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Installation

Dependencies

  • Python (3.10>=)
  • Nextflow (22.10.1>=)
  • Container service (Docker, Singularity, Apptainer have been tested)
  • The source code: git clone https://github.com/phac-nml/mikrokondo.git

Dependencies can be installed with Conda (e.g. Nextflow and Python).

To install mikrokondo

Once all dependencies are installed (see below for instructions), to download the pipeline run:

git clone https://github.com/phac-nml/mikrokondo.git

Installing Nextflow

Nextflow is required to run mikrokondo (requires Linux), and instructions for its installation can be found at either: Nextflow Home or Nextflow Documentation

Container Engine

Nextflow and Mikrokondo require the use of containers to run the pipeline, such as: Docker, Singularity (now apptainer), podman, gitpod, sifter and charliecloud.

NOTE: Singularity was adopted by the Linux Foundation and is now called Apptainer. Singularity still exists, however newer installs will likely use Apptainer.

Docker or Singularity?

Docker requires root privileges which can can make it a hassle to install on computing clusters, while there are workarounds, Apptainer/Singularity does not. Therefore, using Apptainer/Singularity is the recommended method for running the mikrokondo pipeline.

Issues

Containers are not perfect, below is a list of some issues you may face using containers in mikrokondo, fixes for each issue will be detailed here as they are identified.

  • Exit code 137, usually means the docker container used to much memory.

Resources to download

  • GTDB Mash Sketch: required for speciation and determination when sample is metagenomic
  • Decontamination Index: Required for decontamination of reads (this is a minimap2 index)
  • Kraken2 std database: Required for binning of metagenomic data and is an alternative to using Mash for speciation
  • Bakta database: Running Bakta is optional and there is a light database option, however the full one is recommended. You will have to unzip and un-tar the database for usage.

Fields to update with resources

It is recommended to store the above resources within the databases folder in the mikrokondo folder, this allows for a simple update to the names of the database in nextflow.config rather than a need for a full path description.

Below shows where to update database resources in the params section of the nextflow.config file:

// Bakta db path, note the quotation marks
bakta_db = "/PATH/TO/BAKTA/DB"

// Decontamination minimap2 index, note the quotation marks
dehosting_idx = "/PATH/TO/DECONTAMINATION/INDEX"

// kraken db path, not the quotation marks
kraken2_db = "/PATH/TO/KRAKEN/DATABASE/"

// GTDB Mash sketch, note the quotation marks
mash_sketch = "/PATH/TO/MASH/SKETCH/"