# Cannot install SymEngine

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cannot-install-symengine/32753>\
**Category:** General Usage\
**Tags:** question, package\
**Created:** [December 28, 2019, 12:49pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cannot-install-symengine/32753 "2019-12-28T12:49:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 14\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![s\_1291](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/s_1291/32/12033_2.png) [@s\_1291](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/s_1291)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2019, 12:49pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cannot-install-symengine/32753/1 "2019-12-28T12:49:11Z")

</div>

Hello,  
I’ve encountered some technical issues while trying to install some packages in `Julia 1.3.0` in Windows 7:

```julia
C:\Windows\system32>julia
               _
   _ _ _(_)_ | Documentation: https://docs.julialang.org
  (_) | (_) (_) |
   _ _ _| |_ __ _ | Type "?" for help, "]?" for Pkg help.
  | | | | | | |/ _` | |
  | | |_| | | | (_| | | Version 1.3.0 (2019-11-26)
 _/ |\ __'_|_|_|\__'_| | Official https://julialang.org/ release
|__/ |

julia> using Pkg

julia> Pkg.add("SymEngine")
  Updating registry at `C:\Users\user\.julia\registries\General`
  Updating git-repo `https://github.com/JuliaRegistries/General.git`
 Resolving package versions...
ERROR: Unable to automatically install 'OpenSpecFun' from 'C:\Users\user\.julia\packages\OpenSpecFun_jll\XrUb6\Artifacts.toml'
Stacktrace:
 [1] error(::String) at .\error.jl:33
 [2] #ensure_artifact_installed#42(::Pkg.BinaryPlatforms.Windows, ::Bool, ::typeof(Pkg.Artifacts.ensure_artifact_installed), ::String, ::Dict{String,Any}, ::String) at D:
\buildbot\worker\package_win64\build\usr\share\julia\stdlib\v1.3\Pkg\src\Artifacts.jl:810
 [3] (::Pkg.Artifacts.var"#kw##ensure_artifact_installed")(::NamedTuple{(:platform, :verbose),Tuple{Pkg.BinaryPlatforms.Windows,Bool}}, ::typeof(Pkg.Artifacts.ensure_arti
fact_installed), ::String, ::Dict{String,Any}, ::String) at .\none:0
 [4] #ensure_all_artifacts_installed#43(::Pkg.BinaryPlatforms.Windows, ::Nothing, ::Bool, ::Bool, ::typeof(Pkg.Artifacts.ensure_all_artifacts_installed), ::String) at D:\
buildbot\worker\package_win64\build\usr\share\julia\stdlib\v1.3\Pkg\src\Artifacts.jl:852
 [5] #ensure_all_artifacts_installed at D:\buildbot\worker\package_win64\build\usr\share\julia\stdlib\v1.3\Pkg\src\Operations.jl:0 [inlined]
 [6] #download_artifacts#78(::Pkg.BinaryPlatforms.Windows, ::Bool, ::typeof(Pkg.Operations.download_artifacts), ::Array{String,1}) at D:\buildbot\worker\package_win64\bui
ld\usr\share\julia\stdlib\v1.3\Pkg\src\Operations.jl:580
 [7] #download_artifacts at .\none:0 [inlined]
 [8] #download_artifacts#73(::Pkg.BinaryPlatforms.Windows, ::Bool, ::typeof(Pkg.Operations.download_artifacts), ::Array{Pkg.Types.PackageSpec,1}) at D:\buildbot\worker\pa
ckage_win64\build\usr\share\julia\stdlib\v1.3\Pkg\src\Operations.jl:570
 [9] (::Pkg.Operations.var"#kw##download_artifacts")(::NamedTuple{(:platform,),Tuple{Pkg.BinaryPlatforms.Windows}}, ::typeof(Pkg.Operations.download_artifacts), ::Array{P
kg.Types.PackageSpec,1}) at .\none:0
 [10] #add#112(::Bool, ::Pkg.BinaryPlatforms.Windows, ::typeof(Pkg.Operations.add), ::Pkg.Types.Context, ::Array{Pkg.Types.PackageSpec,1}, ::Array{Base.UUID,1}) at D:\bui
ldbot\worker\package_win64\build\usr\share\julia\stdlib\v1.3\Pkg\src\Operations.jl:1017
 [11] #add at .\none:0 [inlined]
 [12] #add#25(::Bool, ::Pkg.BinaryPlatforms.Windows, ::Base.Iterators.Pairs{Union{},Union{},Tuple{},NamedTuple{(),Tuple{}}}, ::typeof(Pkg.API.add), ::Pkg.Types.Context, :
:Array{Pkg.Types.PackageSpec,1}) at D:\buildbot\worker\package_win64\build\usr\share\julia\stdlib\v1.3\Pkg\src\API.jl:102
 [13] add(::Pkg.Types.Context, ::Array{Pkg.Types.PackageSpec,1}) at D:\buildbot\worker\package_win64\build\usr\share\julia\stdlib\v1.3\Pkg\src\API.jl:72
 [14] #add#24 at D:\buildbot\worker\package_win64\build\usr\share\julia\stdlib\v1.3\Pkg\src\API.jl:69 [inlined]
 [15] add at D:\buildbot\worker\package_win64\build\usr\share\julia\stdlib\v1.3\Pkg\src\API.jl:69 [inlined]
 [16] #add#21 at D:\buildbot\worker\package_win64\build\usr\share\julia\stdlib\v1.3\Pkg\src\API.jl:67 [inlined]
 [17] add at D:\buildbot\worker\package_win64\build\usr\share\julia\stdlib\v1.3\Pkg\src\API.jl:67 [inlined]
 [18] #add#20(::Base.Iterators.Pairs{Union{},Union{},Tuple{},NamedTuple{(),Tuple{}}}, ::typeof(Pkg.API.add), ::String) at D:\buildbot\worker\package_win64\build\usr\share
\julia\stdlib\v1.3\Pkg\src\API.jl:66
 [19] add(::String) at D:\buildbot\worker\package_win64\build\usr\share\julia\stdlib\v1.3\Pkg\src\API.jl:66
 [20] top-level scope at REPL[2]:1

julia>

