Updating Anaconda fails: Environment Not Writable Error

Question

I'm trying to update Anaconda and its packages using conda update --name root conda, but it fails every time.

Error message : EnvironmentNotWritableError: The current user does not have write permissions to the target environment. environment location: C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3

Environment location: C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3. I replaced the root with base, still I get the same error.

Any help?

Maybe you could give some more details about your environment and the versions of software that might be pertinent to the question to help anyone who might be able to help you. — Damo, Mar 21 '19 at 22:46
In addition, in more recent versions of conda (for the last 1.5 years or so) the main environment is called `base`, not `root`. — darthbith, Mar 22 '19 at 00:42
environment location: C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3. I replaced the root with base. I get the same error — A. E. Fahim, Mar 22 '19 at 20:58
If using windows 10, open terminal with "Run as administrator" — o.O, Jan 07 '22 at 11:43
When installing packages, this error can occur if you have forgot to first activate your environment. (Not your issue exactly but it may help other people with who have that issue and find this question.) — HelloGoodbye, Jun 07 '22 at 12:46

score 136 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 26 '19 at 15:43

136

start your command prompt with run as administrator

answered Mar 26 '19 at 15:43

Akshat Tamrakar

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This is not correct. At least under Linux/Mac OS conda is not supposed to require super user rights. – lumbric Sep 25 '19 at 09:24
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It worked well for me. Could you explain why your solution is worked? – Hamed Baziyad Nov 04 '19 at 08:58
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It worked for me on Windows 10. I haven't tried on Mac, but I would try running the command as sudo conda update --name root conda. – Bremsstrahlung Dec 07 '19 at 21:47
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@hamedbaziyad yes, it might be considered as workaround and might solve your problem, but running conda with super user rights should not be necessary in many cases and is probably not the best thing to do in these cases. Running commands with super user rights can cause more damage than without, so it is always better to avoid super user rights. Also users might not have super user rights but still want to update conda. – lumbric Dec 16 '19 at 12:28
It worked for me . Only after doing this , I can get my Spyder IDE ,updated to the latest version.... – Arun Karthik Jul 12 '20 at 06:06
For Linux/Mac: see answers by @Sushanth or lumbric (me), this answer here is wrong. Conda does not necessarily require root access to install software. – lumbric Feb 12 '21 at 16:48
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On Windows, if you're trying to install packages into the `base` environment (which is installed to `C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3`), you'll need admin access. If you first create an environment (which should install in your user directory under .conda\envs) and activate it, you no longer need admin right for that environment. Don't forget to activate the env after creating it. – C.J. Jackson May 11 '21 at 19:18
Worked like a charm for me. – Swapnadeep Mukherjee Mar 06 '22 at 13:46
This works. But how to do this from the terminal *within VS Code*? – codeananda Nov 09 '22 at 10:09

score 81 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 10 '20 at 07:21

81

If you face this issue in Linux, one of the common reasons can be that the folder "anaconda3" or "anaconda2" has root ownership. This prevents other users from writing into the folder. This can be resolved by changing the ownership of the folder from root to "USER" by running the command:

sudo chown -R $USER:$USER anaconda3

or sudo chown -R $USER:$USER <path of anaconda 3/2 folder>

Note: How to figure out whether a folder has root ownership? -- There will be a lock symbol on the top right corner of the respective folder. Or right-click on the folder->properties and you will be able to see the owner details

The -R argument lets the $USER access all the folders and files within the folder anaconda3 or anaconda2 or any respective folder. It stands for "recursive".

edited Jun 10 '20 at 07:21

Anshuman Kumar

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answered Jul 22 '19 at 11:21

Sushanth

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Worked for me. However, I think you need to change the ownership of ~/.conda as well since it contains, for example, environments.txt which needs to be updated. – user118967 Dec 20 '19 at 01:01
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sudo chown -R $USER:$GROUP – Guy Apr 04 '20 at 14:13
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Where is the anaconda folder typically located? If you are on a computer shared with other people, such as a server, is this solution really recommended? – HelloGoodbye Jun 07 '22 at 09:22

score 62 · Answer 3 · edited Dec 02 '19 at 06:52

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On Windows, search for Anaconda PowerShell Prompt. Right click the program and select Run as administrator. In the command prompt, execute the following command:

conda update -n base -c defaults conda

Your Anaconda should now update without admin related errors.

