How to Install TensorFlow on Linux

How to Install TensorFlow on Linux

TensorFlow is an open-source machine learning framework for building and training neural networks. This guide covers installing TensorFlow on your Breeze for CPU-based workloads.

Prerequisites

• A Breeze with at least 4 GB RAM
• Python 3.9 - 3.12
• pip package manager

Create a Virtual Environment

sudo apt update && sudo apt install python3-venv python3-pip -y
python3 -m venv ~/tf-env
source ~/tf-env/bin/activate

Install TensorFlow

pip install --upgrade pip
pip install tensorflow

Verify the Installation

python3 -c "import tensorflow as tf; print(tf.__version__)"

Install Common Companion Libraries

pip install numpy pandas scikit-learn matplotlib

Optimize for CPU

TensorFlow automatically uses available CPU optimizations. Set thread count to match your Breeze cores:

import tensorflow as tf
tf.config.threading.set_intra_op_parallelism_threads(4)
tf.config.threading.set_inter_op_parallelism_threads(4)

Memory Management

For memory-constrained environments, limit TensorFlow memory growth:

import os
os.environ['TF_CPP_MIN_LOG_LEVEL'] = '2'

Monitor usage with htop during training. Consider swap space for larger models as described in our LLM optimization guide.