How to install PyPi packages using anaconda conda command
Question:
When using the Anacoda Python distribution, what is the best way to install a PyPi package that isn’t available directly through Anaconda? For now I’m using:
conda pipbuild [pypi_name]
conda install --use-local [package_spec]
But I’m unclear if this is the best way and if conda update --all will update these packages when updates are made available. I’m also unclear what the point of binstar is when PyPi already exists.
Answers:
If you want to build conda packages for PyPI packages, the recommended way is to use conda skeleton pypi package and use conda build package on the recipe that it creates. To install the package, use conda install --use-local package (here and elsewhere, package is the name of the PyPI package you wish to install).
You will need to update the recipe each time the package is updated.
You can also use pip to install these packages. There are two disadvantages: firstly, these packages won’t be managed by conda at all. Secondly, these packages will not work if your default python version is different from the python version you are using in conda.
I will disagree with the accepted response and note that pip install [some-pypi-package] is often the best way to install PyPi packages in Conda environments.
While the packages won’t be managed by the Conda package manager, they will still be managed by the Anaconda environment. It will download the correct version of the package for the active Python install and update it correctly using the pip package manager.
When using Anaconda, you should turn to conda before pip when you can, but you don’t lose any of the replicability benefits of using Anaconda when you use pip.
Anaconda recently published a doc that supports this: https://docs.conda.io/projects/conda/en/latest/user-guide/tasks/manage-environments.html#using-pip-in-an-environment
Since version 4.6.0, Conda has improved its interoperability with pip:
Conda and pip have historically had difficulties getting along. Pip
hasn’t respected Conda’s environment constraints, while Conda has been
all too happy to clobber pip-installed software. It’s a mess. Conda
4.6.0 adds preview support for better interoperability. With this interoperability, Conda can use pip-installed packages to satisfy
dependencies, and can even remove pip-installed software cleanly and
replace them with Conda packages when appropriate. There’s still room
for improvement before pip and Conda are hunky-dory BFFs, but we hope
this is a good start. This feature is disabled by default right now
because it can significantly impact Conda’s performance. If you’d like
to try it, you can set this condarc setting:
conda config --set pip_interop_enabled True
So, the way to get PyPI packages into conda (at the time of writing this) seems to be:
pip install <package>
If you want conda to replace the PyPI packages with its own (where possible), just run:
conda update --all
Given that the above setting is made. Conda marks its own channels as higher priority than pip, thus packages will be replaced.
There is a caveat (thanks @alfalfasprout): Since conda did not install the pypi packages they are not included in conda export --from-history. You’d have to get the list (from conda or pip) and install these packages separately via pip, like you did originally. Thus, for people using the conda history functionality, there is at least a second step needed.
When using the Anacoda Python distribution, what is the best way to install a PyPi package that isn’t available directly through Anaconda? For now I’m using:
conda pipbuild [pypi_name]
conda install --use-local [package_spec]
But I’m unclear if this is the best way and if conda update --all will update these packages when updates are made available. I’m also unclear what the point of binstar is when PyPi already exists.
If you want to build conda packages for PyPI packages, the recommended way is to use conda skeleton pypi package and use conda build package on the recipe that it creates. To install the package, use conda install --use-local package (here and elsewhere, package is the name of the PyPI package you wish to install).
You will need to update the recipe each time the package is updated.
You can also use pip to install these packages. There are two disadvantages: firstly, these packages won’t be managed by conda at all. Secondly, these packages will not work if your default python version is different from the python version you are using in conda.
I will disagree with the accepted response and note that pip install [some-pypi-package] is often the best way to install PyPi packages in Conda environments.
While the packages won’t be managed by the Conda package manager, they will still be managed by the Anaconda environment. It will download the correct version of the package for the active Python install and update it correctly using the pip package manager.
When using Anaconda, you should turn to conda before pip when you can, but you don’t lose any of the replicability benefits of using Anaconda when you use pip.
Anaconda recently published a doc that supports this: https://docs.conda.io/projects/conda/en/latest/user-guide/tasks/manage-environments.html#using-pip-in-an-environment
Since version 4.6.0, Conda has improved its interoperability with pip:
Conda and pip have historically had difficulties getting along. Pip
hasn’t respected Conda’s environment constraints, while Conda has been
all too happy to clobber pip-installed software. It’s a mess. Conda
4.6.0 adds preview support for better interoperability. With this interoperability, Conda can use pip-installed packages to satisfy
dependencies, and can even remove pip-installed software cleanly and
replace them with Conda packages when appropriate. There’s still room
for improvement before pip and Conda are hunky-dory BFFs, but we hope
this is a good start. This feature is disabled by default right now
because it can significantly impact Conda’s performance. If you’d like
to try it, you can set this condarc setting:
conda config --set pip_interop_enabled True
So, the way to get PyPI packages into conda (at the time of writing this) seems to be:
pip install <package>
If you want conda to replace the PyPI packages with its own (where possible), just run:
conda update --all
Given that the above setting is made. Conda marks its own channels as higher priority than pip, thus packages will be replaced.
There is a caveat (thanks @alfalfasprout): Since conda did not install the pypi packages they are not included in conda export --from-history. You’d have to get the list (from conda or pip) and install these packages separately via pip, like you did originally. Thus, for people using the conda history functionality, there is at least a second step needed.