Backend Installation Guide

December 17, 2024 ยท View on GitHub

This guide will help you set up the backend server for the project. Please follow the steps below to ensure all dependencies are installed correctly and the server runs smoothly.

Prerequisites

  • Ensure you have conda installed. You can download it from Conda's website.
  • Python version 3.8 or above is recommended for compatibility.

Step 1: Set Up Conda Environment

  1. Open a terminal and create a new conda environment:

    conda create -n 3d-annot-server python=3.8

  2. Activate the newly created environment:

    conda activate 3d-annot-server

Step 2: Install Dependencies

Navigate to the src/backend/server folder where the backend source code is located:

cd src/backend/server

Use pip to install the required dependencies from requirements.txt:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Additionally, install FastAPI with all standard dependencies to ensure everything works correctly:

pip install "fastapi[standard]"

You can refer to FastAPI for more details on using their CLI tools

Note:

  • If there are any platform-specific dependencies, additional installation instructions might be required. For example, uvicorn might need compilation tools, so ensure you have build-essential (Linux) or Xcode Command Line Tools (macOS) installed.

Step 3: Run the Backend Server

After installing the dependencies, you can start the FastAPI server using uvicorn:

PYTHONPATH=src uvicorn openapi_server.main:app --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8080

If you prefer FastAPI CLI, you can start the server with:

PYTHONPATH=src fastapi dev src/openapi_server/main.py
  • PYTHONPATH=src: This tells Python to include the src directory when searching for imports.
  • --host 127.0.0.1: Makes the server accessible from any IP address on the network.
  • --port 8080: Specifies the port number to access the server.

Step 4: Testing the Server

You can test the server by navigating to http://localhost:8080/docs in your web browser. This will bring up the automatically generated Swagger UI, which provides a user-friendly interface to interact with all the available API endpoints.

Alternatively, use tools like Postman, Thunder Client (VS Code extension), or cURL to send requests to the server.

Troubleshooting

  • Missing Dependencies: If you encounter errors about missing libraries, check requirements.txt to ensure everything is installed.
  • Port Already in Use: If port 8080 is occupied, change to an available port using the --port option.