Using Firedrake in google colab

[Arijit-Majumdar]

Hi,
I want to use Firedrake with google colab. I found some colab notebooks on the web which installs firedrake during the beginning of the notebook using the following lines of code

try:
import google.colab
except ImportError:
import firedrake
else:
try:
import firedrake
except ImportError:
if arch != "complex":
!wget "https://fem-on-colab.github.io/releases/firedrake-install-real.sh" -O "/tmp/firedrake-install.sh" && bash "/tmp/firedrake-install.sh"
else:
!wget "https://fem-on-colab.github.io/releases/firedrake-install-complex.sh" -O "/tmp/firedrake-install.sh" && bash "/tmp/firedrake-install.sh"
import firedrake

This would require installing firedrake every time I have to create a new notebook. Is it possible to install firedrake permanently in google colab, so that for any new colab notebook I can just call the library using import firedrake?

Thanks
Arijit

[connorjward]

I believe that the install is cached so the notebooks do not necessarily do a fresh install each time. @francesco-ballarin knows much more than me though.

Also, the install line here takes only a couple of minutes to complete, unlike the 1hr+ needed for a native Firedrake installation. Is that still an issue for your use case?

[francesco-ballarin]

Google Colab policies prevent permanent installation. As soon as you terminate the session (because you manually terminate it through the Runtime menu, or simply close the browser tab and don't reopen it till a few hours later) any local changes are lost. That includes FEM on Colab installations, but (notably) also any output (e.g., to pvd file for paraview) you may have created.

I am teaching with FEM on Colab, and none of the students has ever complained about needing to wait a couple of minutes every time. I realize that it would be easier to install firedrake once and forall, but the policy is out of our control and there is nothing we can do about that.

You may want to refer to https://fem-on-colab.github.io/packages.html for a slightly simpler installation code:

try:
    import firedrake
except ImportError:
    !wget "https://fem-on-colab.github.io/releases/firedrake-install-real.sh" -O "/tmp/firedrake-install.sh" && bash "/tmp/firedrake-install.sh"
    import firedrake

the one you copied is more complicated because is used in the internal testing. Note that the try/except is there to make sure that if you already installed firedrake in the session you are currently in but for whatever reason you click again on the installation cell, it won't be installed again.