edited Dec 02 '19 at 06:52

nms

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answered Apr 25 '19 at 14:01

Peter Bisimbeko

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Did not work for me. – user118967 Oct 18 '22 at 17:43
Running the update command in the administrator mode solved the issue here – Humberto Fioravante Ferro Dec 03 '22 at 23:07
Can you tell me why, when I run conda update -n base -c defaults conda it says Warning: A newer version of conda exists please run conda update -n base -c defaults conda? Keeps me amused for hours.... – Stephen Ellwood Mar 16 '23 at 10:56

score 30 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 21 '20 at 00:08

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Open this folder "C:\ProgramData\" and right-click on "\Anaconda3". go to properties -> security and check all the boxes for each user. This worked for me.

answered Feb 21 '20 at 00:08

Agu Yitzkak

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Worked for me too while using miniconda – Anthony Apr 23 '20 at 18:47
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@Anthony you have to be an admin to make those changes. – brethvoice Dec 31 '21 at 03:33
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Easy solution that works (should you be administrator) – tibibou Jun 26 '22 at 21:34

score 26 · Answer 5 · edited Aug 06 '19 at 12:19

If you get this error under Linux when running conda using sudo, you might be suffering from bug #7267:

When logging in as non-root user via sudo, e.g. by:

sudo -u myuser -i

conda seems to assume that it is run as root and raises an error.

The only known workaround seems to be: Add the following line to your ~/.bashrc:

unset SUDO_UID SUDO_GID SUDO_USER

...or unset the ENV variables by running the line in a different way before running conda.

If you mistakenly installed anaconda/miniconda as root/via sudo this can also lead to the same error, then you might want to do the following:

sudo chown -R username /path/to/anaconda3

Tested with conda 4.6.14.

score 17 · Answer 6 · answered Nov 16 '20 at 13:48

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On Windows in general, running command prompt with administrator works. But if you don't want to do that every time, specify Full control permissions of your user (or simply all users) on Anaconda3 directory. Be aware that specifying it for all users allows other users to install their own packages and modify the content.

answered Nov 16 '20 at 13:48

Matej Čief

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Only Windows solution that worked for me. – user118967 Oct 18 '22 at 18:27

score 16 · Answer 7 · answered Jan 21 '20 at 13:18

I had installed anaconda via the system installer on OS X in the past, which created a ~/.conda/environments.txt owned by root. Conda could not modify this file, hence the error.

To fix this issue, I changed the ownership of that directory and file to my username:

sudo chown -R $USER ~/.conda

score 8 · Answer 8 · answered Sep 24 '19 at 07:57

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I had the same issue and the base environment was in C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3. This is the case, when Anaconda is installed for all users.

As a solution, I re-installed Anaconda just for me and now the base environment is in \AppData\Local\Continuum\anaconda3. This now can be updated via conda update without admin privileges.

answered Sep 24 '19 at 07:57

bastelflp

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I believe this answer is out of date. I installed only for local user (myself) not all users and I am still having the same issue. – brethvoice Dec 31 '21 at 03:34

score 3 · Answer 9 · answered Sep 02 '19 at 09:51

As an alternative, I would suggest looking at your conda config file.

Reason

Sometimes for creating a virtual env at a specified location other than the pre-defined path at ~/anaconda3/envs we append the conda config file using: conda config --append envs_dirs /path/to/envs where envs_dirs is a specified function in config file for allocating different paths where conda can find your virtual envs. Removing a recently added path in this config file may solve the problem.

Solution

$:> conda config --show envs_dirs

    envs_dirs:
    - /home/some_recent_path    # remove this
    - /home/.../anaconda3/envs

Note the value specifing a different directory other than the predefined location, and remove it using

$:> conda config --remove envs_dirs /home/some_recent_path

Now the config file envs_dirs is set to default location of envs. Try creating a new env now.

