Installation Quickstart: TensorFlow, Anaconda, Jupyter

What better way to start getting into TensorFlow than with a notebook technology like Jupyter, the successor to IPython Notebook? There are two little hurdles to achieve this:

1. Choice of OS. Trying to use Windows with TensorFlow is as painful as trying to use Windows with Spark. But even within Linux, it turns out you need a recent version. CentOS 7 works a lot better than CentOS 6 because it has a more recent glibc.
2. A step is missing from the TensorFlow installation page. From StackOverflow:
   conda install notebook ipykernel

Here then are the complete set of steps to achieve Hello World in Tensorflow on Jupyter via Anaconda:

1. Use CentOS 7.2 (aka 1511), for example using VirtualBox if under Windows. This step may be unnecessary if you use OSX, but I just haven't tried it.
2. Download and install Anaconda for Python 3.5.
3. From the TensorFlow installation instructions:
   conda create -n tensorflow python=3.5
   source activate tensorflow
   conda install -c conda-forge tensorflow
4. From StackOverflow:
   conda install notebook ipykernel
5. Launch Jupyter:
   jupyter notebook
6. Create a notebook and type in Hello World:
   import tensorflow as tf
   hello = tf.constant('Hello, TensorFlow!')
   sess = tf.Session()
   print(sess.run(hello))