Troubleshooting#

This section contains common issues and suggestions related to installation and use of PyAEDT.

Installation#

Error installing Python or Conda#

Sometimes companies do not allow installation of a Python interpreter. In this case, you can use the Python interpreter available in the AEDT installation.

Note

Python 3.7 is available in AEDT 2023 R1 and earlier. Python 3.10 is available in AEDT 2023 R2.

Here is the path to the Python 3.7 interpreter for the 2023 R1 installation:

path\to\AnsysEM\v231\commonfiles\CPython\3_7\winx64\Release\python"

Error installing PyAEDT using pip#

  • Proxy server: If your company uses a proxy server, you may have to update proxy settings at the command line. For more information, see the Using a Proxy Server in the pip documentation.

  • Install permission: Make sure that you have write access to the directory where the

    Python interpreter is installed. The use of a virtual environment helps mitigate this issue by placing the Python interpreter and dependencies in a location that is owned by the user.

  • Firewall: Some corporate firewalls may block pip. If you face this issue, you’ll have to work with your IT

    administrator to enable pip. The proxy server settings (described earlier) allow you to explicitly define the ports used by pip.

If downloads from pypi are not allowed, you may use a wheelhouse. The wheelhouse file contains all dependencies for PyAEDT and allows full installation without a need to download additional files. The wheelhouse for PyAEDT can be found here. After downloading the wheelhouse for your distribution and Python release, unzip the file to a folder and run the Python command:

>>> pip install --no-cache-dir --no-index --find-links=/path/to/pyaedt/wheelhouse pyaedt

Another option to install PyAEDT from the wheelhouse is to download the following file PyAEDT Installer Python file. Run this script directly from AEDT and pass the wheelhouse file name as an argument.

Run PyAEDT#

COM and gRPC#

Prior to the 2022 R2 release, CPython automation in AEDT used COM , which requires all interfaces to be registered in the Windows Registry. Communication between Python and the AEDT API were translated through an intermediate layer using pywin32 and PythonNET.

gRPC is a modern open source high performance Remote Procedure Call (RPC) framework that can run in any environment and supports client/server remote calls. Starting from 2022R2 the AEDT API has replaced the COM interface with a gRPC interface.

gRPC Compatibility:#

< 2022 R2

2022 R2

> 2022 R2

Only Python.NET
Python.NET: Default
Enable gRPC: pyaedt.settings.use_grpc_api = True
gRPC: Default
Enable Python.NET: pyaedt.settings.use_grpc_api = False

The options shown here apply only to the Windows platform. On Linux, the Python interface to AEDT uses gRPC for all versions.

Check the AEDT API configuration#

Run the following command to start AEDT as a gRPC server:

Windows:

path\to\AnsysEM\v231\Win64\ansysedt.exe -grpcsrv 50001

On Linux:

path\to\AnsysEM\v231\Lin64\ansysedt -grpcsrv 50352

The server port number is used by AEDT to listen and receive commands from the PyAEDT client. This configuration supports multiple sessions of AEDT running on a single server and listening on the same port.

Check the gRPC interface#

The native Electronics Desktop API can be used to launch AEDT from the command line. PyAEDT is not required to verify the setup for the server and ensure that all environment variables have been defined correctly.

import sys
sys.path.append(r"ANSYSEM_ROOT231\PythonFiles\DesktopPlugin")
import ScriptEnv
print(dir())
ScriptEnv.Initialize("", False, "", 50051)
print(dir())

Failure connecting to the gRPC server#

On Linux, PyAEDT may fail to initialize a new instance of the gRPC server or connect to an existing server session. This may be due to:

  • Firewall

  • Proxy

  • Permissions

  • License

  • Scheduler (for example if the gRPC server was started from LSF or Slurm)

For issues related to use of a proxy server, you may set the following environment variable to disable the proxy server for the localhost.

export no_proxy=localhost,127.0.0.1

Run your PyAEDT script.

If it still fails, you can disable the proxy server:

export http_proxy=

Run your PyAEDT script. If the errors persist, perform these steps:

  1. Check that AEDT starts correctly from the command line by starting the gRPC server.

  2. Enable debugging.

export ANSOFT_DEBUG_LOG=/tmp/testlogs/logs/lg
export ANSOFT_DEBUG_LOG_SEPARATE=1
export ANSOFT_DEBUG_LOG_TIMESTAMP=1
export ANSOFT_DEBUG_LOG_THREAD_ID=1
export ANSOFT_DEBUG_MODE=3

Enable the gRPC trace on the server:

export GRPC_VERBOSITY=DEBUG
export GRPC_TRACE=all

Then run ansysedt.exe as a gRPC server and redirect the output.

ansysedt -grpcsrv 50051 > /path/to/file/server.txt

The preceding command redirects the gRPC trace to the file server.txt.

Open another terminal window to trace the gRPC calls on the client where the Python script is to be run.

export GRPC_VERBOSITY=DEBUG
export GRPC_TRACE=all

Now run the PyAEDT script, (making sure it connects to the same port as the gRPC server - 50051). Capture the output in a file. For example client.txt. Then send all the logs to Ansys Support.