```

Why I am not able to install the package?  
Thanks

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![chakravala](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/chakravala/32/6832_2.png) [@chakravala](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/chakravala)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2019, 11:01pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cannot-install-symengine/32753/2 "2019-12-28T23:01:29Z")

</div>

Looks like an issue with `OpenSpecFun` and not `SymEngine` itself. If you want an alternative for symbolic computation, you could use [Reduce.jl](https://github.com/chakravala/Reduce.jl), for which I made sure the installation works on all operating systems.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![staticfloat](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/staticfloat/32/34_2.png) [@staticfloat](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/staticfloat)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2019, 11:22pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cannot-install-symengine/32753/3 "2019-12-28T23:22:47Z")

</div>

Hello, welcome to the Julia community! I believe this may be due to a bug in Julia 1.3.0; please upgrade to Julia 1.3.1 and try again.

**EDIT** Terribly sorry, I was confused and 1.3.1 has not been released yet. 🙂

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![staticfloat](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/staticfloat/32/34_2.png) [@staticfloat](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/staticfloat)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2019, 11:33pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cannot-install-symengine/32753/4 "2019-12-28T23:33:50Z")

</div>

Can you please show the output of the following:

```julia
pkg> add OpenSpecFun_jll

```

If that doesn’t work, then please show the output of the following:

```julia
julia> using Pkg.BinaryPlatforms; triplet(platform_key_abi())

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![s\_1291](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/s_1291/32/12033_2.png) [@s\_1291](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/s_1291)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 10:15am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cannot-install-symengine/32753/5 "2019-12-29T10:15:26Z")

</div>

Hello, Thank you for your reply,  
I tried with the first command: `using Pkg; Pkg.add("OpenSpecFun_jll")` it didn’t work.  
Here is the output of the second commad:

```julia
julia> using Pkg.BinaryPlatforms; triplet(platform_key_abi())
"x86_64-w64-mingw32-libgfortran4-cxx11"

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![s\_1291](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/s_1291/32/12033_2.png) [@s\_1291](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/s_1291)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 10:16am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cannot-install-symengine/32753/6 "2019-12-29T10:16:44Z")

