Install PLEX
This tutorial will guide you through the steps required to set up PLEX, so you can easily run BioML tools from your computer's command line.
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What is PLEX?
PLEX is software that allows you to run computational biology tools using simple commands from your computer.
PLEX manages all the required dependencies and installations, to make the tools as easy to run as possible.
When you run a tool, PLEX requests compute-time from members of the LabDAO network, so you don’t have to worry about hardware requirements or setting up the neccesary compute infrastructure.
Let's get started!
Time needed:
- 5 minutes
Requirements:
- Get an access token here (we'll email you automatically so you can use PLEX straight away).
- No previous technical experience - we’ll walk through each step.
Install PLEX​
1. Open your terminal​
To install PLEX, first open up the Terminal application.
- On Mac: Go to “Spotlight Search” in the top right hand corner of your screen (it’s the magnifying glass icon). Type “terminal” and select the first option.
- On Windows: To use on Windows, please send us an email and we'll get you set up.
2. Type in the installation commands​
Once you have your terminal open, you can download PLEX by copy and pasting this command into your terminal:
source <(curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/labdao/plex/main/install.sh)
After you have pasted the command into the terminal, press Enter on your keyboard to download and install PLEX.
If the installation is successful, you will see a large LabDAO logo appear on your screen, and a confirmation that the Installation is complete. It should look something like this:
3. Give PLEX the right permissions​
After the installation is complete, you need to give PLEX the permissions it needs to run. To do this, copy and paste the following command into your terminal and press Enter:
chmod +x ./plex
It is expected that after pressing Enter, there will NOT be a notification in your terminal (i.e. nothing will happen).
4. Add an access token​
PLEX will prompt you for an access token - you can get an access token here. We'll email you one automatically, so you can run a tool straight away.
Type the following command into your command line, replacing "< your token here >" with the provided access token:
export PLEX_ACCESS_TOKEN=<your token here>
It is expected that after pressing Enter, there will NOT be a notification in your terminal (i.e. nothing will happen).
5. [Linux only] Allow download of large results​
If you recieve a warning about download speeds on Linux, then you can optionally paste the following command:
sudo sysctl -w net.core.rmem_max=2500000
It may prompt you for your password when you run this command. Type your password and press Enter.
Congratulations - you've installed PLEX and are now ready to run a tool!
Next steps: Run a tool to check PLEX is working as expected​
- Try this quick-run small molecule binding tool. It's a fast algorithm, so you can run a job and visualise results in 3-5 minutes. This guide shows you how.
- Then, why not try a protein folding tool here. This guide will walk you through, step by step.