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1 | 1 | ========================== |
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2 | 2 | Making kernels for IPython |
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3 | 3 | ========================== |
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4 | 4 | |
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5 | 5 | A 'kernel' is a program that runs and introspects the user's code. IPython |
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6 | 6 | includes a kernel for Python code, and people have written kernels for |
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7 | 7 | `several other languages <https://github.com/ipython/ipython/wiki/Projects-using-IPython#list-of-some-ipython-compatible-kernels>`_. |
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8 | 8 | |
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9 | 9 | When IPython starts a kernel, it passes it a connection file. This specifies |
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10 | 10 | how to set up communications with the frontend. |
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11 | 11 | |
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12 | 12 | There are two options for writing a kernel: |
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13 | 13 | |
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14 | 14 | 1. You can reuse the IPython kernel machinery to handle the communications, and |
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15 | 15 | just describe how to execute your code. This is much simpler if the target |
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16 | 16 | language can be driven from Python. See :doc:`wrapperkernels` for details. |
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17 | 17 | 2. You can implement the kernel machinery in your target language. This is more |
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18 | 18 | work initially, but the people using your kernel might be more likely to |
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19 | 19 | contribute to it if it's in the language they know. |
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20 | 20 | |
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21 | 21 | Connection files |
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22 | 22 | ================ |
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23 | 23 | |
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24 | 24 | Your kernel will be given the path to a connection file when it starts (see |
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25 | 25 | :ref:`kernelspecs` for how to specify the command line arguments for your kernel). |
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26 | 26 | This file, which is accessible only to the current user, will contain a JSON |
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27 | 27 | dictionary looking something like this:: |
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28 | 28 | |
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29 | 29 | { |
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30 | 30 | "control_port": 50160, |
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31 | 31 | "shell_port": 57503, |
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32 | 32 | "transport": "tcp", |
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33 | 33 | "signature_scheme": "hmac-sha256", |
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34 | 34 | "stdin_port": 52597, |
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35 | 35 | "hb_port": 42540, |
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36 | 36 | "ip": "127.0.0.1", |
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37 | 37 | "iopub_port": 40885, |
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38 | 38 | "key": "a0436f6c-1916-498b-8eb9-e81ab9368e84" |
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39 | 39 | } |
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40 | 40 | |
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41 | 41 | The ``transport``, ``ip`` and five ``_port`` fields specify five ports which the |
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42 | 42 | kernel should bind to using `ZeroMQ <http://zeromq.org/>`_. For instance, the |
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43 | 43 | address of the shell socket in the example above would be:: |
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44 | 44 | |
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45 | 45 | tcp://127.0.0.1:57503 |
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46 | 46 | |
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47 | 47 | New ports are chosen at random for each kernel started. |
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48 | 48 | |
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49 | 49 | ``signature_scheme`` and ``key`` are used to cryptographically sign messages, so |
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50 | 50 | that other users on the system can't send code to run in this kernel. See |
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51 | 51 | :ref:`wire_protocol` for the details of how this signature is calculated. |
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52 | 52 | |
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53 | 53 | Handling messages |
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54 | 54 | ================= |
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55 | 55 | |
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56 | 56 | After reading the connection file and binding to the necessary sockets, the |
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57 | 57 | kernel should go into an event loop, listening on the hb (heartbeat), control |
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58 | 58 | and shell sockets. |
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59 | 59 | |
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60 | 60 | :ref:`Heartbeat <kernel_heartbeat>` messages should be echoed back immediately |
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61 | 61 | on the same socket - the frontend uses this to check that the kernel is still |
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62 | 62 | alive. |
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63 | 63 | |
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64 | 64 | Messages on the control and shell sockets should be parsed, and their signature |
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65 | 65 | validated. See :ref:`wire_protocol` for how to do this. |
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66 | 66 | |
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67 | 67 | The kernel will send messages on the iopub socket to display output, and on the |
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68 | 68 | stdin socket to prompt the user for textual input. |
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69 | 69 | |