</div>

Thank you for your suggestion. Unfortunately, I am new to julia and I am following a book that uses `SymEngine`. Regarding `Reduce.jl`, I will give it a try.  
**EDIT** : I tried to install `Reduce.jl`:

- `Pkg.add("Reduce"); Pkg.build("Reduce")`

I got the following error:

```julia
  Building Reduce → `C:\Users\user\.julia\packages\Reduce\4dmwd\deps\build.log`
┌ Error: Error building `Reduce`:
│ ┌ Error: Download failed: curl: (77) error setting certificate verify locations:
│ └ @ Base download.jl:43
│ ERROR: LoadError: failed process: Process(`'C:\Windows\System32\curl.exe' -s -S -g -L -f -o 'C:\Users\user\.julia\packages\Reduce\4dmwd\deps\wincsl.cab' https://ayera.dl.sourceforge.net/project/reduce-algebra/snapshot_2019-09-15/windows/wincsl_5129.cab`, ProcessExited(77)) [77]

 Stacktrace:
│ [1] pipeline_error at .\process.jl:525 [inlined]
│ [2] download_curl(::String, ::String, ::String) at .\download.jl:44
│ [3] download(::String, ::String) at .\download.jl:62
│ [4] top-level scope at C:\Users\user\.julia\packages\Reduce\4dmwd\deps\build.jl:95
│ [5] include at .\boot.jl:328 [inlined]
│ [6] include_relative(::Module, ::String) at .\loading.jl:1105
│ [7] include(::Module, ::String) at .\Base.jl:31
│ [8] include(::String) at .\client.jl:424
│ [9] top-level scope at none:5
│ in expression starting at C:\Users\user\.julia\packages\Reduce\4dmwd\deps\build.jl:30
│ caused by [exception 1]
│ IOError: could not spawn `'C:\Users\user\.julia\packages\Reduce\4dmwd\deps\reduce.exe' --nogui`: no such file or directory (ENOENT)
│ Stacktrace:
│ [1] _spawn_primitive(::String, ::Cmd, ::Array{Any,1}) at .\process.jl:99
│ [2] #554 at .\process.jl:112 [inlined]
│ [3] setup_stdios(::Base.var"#554#555"{Cmd}, ::Array{Any,1}) at .\process.jl:196
│ [4] _spawn(::Base.CmdRedirect, ::Array{Any,1}) at .\process.jl:111
│ [5] _spawn(::Base.CmdRedirect, ::Array{Any,1}) at .\process.jl:139 (repeats 2 times)
│ [6] #run#565(::Bool, ::typeof(run), ::Base.CmdRedirect) at .\process.jl:443
│ [7] (::Base.var"#kw##run")(::NamedTuple{(:wait,),Tuple{Bool}}, ::typeof(run), ::Base.CmdRedirect) at .\none:0
│ [8] _spawn(::Cmd, ::Base.DevNull, ::Base.DevNull) at C:\Users\user\.julia\packages\Reduce\4dmwd\deps\svn.jl:23 (repeats 2 times)
│ [9] top-level scope at C:\Users\user\.julia\packages\Reduce\4dmwd\deps\build.jl:88
│ [10] include at .\boot.jl:328 [inlined]
│ [11] include_relative(::Module, ::String) at .\loading.jl:1105
│ [12] include(::Module, ::String) at .\Base.jl:31
│ [13] include(::String) at .\client.jl:424
│ [14] top-level scope at none:5
│ Building Reduce.jl with CSL binaries ...
└ @ Pkg.Operations D:\buildbot\worker\package_win64\build\usr\share\julia\stdlib\v1.3\Pkg\src\backwards_compatible_isolation.jl:649
false

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![oheil](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/oheil/32/220745_2.png) [@oheil](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/oheil)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 10:55am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cannot-install-symengine/32753/7 "2019-12-29T10:55:09Z")

</div>

In case, this is (again) a problem of downloading packages via curl you may try this:

> [@Problem with curl.exe (Windows) and package installation](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/problem-with-curl-exe-windows-and-package-installation/29525/51):
>
> create a file called “\_curlrc” that contains “insecure” (wihout quote) and place it in your %APPDATA% (echo %APPDATA%). For windows, curlrc file should begin with underscore. [https://curl.haxx.se/docs/manual.html](https://curl.haxx.se/docs/manual.html)

Details on the solution are here:  
[https://curl.haxx.se/docs/manual.html](https://curl.haxx.se/docs/manual.html)  
I can not directly link to the section but you can search for “Config File” on this page.

And here

> <https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/60750/does-curl-have-a-no-check-certificate-option-like-wget>

is some more information about possible locations of \_curlrc in windows. I would prefer  
`%USERPROFILE%` as folder to store \_curlrc, which typically is `C:\Users\YOUR_USER_NAME`

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![s\_1291](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/s_1291/32/12033_2.png) [@s\_1291](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/s_1291)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 1:06pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cannot-install-symengine/32753/8 "2019-12-29T13:06:55Z")

