Conda very slow and downloading only from conda forge?
Question:
The issue
I have recently installed Anaconda3 (as downloaded on 31-Mar-2023) onto a Windows PC. I chose the installation for my username only, which doesn’t require admin rights. It’s my private PC, so no corporate firewalls.
Quite simply, conda doesn’t work. Even a banal command like conda update pandas will result in:
Collecting package metadata (current_repodata.json): done
Solving environment: failed with repodata from current_repodata.json, will retry with next repodata source.
Solving environment: failed with repodata from current_repodata.json, will retry with next repodata source.
Collecting package metadata (repodata.json): |
and, even if I leave it an hour, it remains stuck at collecting package metadata. To be clear, pandas doesn’t need updating, mine was just a test to see if conda works properly, and it doesn’t.
What I have tried
Beyond uninstalling and reinstalling multiple times, I have disabled my firewall (Eset on Windows) thinking that maybe it was blocking access to the remote repositories.
I now get the message that loads of packages will be downloaded from conda forge – but these are all packages which I already have, and the version is the same, too. I did not go ahead with this.
The following packages will be downloaded:
package | build
---------------------------|-----------------
[...]
numpy-1.24.2 | py310hd02465a_0 5.6 MB conda-forge
openjpeg-2.5.0 | ha2aaf27_2 232 KB conda-forge
openssl-1.1.1t | hcfcfb64_0 5.0 MB conda-forge
packaging-23.0 | pyhd8ed1ab_0 40 KB conda-forge
pandas-1.5.3 | py310h1c4a608_1 10.2 MB conda-forge
pathlib-1.0.1 | py310h5588dad_7 5 KB conda-forge
My interpretation
- It seems I have two problems: the ESET firewall blocks conda
- if I
disable the firewall, conda searches the conda-forge repository
first, and wants to replace the pandas 1.5.3 I already have with the
pandas 1.5.3 from conda-forge, and the same for a number of other
packages
What I have researched
I have found many, many posts on this matter, but they mostly seem to focus on how to use additional repository sources (e.g. conda forge) and how to configure them correctly. Stuck at Solving Environment on Anaconda
I think my case is different – we’re not talking about struggling to install an obscure package from an obscure repository, we’re saying conda cannot even update pandas!
I have found other discussions at
https://github.com/conda/conda/issues/11919
https://github.com/conda/conda/issues/8051
but they don’t seem particularly relevant to my case.
Thoughts? Thanks!
Answers:
Sounds like you have conda-forge included in your channel configuration.
Run conda config --show-sources to see your configuration files and it will likely look something like this:
==> C:Usersroot.condarc <==
channels:
- conda-forge
If so, either manually open and edit the config file or run:
conda config --remove-key channels
The issue
I have recently installed Anaconda3 (as downloaded on 31-Mar-2023) onto a Windows PC. I chose the installation for my username only, which doesn’t require admin rights. It’s my private PC, so no corporate firewalls.
Quite simply, conda doesn’t work. Even a banal command like conda update pandas will result in:
Collecting package metadata (current_repodata.json): done
Solving environment: failed with repodata from current_repodata.json, will retry with next repodata source.
Solving environment: failed with repodata from current_repodata.json, will retry with next repodata source.
Collecting package metadata (repodata.json): |
and, even if I leave it an hour, it remains stuck at collecting package metadata. To be clear, pandas doesn’t need updating, mine was just a test to see if conda works properly, and it doesn’t.
What I have tried
Beyond uninstalling and reinstalling multiple times, I have disabled my firewall (Eset on Windows) thinking that maybe it was blocking access to the remote repositories.
I now get the message that loads of packages will be downloaded from conda forge – but these are all packages which I already have, and the version is the same, too. I did not go ahead with this.
The following packages will be downloaded:
package | build
---------------------------|-----------------
[...]
numpy-1.24.2 | py310hd02465a_0 5.6 MB conda-forge
openjpeg-2.5.0 | ha2aaf27_2 232 KB conda-forge
openssl-1.1.1t | hcfcfb64_0 5.0 MB conda-forge
packaging-23.0 | pyhd8ed1ab_0 40 KB conda-forge
pandas-1.5.3 | py310h1c4a608_1 10.2 MB conda-forge
pathlib-1.0.1 | py310h5588dad_7 5 KB conda-forge
My interpretation
- It seems I have two problems: the ESET firewall blocks conda
- if I
disable the firewall, conda searches the conda-forge repository
first, and wants to replace the pandas 1.5.3 I already have with the
pandas 1.5.3 from conda-forge, and the same for a number of other
packages
What I have researched
I have found many, many posts on this matter, but they mostly seem to focus on how to use additional repository sources (e.g. conda forge) and how to configure them correctly. Stuck at Solving Environment on Anaconda
I think my case is different – we’re not talking about struggling to install an obscure package from an obscure repository, we’re saying conda cannot even update pandas!
I have found other discussions at
https://github.com/conda/conda/issues/11919
https://github.com/conda/conda/issues/8051
but they don’t seem particularly relevant to my case.
Thoughts? Thanks!
Sounds like you have conda-forge included in your channel configuration.
Run conda config --show-sources to see your configuration files and it will likely look something like this:
==> C:Usersroot.condarc <==
channels:
- conda-forge
If so, either manually open and edit the config file or run:
conda config --remove-key channels