packages will by default be installed into a self-contained conda or venv environment named "r-reticulate". Note that "conda" is the only supported method on M1 Mac.

If you initially declined the miniconda installation prompt, you can later manually install miniconda by running reticulate::install_miniconda().