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This document is a WORK IN PROGRESS.
This is just a quick personal cheat sheet: treat its contents with caution!

Conda

Conda is an alternative to pip + venv.

Reference(s)

Table of contents

Avoid dotfile madness

Prior to installation, make sure you stay in control of your home directory.

Install

Reference(s)

Prerequisite(s)

Download the latest Miniconda installer and run it like so: 

$ bash Miniconda3-latest-Linux-x86_64.sh -b -p /opt/conda/miniconda3
$ mkdir -p $HOME/.config/conda
$ touch $CONDARC
$ echo "auto_activate_base: false" >> $CONDARC
$ conda config --system --set auto_activate_base false
$ rm -rf $HOME/.conda

Uninstall

$ sudo rm -rf /opt/conda

$ vi $HOME/.bashrc # or ${ZDOTDIR:-${HOME}}/.zshrc or wherever
    > ...
  - > # CONDA
  - > export CONDA_ROOT=/opt/conda
  - > export CONDA_ENVS_PATH=/opt/conda/envs
  - > export CONDA_PKGS_DIRS=/opt/conda/pkgs
  - > export CONDARC="${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-${HOME/.config}}/conda/condarc"
    > ...

$ source $HOME/.bashrc # or ${ZDOTDIR:-${HOME}}/.zshrc or wherever

Config

If you prefer Conda base environment not activated on startup, set the auto_activate_base parameter to false: 

$ conda config --set auto_activate_base false

  • Activate base Conda: 

    $ conda activate

  • Deactivate Conda: 

    $ conda deactivate

TODO

Use

  • Create a Conda environment for a project with a (previously configured) .yml file: 
    $ cd /path/to/projectname
$ conda env create -f environment.yml

TODO

Troubleshooting

If you are using Zsh, when using conda activate ..., you might encounter the following error: /home/user/miniconda3/envs/projectname/etc/conda/activate.d/toolchain_activate.sh:3: = not found

You can try to solve this error by modifying your .zshrc file like bellow (see https://github.com/conda-forge/toolchain-feedstock/issues/49): 

$ vi ${ZDOTDIR:-${HOME}}/.zshrc # or wherever
    > ...
    > # >>> conda initialize >>>
    > # !! Contents within this block are managed by 'conda init' !!
    > __conda_setup="$('/home/user/miniconda3/bin/conda' 'shell.zsh' 'hook' 2> /dev/null)"
    > if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    >     eval "$__conda_setup"
    > else
    >     if [ -f "/home/user/miniconda3/etc/profile.d/conda.sh" ]; then
    >         # The following line might not work with zsh:
    >         . "/home/user/miniconda3/etc/profile.d/conda.sh"
    >         # see <https://github.com/conda-forge/toolchain-feedstock/issues/49>
    >         #emulate bash -c ". /home/user/miniconda3/etc/profile.d/conda.sh"
    >     else
    >         export PATH="/home/user/miniconda3/bin:$PATH"
    >     fi
    > fi
    > unset __conda_setup
    > # <<< conda initialize <<<
    > ...

You can also try to replace every == by = in the following files (in order to be POSIX compliant):

  • /home/user/miniconda3/envs/anf-ml/etc/conda/activate.d/toolchain_activate.sh
  • /home/user/miniconda3/envs/anf-ml/etc/conda/deactivate.d/toolchain_deactivate.sh

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