On Windows 11, running Conda as admin solved package installation failure issue for me. — kraftwerk, Sep 26 '22 at 13:51

score 3 · Answer 10 · edited Feb 07 '20 at 23:53

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this line of code on your terminal, solves the problem

$ sudo chown -R $USER:$USER anaconda 3

edited Feb 07 '20 at 23:53

Marco Bonelli

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answered Feb 07 '20 at 22:02

Stephen Paul

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For linux users only – Stephen Paul Feb 07 '20 at 22:02

score 2 · Answer 11 · answered Apr 04 '21 at 05:02

WINDOWS: I also got following error while (base) PS E:\Python> conda install ConfigParser

Verifying transaction: failed

EnvironmentNotWritableError: The current user does not have write permissions to the target environment. environment location: C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3

My solution: Open Command prompt as administrator, then above command again and it worked.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>conda install ConfigParser

Collecting package metadata (current_repodata.json): done Solving environment: done

Package Plan

environment location: C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3

added / updated specs: - configparser

The following NEW packages will be INSTALLED:

configparser pkgs/main/noarch::configparser-5.0.2-pyhd3eb1b0_0

Proceed ([y]/n)? y

Preparing transaction: done Verifying transaction: done Executing transaction: done

score 2 · Answer 12 · answered Jun 22 '21 at 17:04

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I had the same problem. The cause for me was that when downloading Anaconda, I chose 'download for all users' instead of 'just for me'. I uninstalled it, re-installed it and corrected that. And I'm not getting this error anymore.

answered Jun 22 '21 at 17:04

N Katz

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score 1 · Answer 13 · answered Sep 29 '21 at 04:29

On Windows,

Create a new environment with

conda create --name py35 python=3.5

see conda cheat sheet

Activate this environment

activate py35
Now you don't need to have root access to your new environment.

As mentioned in a comment to the accepted answer, the default environment base requires administrative rights on Windows:

On Windows, if you're trying to install packages into the base environment (which is installed to C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3), you'll need admin access. If you first create an environment (which should install in your user directory under .conda\envs) and activate it, you no longer need admin right for that environment. Don't forget to activate the env after creating it. – C.J. Jackson

score 0 · Answer 14 · answered Sep 20 '19 at 03:00

0

In my case somehow CONDA_ENVS_PATH was removed, so I was having NotWritableError. So I fixed the error by specifying

CONDA_ENVS_PATH=~/my-envs:/opt/anaconda/envs

in the .bashrc file

answered Sep 20 '19 at 03:00

Dhiren Hamal

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score 0 · Answer 15 · answered Dec 20 '19 at 17:23

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I was also suffered by same problem. I resolved the problem by reinstalling anaconda(While installation at this time I selected "just for me" as user) and my problem was solved.Try the same

answered Dec 20 '19 at 17:23

user12572145

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score 0 · Answer 16 · edited Mar 30 '20 at 03:30

CONDA UPDATE - NO WRITE ACCESS PROBLEM ## FIXED##

SIMPLE SOLUTION:

Press the Windows+S combination button and type "cmd" into it.
Right click on the Command Prompt App result that shows up and click on "Run as administrator"
Now, in the black window that is open (i.e. your Command prompt), copy and paste the following to check for your version: conda --version
If you want the latest update, then update Conda by running the update command by pasting the following and clicking enter in the command prompt(black window): conda update conda
If a newer version is available, it will prompt you for a yes/no to install the update. Type "yes" and then press Enter to update.

score 0 · Answer 17 · answered Apr 22 '23 at 05:11

You can set Anaconda Navigator to always run as administrator on Windows 10 by following these steps

Right-click on the Anaconda Navigator icon and select “Properties”. Click on the “Compatibility” tab. Check the box next to “Run this program as an administrator”. Click “Apply” and then click “OK”. I hope this helps!

score 0 · Answer 18 · answered Jun 30 '23 at 15:37

I had the same problem when I was trying to install pyLDAvis with the following code in Anaconda Prompt.

conda install -c conda-forge pyLDAvis

I ran the Anaconda Prompt in Administrator mode (run as administrator) and executed the code again. It was installed successfully!

score -2 · Answer 19 · answered Sep 16 '19 at 15:04

-2

Deleting file .condarc (eg./root/.condarc) in the user's home directory before installation, resolved the issue.

answered Sep 16 '19 at 15:04

AVA

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This is a bad idea: won't work for most people most of the time, and could remove some necessary configuration options. – Denise Draper Mar 08 '21 at 07:30

Updating Anaconda fails: Environment Not Writable Error

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