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70 | 70 | .. seealso:: |
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71 | 71 | |
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72 | 72 | :doc:`messaging` |
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73 | 73 | Details of the different sockets and the messages that come over them |
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74 | 74 | |
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75 | 75 | `Creating Language Kernels for IPython <http://andrew.gibiansky.com/blog/ipython/ipython-kernels/>`_ |
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76 | 76 | A blog post by the author of `IHaskell <https://github.com/gibiansky/IHaskell>`_, |
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77 | 77 | a Haskell kernel |
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78 | 78 | |
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79 | 79 | `simple_kernel <https://github.com/dsblank/simple_kernel>`_ |
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80 | 80 | A simple example implementation of the kernel machinery in Python |
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81 | 81 | |
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82 | 82 | |
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83 | 83 | .. _kernelspecs: |
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84 | 84 | |
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85 | 85 | Kernel specs |
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86 | 86 | ============ |
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87 | 87 | |
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88 | 88 | A kernel identifies itself to IPython by creating a directory, the name of which |
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89 | 89 | is used as an identifier for the kernel. These may be created in a number of |
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90 | 90 | locations: |
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91 | 91 | |
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92 | 92 | +--------+--------------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ |
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93 | 93 | | | Unix | Windows | |
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94 | 94 | +========+======================================+===================================+ |
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95 | 95 | | System | ``/usr/share/ipython/kernels`` | ``%PROGRAMDATA%\ipython\kernels`` | |
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96 | 96 | | | | | |
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97 | 97 | | | ``/usr/local/share/ipython/kernels`` | | |
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98 | 98 | +--------+--------------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ |
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99 | 99 | | User | ``~/.ipython/kernels`` | |
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100 | 100 | +--------+--------------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ |
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101 | 101 | |
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102 | 102 | The user location takes priority over the system locations, and the case of the |
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103 | 103 | names is ignored, so selecting kernels works the same way whether or not the |
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104 | 104 | filesystem is case sensitive. |
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105 | 105 | |
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106 | 106 | Inside the directory, the most important file is *kernel.json*. This should be a |
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107 | 107 | JSON serialised dictionary containing the following keys and values: |
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108 | 108 | |
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109 | 109 | - **argv**: A list of command line arguments used to start the kernel. The text |
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110 | 110 | ``{connection_file}`` in any argument will be replaced with the path to the |
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111 | 111 | connection file. |
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112 | 112 | - **display_name**: The kernel's name as it should be displayed in the UI. |
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113 | 113 | Unlike the kernel name used in the API, this can contain arbitrary unicode |
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114 | 114 | characters. |
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115 | 115 | - **env** (optional): A dictionary of environment variables to set for the kernel. |
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116 | 116 | These will be added to the current environment variables before the kernel is |
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117 | 117 | started. |
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118 | 118 | |
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119 | 119 | For example, the kernel.json file for IPython looks like this:: |
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120 | 120 | |
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121 | 121 | { |
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122 | 122 | "argv": ["python3", "-c", "from IPython.kernel.zmq.kernelapp import main; main()", |
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123 | 123 | "-f", "{connection_file}"], |
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124 |
"display_name": "IPython (Python 3)" |
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124 | "display_name": "IPython (Python 3)" | |
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125 | 125 | } |
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126 | 126 | |
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127 | 127 | To see the available kernel specs, run:: |
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128 | 128 | |
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129 | 129 | ipython kernelspec list |
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130 | 130 | |
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131 | 131 | To start the terminal console or the Qt console with a specific kernel:: |
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132 | 132 | |
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133 | 133 | ipython console --kernel bash |
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134 | 134 | ipython qtconsole --kernel bash |
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135 | 135 | |
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136 | 136 | To use different kernels in the notebook, select a different kernel from the |
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137 | 137 | dropdown menu in the top-right of the UI. |
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