</div>

Thank you for your suggestions. I followed the instructions provided in the links, but without success.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sylvaticus](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/sylvaticus/32/203883_2.png) [@sylvaticus](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/sylvaticus)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 3:35pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cannot-install-symengine/32753/9 "2019-12-29T15:35:30Z")

</div>

Hello, which book are you using that describes symengine? I could never find any documentation about it…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![chakravala](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/chakravala/32/6832_2.png) [@chakravala](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/chakravala)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 4:44pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cannot-install-symengine/32753/10 "2019-12-29T16:44:28Z")

</div>

If the `curl` command for installing `Reduce` doesn’t work, you can manually download it with this link:

[https://ayera.dl.sourceforge.net/project/reduce-algebra/snapshot\_2019-09-15/windows/wincsl\_5129.cab](https://ayera.dl.sourceforge.net/project/reduce-algebra/snapshot_2019-09-15/windows/wincsl_5129.cab)

Then just extract the `cab` file in `Reduce/deps` folder manually, and you should be all set now.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bocc](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/bocc/32/7546_2.png) [@bocc](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/bocc)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 7:50pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cannot-install-symengine/32753/11 "2019-12-29T19:50:13Z")

</div>

Just to second OP, I encounter a similar problem when trying to use [diff-zoo](https://github.com/MikeInnes/diff-zoo) notebooks, that requires OpenSpecFun… not sure if it’s relevant, though.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![s\_1291](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/s_1291/32/12033_2.png) [@s\_1291](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/s_1291)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 8:03pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cannot-install-symengine/32753/12 "2019-12-29T20:03:11Z")

</div>

I would like to thank you for letting me know about `Reduce` CAS. It is great!  
Could you just give more detailed steps on how to add `curl` to Reduce folder.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![s\_1291](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/s_1291/32/12033_2.png) [@s\_1291](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/s_1291)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 8:06pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cannot-install-symengine/32753/13 "2019-12-29T20:06:14Z")

</div>

Hello, Sorry Actually the book I am talking about used the `SymEngine` only once in an example. [SymEngine - Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=SymEngine)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![chakravala](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/chakravala/32/6832_2.png) [@chakravala](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/chakravala)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 8:11pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cannot-install-symengine/32753/14 "2019-12-29T20:11:19Z")

</div>

Here is a manual version of the windows installation script you could try, although I have not tested this manual version myself yet, since I am not using windows right now:

Find the directory below `wdir` and place the `cab` file inside, then create a `bat` script and execute it.

```julia
wdir = joinpath(dirname(Base.find_package("Reduce")),"..","deps")
cd(wdir)
# copy cab file in that directory or download it into there, then extract:
open("redextract.bat","w") do f
    write(f,"expand wincsl_5129.cab \"$(wdir)\" -F:*\n")
end
run(`$(wdir)\\redextract.bat`)

```

Basically, you need to find the directory of `Reduce\deps` and extract the `cab` file, which you can do on the windows command line with the `expand` command, or perhaps you can right click it to extract?

If you have a desktop program that can extract `cab` files you could also use that, the only thing that matters is that you extract the `cab` contents into the location of `Reduce\deps` folder, which you need to locate inside your julia packages folder somewhere.