Install from a local copy on Windows

To install the R package from a local copy of the CatBoost repository on Windows:

1. Download and install Git locally.

2. Open Git Bash and create a directory for the local copy of the CatBoost repository:

   mkdir CatBoostRepository
   

3. Open the created directory.

4. (Optionally) Configure the proxy if required:

   git config --global http.proxy http://login:password@ip_address:port_number
   

   • login and password are the proxy credentials
   • ip_address is the IP address of the proxy server
   • port_number is the configured proxy port number

5. Install Python and add it to PATH.

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/catboost/catboost.git
   

2. (Optionally) Volta GPU users are advised to precisely set the required NVCC compile flags in the default_nvcc_flags.make.inc configuration file. Removing irrelevant flags speeds up the compilation.

   Note

   CatBoost may work incorrectly with Independent Thread Scheduling introduced in Volta GPUs when the number of splits for features exceeds 32.

3. (Optionally) CUDA with compute capability 2.0 users must remove all lines starting with -gencode from the default_nvcc_flags.make.inc configuration file and add the following line instead:

   -gencode arch=compute_20,code=compute_20
   

4. Install Visual Studio Community 2019.

   • Choose the Windows Platform development and Desktop Development with C++ options in the workloads tab.
   • Choose a suitable version of the MSVC compiler. It is advised to install VC++ 2019 version 16.11.11 v14.28 and CUDA Toolkit 11.0 or newer.

   Note

   Visual Studio forcibly installs the latest version of the compiler upon each update. The latest MSVC compiler may not be suitable for compiling CatBoost, especially with CUDA.

   Identify the set version of the compiler

   1. Open the properties window for any cpp file of the project.
   2. Ensure the absence of the /nologo option in the compiler's command-line (for example, by adding the deprecated /nologo- option in the Command Line/Additional Options box).
   3. Compile this source file (Ctrl + F7).

   The set version of the compiler is printed to the Output window. CatBoost can not be compiled with 19.14.* versions.

   Change the version of the compiler

   Use one of the following methods to set the recommended version of the compiler:

   • Enable the required version as described in the Visual C++ Team Blog.

   • Run the environment setter from the command line with the vcvars_ver option (the path to the script depends on the installation settings):

   call "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvars64.bat" -vcvars_ver=14.28
   

   Then open the solution:

   start msvs\arcadia.sln
   

1. Perform the following steps in RStudio:

   1. Check for package updates: .
   2. Open the catboost/catboost/R-package directory from the local copy of the CatBoost repository.

   For example, if the cloned repository local path is C:\CatBoostRepository the following command should be used:

   setwd("C:/CatBoostRepository/catboost/catboost/R-package")
   

   1. Run the following commands:

   install.packages('devtools')
   devtools::build()
   devtools::install()
   

Troubleshooting