--- title: Install Qiskit description: Install the Qiskit SDK on various operating systems source: https://eu-de.quantum.cloud.ibm.com/docs/en/guides/install-qiskit --- # Install Qiskit Whether you will work locally or in a cloud environment, the first step for all users is to install Qiskit. ## Install the Qiskit SDK 1. Install Python. Check the "Programming Language" section on the [Qiskit PyPI project page](https://pypi.org/project/qiskit/) to determine which Python versions are supported by the most recent release. For download instructions, see the [Python Beginners Guide](https://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide/Download). It is recommended that you use [Python virtual environments](https://docs.python.org/3.10/tutorial/venv.html) to separate Qiskit from other applications. > **Note** > > These instructions use the standard Python distribution from [pypi.org](https://pypi.org/). However, you can use other Python distributions, such as [Anaconda](https://docs.anaconda.com/anaconda/) or [miniconda](https://docs.anaconda.com/miniconda/), along with other dependency management workflows like [Poetry](https://python-poetry.org/docs/). ### If you're new to virtual environments, click to expand for more information. A virtual Python environment is an isolated space to work with Python for a specific purpose — so you can install whatever packages you wish, and set up libraries, dependencies, and so on, without affecting the "base" Python environment on your machine. One important advantage of a virtual environment is that if your Python environment becomes corrupted somewhere along the way, you can easily delete the virtual environment and start over! Choose a preferred location in which to store information about your virtual environments. Typically they're stored in a directory named `.venv` within each project directory you're working in. First, navigate to your project directory and create a minimal environment with only Python installed in it. ### macOS ```shell python3 -m venv .venv ``` ### Linux ```shell python3 -m venv .venv ``` ### Windows ```text python -m venv .venv ``` Next, activate your new environment. ### macOS ```shell source .venv/bin/activate ``` ### Linux ```shell source .venv/bin/activate ``` ### Windows If using PowerShell: ```text .venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1 ``` If using Git Bash: ```text source .venv/scripts/activate ``` If using command prompt: ```text .venv\Scripts\activate ``` 2. [Install pip](https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/installation/) if it's not already installed in your environment. Pip is a Python package manager that you use to install Qiskit and other Python packages. Use `pip list` to see what is in your virtual environment. In most Python environments, pip is already installed. 3. Install the Qiskit SDK. ```shell pip install qiskit ``` > **Add visualization support** > > If you intend to use visualization functionality or Jupyter notebooks, also install the `qiskit.visualization` module. See the [Visualizations API reference](/docs/api/qiskit/visualization) for more information. 1) If you want to run a Jupyter notebook with the Qiskit packages you just installed, you need to install Jupyter in your environment. ```shell pip install jupyter ``` Then open your notebook as follows: ```shell jupyter notebook ``` If you are planning to work locally and use simulators built into Qiskit, then your installation is done. If you want to run jobs on IBM® QPUs, continue on to [set up your IBM Cloud® account](/docs/guides/cloud-setup). > **Stay current with the latest versions** > > Periodically check the [Qiskit release notes](/docs/api/qiskit/release-notes) to see new releases. We recommend frequently updating your requirements for `qiskit` by running `pip install -U qiskit`. ## Troubleshooting ### \`No Module 'qiskit'\` error with Jupyter Notebook If you used `pip install qiskit` and set up your virtual environment in Anaconda, then you may get the `No Module 'qiskit'` error when you run a tutorial in Jupyter Notebook. If you have not installed Qiskit or set up your virtual environment, you can follow the [installation](#qiskit-install) steps. The error is caused when trying to import the Qiskit package in an environment where Qiskit is not installed. If you launched Jupyter Notebook from the Anaconda-Navigator, it is possible that Jupyter Notebook is running in the base (root) environment, instead of in your virtual environment. Choose a virtual environment in the Anaconda-Navigator from the **Applications on** dropdown menu. In this menu, you can see all of the virtual environments within Anaconda, and you can select the environment where you have Qiskit installed to launch Jupyter Notebook. ### Compilation errors during installation Qiskit depends on a number of other open-source Python packages, which are automatically installed when doing `pip install qiskit`. Depending on your system's platform and Python version, it is possible that a particular package does not provide pre-built binaries for your system. You can refer to [Operating system support](#operating-system-support) for a list of platforms supported by Qiskit, some of which may need an extra compiler. In cases where there are no precompiled binaries available, `pip` will attempt to compile the package from source, which in turn might require some extra dependencies that need to be installed manually. If the output of `pip install qiskit` contains similar lines to: ``` Failed building wheel for SOME_PACKAGE ... build/temp.linux-x86_64-3.5/_openssl.c:498:30: fatal error compilation terminated. error: command 'x86_64-linux-gnu-gcc' failed with exit status 1 ``` please check the documentation of the package that failed to install (in the example code, `SOME_PACKAGE`) for information on how to install the libraries needed for compiling from source. ## Operating system support Qiskit strives to support as many operating systems as possible, but due to limitations in available testing resources and operating system availability, not all operating systems can be supported. Operating system support for Qiskit is broken into three tiers with different levels of support for each tier. For platforms outside these, such as FreeBSD or WebAssembly (WASI), Qiskit may still be installable, but it is not tested and you will have to build Qiskit (and likely Qiskit’s dependencies) from source. Additionally, Qiskit only supports the CPython implementation of the Python language. Running with other Python interpreters such as PyPy is not supported. ### Qiskit v2.x In the Qiskit v2.x release series, the supported platforms are: ### Tier 1 Tier 1 operating systems are fully tested as part of the development processes to ensure any proposed change will function correctly. Pre-compiled binaries are built, tested, and published to PyPI as part of the release process. Typically, as long as there is a functioning Python environment installed, Qiskit can be installed on these operating systems without needing to install further dependencies. Tier 1 operating systems: - Linux x86\_64 (distributions compatible with the [manylinux 2014](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0599/) packaging specification). - macOS ARM64 (11.0 or newer) - Windows 64-bit (Windows 10 and later supported) - Linux AArch64 (distributions compatible with the [manylinux 2014](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0599/) packaging specification) ### Tier 2 Tier 2 operating systems are not tested as part of the development process. However, pre-compiled binaries are built, tested, and published to PyPI as part of the release process, and these packages can be expected to be installed with only a functioning Python environment. There might be a delay in releasing packages for these systems, since test failures might not be detected until much later, and failures during publishing will not block the publication of the package for Tier 1 systems. Tier 2 operating systems: - macOS x86\_64 (10.12 or later) ### Tier 3 Tier 3 operating systems are not tested as part of the development process. Pre-compiled binaries are built and published to PyPI as part of the release process but are not tested. They may not be installable with only a functioning Python environment and might require a C/C++ compiler or additional programs to build dependencies from source as part of the installation process. Support for these operating systems are best effort only. Tier 3 operating systems: - Linux ppc64le (distributions compatible with the [manylinux 2014](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0599/)packaging specification) - Linux s390x (distributions compatible with the [manylinux 2014](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0599/) packaging specification) Starting in Qiskit v2.0.0, only 64-bit platforms are supported and 32-bit platforms are not supported. You will not be able to build from source on 32-bit platforms either, as internally the Qiskit Rust code assumes a 64-bit pointer width. ## Next steps > **Recommendations** > > - [Configure Qiskit locally](/docs/guides/configure-qiskit-local). > - Follow the steps in the [Run your first circuit on hardware](/docs/guides/hello-world) guide to write and run a quantum program. > - Try an IBM Quantum Learning [tutorial](/docs/tutorials). > - Understand the [version support](/docs/api/qiskit/providers) policy.