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Getting started

Create a python virtual environment

We recommended that you install the valsys library into a python virtual (local) environment, rather than into the global python environment. Below we assume that your version of python is version 3.8.16.

pyenv or virtualenv work well; other environment management systems are available.

Installing the valsys package

Now that you have an active virtual environment, install the valsys python package into your environment via 

pip install git+https://github.com/valsysinc/valsys-api
Any other packages you require (e.g., spark, or numpy) will also need to be installed into the environment

Environment setup

To effectively use the library certain environment variables are required. To do anything, put the following into the command line 

export VALSYS_API_BUILD=local

More environment variables are required; these can be set in two ways: first via login process which guides you through the process, secondly via directly setting environment variables (if you are unsure as to which applies to your situation, contact valsys support).

Login

Once the library has been installed, the first task is to login. From a python script (e.g., in the repl, or a jupyter notebook), execute 

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from valsys.admin import login
login()
It is useful to put the above into a local script called login.py or something of that nature.

This will only need to be executed when you change your password (nothing bad will happen if you keep running - it will just wear thin).

You will be prompted to enter the following information:

  • Valsys host: the base part of the Valsys url (if unsure, contact valsys support)
  • Valsys protocol: whether using http or https.
  • Valsys username: this is the username used to login to the valsys system
  • Valsys password: this is the password used to login to the valsys system

The login process will attempt to authenticate with these pieces of information.

Below we provide a screenshot of a jupyter notebook showing the expected screen and output.

Environment variables

If the login function does not works for your system, you will need to manually configure the following environment variables:

  • VALSYS_API_BUILD: this is your company identifier (contact valsys support to find this value)
  • VALSYS_API_SOCKET: the socket address (e.g., wss://dev-api.valsys.io)
  • VALSYS_API_SERVER: the http(s) server address (e.g., https://dev-api.valsys.io)
  • VALSYS_API_USER: the username used to log into the valsys system
  • VALSYS_API_PASSWORD: the password used to log into the valsys system

Your operating system or IDE will dictate the best method for setting these variables.