Setup Windows development environment

Recently, I tried to set up a Windows machine for development, focusing on Python, machine learning (PyTorch with CUDA), and web development (Node.js with NPM). Following is the summarization of some critical steps and relevant materials.

Later, I further set it up as a ssh server that can be accessed by my laptop over the internet. If you are interested, please check this post.

PowerShell

In Windows, PowerShell is more powerful than the legacy cmd shell in terms of system administration, configuration management, and perform administrative tasks.

Terminal execution policy

Firstly, enter PowerShell in administrator mode and modify the execution policy to enable shell scripting:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted

Powershell autocomplete

Fish-like Autosuggestion in Powershell - DEV Community

Microsoft C++ build tools

And then, as a preparation step, install Microsoft C++ Build Tools - Visual Studio and add the C++ build tools so that some useful build tools like cmake is ready for use.

P.S. Without these build tools, some packages will not be able to install via pip.

Git

Install

Git - Downloading Package

Install git using winget is very convenient:

winget install --id Git.Git -e --source winget

Configuration

Let's configure its default user name and user email. Noted that when you push commit to GitHub, the email will be used to identify your GitHub account:

git config --global user.name <name>
git config --global user.email <email>

SSH key for GitHub

To authorize your operation on GitHub, you will also need to generate a ssh key:

ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "<email>"

And then you need to add it to your account: Settings > SSH and GPG keys > Add SSH Key. Fill the title as you like and paste the key with the content of the generated id_rsa.pub (NOT id_rsa!!). The content of id_rsa.pub can be easily accessed from command line:

Get-Content ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

Python and Conda

Install Anaconda.

Path

It's worth noting that the latest version of the Anaconda installer seems no longer to provide the add anaconda path to environment variable option. Therefore it has to be settled manually...

On Windows 11: Settings -> search Edit the system environment variables -> Select Path and click Edit -> Click Add and enter <anaconda install folder>\Scripts

P.S. The default installation folder of Anaconda is C:\ProgramData\anaconda3.

Init conda in PowerShell

Enter PowerShell in administrator mode and run:

conda init powershell

After restarting the terminal, verify conda with:

conda env list
conda activate base

CUDA and PyTorch

Select the appropriate Python, CUDA, and PyTorch version based on the webpage below:

Start Locally | PyTorch

Install Nvidia driver and CUDA

Select the corresponding driver according to the GPU model. For example, the Dell laptop of my team has a GeForce GTX 1660 Ti:

Official Drivers | NVIDIA

Download and install CUDA:

CUDA Toolkit 11.8 Downloads | NVIDIA Developer

Verify installation:

nvcc -V
nvidia-smi

Create a virtual environment and install PyTorch

conda create -n pytorch python=3.10
conda activate pytorch
pip3 install torch torchvision torchaudio --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cu118

Verify installation:

python
>>> import torch
>>> torch.rand(5, 3)
>>> torch.cuda.is_available()

Node.js and NPM

Download from Node.js's official site and install it following the prompts should get it done:

Node.js

Restart the PowerShell and verify the installation:

node -v
npm -v

In case you encounter any issues:

Installation of Node.js on Windows - mayank021

Visual Studio Code

Install Visual Studio Code

code command

To add code command for launching VS Code from terminal to read files, remember to select the corresponding options during installation.

Default terminal

bash - VSCode Change Default Terminal - Stack Overflow

Press Ctrl + Enter + P to trigger the command plate and enter Terminal: Select Default Profile. In my case, I select PowerShell.