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Debugging Anaconda

Debugging Anaconda#

Sometimes packages will not install as wanted (resulting in import errors, Anaconda Navigator is not behaving as expected or does not start up at all. This page summarizes remedies for such problems.

Conda environment creation never finishes#

Phenomenon: creating a conda environment with and environment file (conda env create -f environment.yml) results in quasi-eternal loading without the environment being installed even after several hours.

Fix: Before creating the environment, set the installation priority to strict (answer adapted from https://stackoverflow.com/questions/63734508/stuck-at-solving-environment-on-anaconda):

conda config --set channel_priority strict

Conda package installation fails#

Phenomenon: Installation of a Python library or package through Anaconda Prompt fails.

Fix: Several reason may cause that installing new packages fails in Anaconda Prompt or Linux / macOS Terminal:

  • Make sure to close all Python-dependent applications (e.g., Jupyter or PyCharm) before installing.

  • Conflict solving activates:

    • Wait until conflicts are parsed (and solved)

    • Enter conda update conda

    • Enter conda update anaconda

    • Restart Terminal or Anaconda Prompt

    • Try to re-install the package prompted.

Anaconda Navigator does not start up#

The most common problems for Anaconda not starting up are listed in the developer’s docs and include:

  • Delete a potentially corrupted .condarc file. To do that, open Anaconda Prompt (on Windows) or Terminal (on Linux or macOS) and enter:

    • conda info to learn where the .condarc file is located (on Windows typically C:\Users\Username),

    • Open the indicated directory (e.g., in Windows explorer),

    • Delete the .condarc file.

  • Try to launch Anaconda Navigator from Anaconda Prompt (or Linux / macOS Terminal) by entering anaconda-navigator.

  • Fix perfmission issues by deleting the .continuum directory:

    • Windows: Open Anaconda Prompt and run rd /s .continuum

    • Linux / macOS: Open Terminal and run rm -rf ~/.continuum

  • Update Anaconda Navigator from Anaconda Prompt (or Linux / macOS Terminal) by entering conda update anaconda-navigator

  • Re-install Anaconda Navigator from Anaconda Prompt (or Linux / macOS Terminal) by running:

    • conda remove anaconda-navigator

    • conda install anaconda-navigator

  • Reset Anaconda Navigator configuration from Anaconda Prompt (or Linux / macOS Terminal) by running anaconda-navigator --reset (caution: this may be destructive).

Other, bug-fixes, not listed on the above-metioned developer’s website are:

  • Re-initialize conda from Anaconda Prompt (or Linux / macOS Terminal) by running conda init. Then, close and re-open Anaconda Prompt (or Terminal).

  • Update conda and Anaconda Navigator from Anaconda Prompt (or Linux / macOS Terminal) as root:

    • activate root

    • conda update -n root conda

    • conda update --all

    • conda update anaconda-navigator

  • Re-install PyQt5 from Anaconda Prompt (or Linux / macOS Terminal):

    • pip uninstall PyQt5

    • pip install PyQt5

    • pip install pyqtwebengine

Large storage size of Anaconda#

The Anaconda base environment comes with many pre-installed packages and can be very storage intensive in the order of many gigabytes. Every new environment that is produced can take the same size and multiple conda environments may jam your hard disk. Again, there are some solutions:

  • Create light-weight environments with Miniconda.

  • Clean tarballs an unnecessary package installation files with Anaconda Prompt or Linux / macOS Terminal:

    • Aggressive cleanup: conda clean --all (read more in the developer’s docs).

    • Conservative cleanup: conda clean -tipsy

Cannot find … path#

In Anaconda Prompt or Linux / macOS Terminal run conda init and restart the application.

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