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Installation Guide

Get started: Download CASPR Code and Data

CASPR is being developed and tested under Linux and macOS.

In order to use it, first you need to clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/judithbergada/CASPR.git $HOME/CASPR

For a proper installation, it is also recommended to run:

# Add CASPR to your PATH
echo "export PATH=$HOME/CASPR/source:$PATH" >> $HOME/.bashrc
source $HOME/.bashrc
# Please, note that the previous commands do not work if you use Zsh

At this point, the tool should be available in your computer. You can check it:

CASPR --help

Conda Environment Installation

CASPR employs several software packages to carry out its different functions:

  • fastqc
  • cutadapt
  • fastx-toolkit
  • STAR
  • samtools
  • mageck
  • vispr
  • R

The easiest way to download them is to use Miniconda, which allows to create an isolated environment. To install miniconda, please follow the instuctions.

Once Miniconda is installed, you can obtain the required packages by executing the following commands on your terminal:

# Create environment
conda create -n caspr --yes python=3.5
# Install required software
conda install -n caspr --yes r=3.5.0
conda install -n caspr -c bioconda --yes cutadapt
conda install -n caspr -c bioconda --yes star
conda install -n caspr -c bioconda --yes bbmap
conda install -n caspr -c bioconda --yes samtools=1.4
conda install -n caspr -c bioconda --yes mageck
conda install -n caspr -c bioconda --yes vispr
conda install -n caspr -c bioconda --yes fastqc
conda install -n caspr -c conda-forge --yes ghostscript
conda install -n caspr -c conda-forge --yes openjdk

Installation on macOS

Since macOS uses custom versions of sed and grep, it is also necessary to install the latest GNU version to run CASPR. For that, first you need to have HomeBrew.

Once HomeBrew works at your device, you only need to copy the following commands on your terminal:

# Install sed and grep
brew install gnu-sed grep
# Make sure the installed versions are the first ones available in your PATH
echo "export PATH=\"/usr/local/opt/gnu-sed/libexec/gnubin:\$PATH\"" >> ~/.bashrc
echo "export PATH=\"/usr/local/opt/grep/libexec/gnubin:\$PATH\"" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Now, you can start using CASPR on Linux or macOS!

Important information

To use the tool, please do not forget to activate the Conda Environment!

# Activate for Linux
source activate caspr
# Activate for macOS
conda activate caspr

Users of IBU cluster

Users of IBU cluster (Interfaculty Bioinformatics Unit, University of Bern) do not need to follow the guide to install a Conda Environment.

Instead, you can load the required software packages, which are all installed in the cluster. This can be done as follows:

# Import software: only for users of IBY cluster
module add UHTS/Analysis/fastx_toolkit/0.0.13.2
module add UHTS/Aligner/STAR/2.6.0c
module add UHTS/Analysis/samtools/1.4
module add R/3.5.1
module add UHTS/Quality_control/mageck-vispr/0.5.4
Neverthless, installing the Conda Environment would have an advantage: VISPR would display the results without the need of additional commands (see the user cases in the tutorial for more information).