# Spark Exception when running init() **URL:** \ **Category:** Hail Query & hailctl\ **Created:** [October 9, 2024, 7:03pm UTC](https://discuss.hail.is/t/spark-exception-when-running-init/3962 "2024-10-09T19:03:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Trisha\_Karani](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discuss.hail.is/trisha_karani/32/1188_2.png) [@Trisha\_Karani](https://discuss.hail.is/u/Trisha_Karani)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 7:03pm UTC](https://discuss.hail.is/t/spark-exception-when-running-init/3962/1 "2024-10-09T19:03:49Z")
Hi, I’m a new Hail user and installed on my Mac using the pip command. I am following the tutorials, and the code is failing in the hl.init() command. Am I missing a step during setup? ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/uploads/hail/original/2X/7/767756a1e57b0bdb61ec87957d2d503241431e0a.png) ---
**Author:** ![ehigham](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discuss.hail.is/ehigham/32/943_2.png) [@ehigham](https://discuss.hail.is/u/ehigham)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 8:27pm UTC](https://discuss.hail.is/t/spark-exception-when-running-init/3962/2 "2024-10-09T20:27:18Z")
HI @Trisha_Karani , Can you copy and paste the error message. The screenshot truncated the output so I can’t make out what the issue is. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Trisha\_Karani](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discuss.hail.is/trisha_karani/32/1188_2.png) [@Trisha\_Karani](https://discuss.hail.is/u/Trisha_Karani)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 8:57pm UTC](https://discuss.hail.is/t/spark-exception-when-running-init/3962/3 "2024-10-09T20:57:08Z")
I’m getting an error from zulip saying as a new user I can only post two links per post. I’ll try to do it in chunks. ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/uploads/hail/original/2X/1/1abb6bee336444cde2df0c60244f5a22bad53be3.png) ---
**Author:** ![Trisha\_Karani](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discuss.hail.is/trisha_karani/32/1188_2.png) [@Trisha\_Karani](https://discuss.hail.is/u/Trisha_Karani)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 8:57pm UTC](https://discuss.hail.is/t/spark-exception-when-running-init/3962/4 "2024-10-09T20:57:38Z")
![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/uploads/hail/original/2X/7/7950e5e45fed913a8ce1eb4825f934cd0673d42f.png) ---
**Author:** ![Trisha\_Karani](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discuss.hail.is/trisha_karani/32/1188_2.png) [@Trisha\_Karani](https://discuss.hail.is/u/Trisha_Karani)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 8:58pm UTC](https://discuss.hail.is/t/spark-exception-when-running-init/3962/5 "2024-10-09T20:58:08Z")
![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/uploads/hail/original/2X/3/346646713eb6a1c0923fe152c4628dca832212c2.png) ---
**Author:** ![Trisha\_Karani](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discuss.hail.is/trisha_karani/32/1188_2.png) [@Trisha\_Karani](https://discuss.hail.is/u/Trisha_Karani)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 8:58pm UTC](https://discuss.hail.is/t/spark-exception-when-running-init/3962/6 "2024-10-09T20:58:41Z")
![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/uploads/hail/original/2X/8/84c4102bd57bf39a3954dcb56fac3ac418d6691e.png) ---
**Author:** ![Trisha\_Karani](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discuss.hail.is/trisha_karani/32/1188_2.png) [@Trisha\_Karani](https://discuss.hail.is/u/Trisha_Karani)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 8:59pm UTC](https://discuss.hail.is/t/spark-exception-when-running-init/3962/7 "2024-10-09T20:59:26Z")
![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/uploads/hail/original/2X/3/3451498ffcfd33f98018ce55f4e8f66ddb4c1ecd.png) ---
**Author:** ![Trisha\_Karani](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discuss.hail.is/trisha_karani/32/1188_2.png) [@Trisha\_Karani](https://discuss.hail.is/u/Trisha_Karani)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 9:00pm UTC](https://discuss.hail.is/t/spark-exception-when-running-init/3962/8 "2024-10-09T21:00:04Z")
![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/uploads/hail/original/2X/e/e69217537e9f46fcb4f9f29a4669d2592e9b1fe8.png) ---
**Author:** ![Trisha\_Karani](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discuss.hail.is/trisha_karani/32/1188_2.png) [@Trisha\_Karani](https://discuss.hail.is/u/Trisha_Karani)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 9:00pm UTC](https://discuss.hail.is/t/spark-exception-when-running-init/3962/9 "2024-10-09T21:00:34Z")
![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/uploads/hail/original/2X/3/3677c53039ed70d3738a7f594158945c8861606e.png) ---
**Author:** ![ehigham](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discuss.hail.is/ehigham/32/943_2.png) [@ehigham](https://discuss.hail.is/u/ehigham)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 9:50pm UTC](https://discuss.hail.is/t/spark-exception-when-running-init/3962/10 "2024-10-09T21:50:05Z")
Hi @Trisha_Karani, Thanks for sharing all those screenshots. Odd it didn’t let you paste a stacktrace. Anyway… Not too sure what’s going on here. Couple of things to check: 1. How did you install hail? Did you pip install using a conda environment (or other virtual environment) or using your system’s python installation? We generally recommend using a conda environment so that’s something to try if you aren’t already: [test\_multi\_way\_zip\_join\_highly\_unbalanced\_partitions\_\_issue\_14245](https://hail.is/docs/batch/getting_started.html#installing-batch-on-mac-os-x-or-gnu-linux-with-pip) 1. [Java - Errors - Apple Mac M1 · Issue #13758 · JohnSnowLabs/spark-nlp · GitHub](https://github.com/JohnSnowLabs/spark-nlp/issues/13758) looks suspiciously similar to your issue. In the resolution, there’s talk about having a compatible Java installation. Can you follow the thread therein and check your java installation is compatible? 2. I’ve sometimes struggled with spark on a mac. I’ve found that starting the python process with the environment variable `SPARK_LOCAL_IP` defined can help with connection errors. For example, if you’re starting `ipython` from a terminal and you plan to use spark in local mode (ie not connecting to a remote spark cluster): ```bash SPARK_LOCAL_IP='127.0.0.1' ipython ``` Let me know how you get on. I hope this helps!