41

I have the following conda environment under Linux:

$ conda info -e
# conda environments:
#
py33                     /u21/coyotito/.anaconda/envs/py33
root                  *  /u21/coyotito/.anaconda

And py33 is created with this command:

$ conda create -n py33 python=3.3 anaconda

The problem is when I activate py33 it still cannot call Python version 3.3.

[coyotito@pearl ~]$ source activate py33
(coyotito)[coyotito@pearl ~]$ python --version
Python 2.7.10 :: Anaconda 2.1.0 (64-bit)
(coyotito)[coyotito@pearl ~]$ conda info -e
# conda environments:
#
py33                     /u21/coyotito/.anaconda/envs/py33
root                  *  /u21/coyotito/.anaconda

Namely it still calling old python. Notice also that the prompt under bracket is not (py33).

(coyotito)[coyotito@pearl ~]$ which python
~/.anaconda/bin/python

Instead of python in new environment:

~/.anaconda/envs/py33/bin/python3.3

How can I resolve this issue?

Update

My PATH environment in ~/.bash_profile looks like this:

export PATH=$HOME/.anaconda/bin:$PATH
Ulrich Eckhardt
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neversaint
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    This is strange. If you get an error when typing `source deactivate` may be a sign that you have two concurrent versions of anaconda one in an environment? Maybe this is what is creating problems? – Reblochon Masque Apr 20 '16 at 03:58
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    When you are in your root conda environment what does `which activate` return? – Paul Apr 20 '16 at 14:48
  • @Paul: `$HOME/bin/activate` – neversaint Apr 21 '16 at 00:28
  • Same happens to me when I create an environment for 2.7, when I use a more modern python 3.4 anaconda : / I need 2.7 for an online course, which still didn't update their material. – Zelphir Kaltstahl May 30 '16 at 15:41

6 Answers6

56

I had the exact same problem. Not sure what I did to get into that mess, but I solved it with a simple:

conda deactivate
conda activate foo_env

(If you have activated multiple environments, you may need to run conda deactivate multiple times.)

Tahlor
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    I can confirm, but do you know why exactly do we need to deactivate ? – marman Sep 23 '19 at 17:43
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    In my case, the problem happened after installing new packages. `conda` was "forgetting" it was using a different python version. – Dr_Zaszuś Jun 25 '20 at 09:50
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    Just make sure you exit the default 'base' environment too. – Jerry Ajay Sep 21 '21 at 19:06
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    what @JerryAjay said saved me, conda will load 'base' environment by default when terminal initializes. Screwed up my whole path. – jtgi Jan 07 '22 at 07:33
28

TLDR;

# deactivate Conda environment
# (until even base environment is deactivated)
conda deactivate
# activate your environment
conda activate your_env_name_goes_here

try this

Activate an environment A and then check the location of Python package by using the command below.

python -c "import sys; print(sys.executable)"

Activate another environment, let's say environment B and rerun the above python command. If conda isn't using the correct Python version then most likely running the above command will print the same path in both environments.

My conda installation wasn't using the correct version because I had activated my environment on top of the conda base environment.

Deactivating the base environment and then activating the environment I wanted, worked.

Raza
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    This really helped. I first deactivated my current env, then deactivated base env, and then reactivated my env. Worked. – Cletus Ajibade May 07 '20 at 02:46
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    Yes, deactivating all the environments did the trick for me. – 2dor Sep 22 '20 at 11:32
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    This worked for me, I did not notice I was activating from the base environment until running across this answer. All good now. – jthomas Oct 28 '20 at 14:42
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    This worked for me, thanks! still, this is strange, I don't get the same behavior on fedora. If I activate the env on top of the base env, it changes as it should. – jorgehumberto Jun 01 '21 at 09:31
11

Landed here with this same issue, but by moving out of the anaconda executable directory, the correct python was called. I was in a directory that contained the python executable that was installed with Anaconda2.

Example:

(py35) C:\Anaconda>python --version
Python 2.7.11 :: Anaconda 4.0.0 (64-bit)

(py35) C:\Anaconda>cd ..

(py35) C:\>python --version
Python 3.5.2 :: Anaconda 4.2.0 (64-bit)

(py35) C:\>
lwright
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    thank god finally I got to know this after wasting hours, everything was correct once I moved to another directory: ) – Abhinav Kumar Sep 05 '21 at 08:42
  • Besides the documented security reason, this example is another justification for not keeping "." in your PATH environment, if you are using any of *NIX based operating systems. – Seshadri R May 07 '22 at 08:17
4

So in my situation, a intern before me append anaconda path to path variable in /etc/profile, which override my conda setting in ~/.bashrc, simply removing those line in /etc/profile can help.

Chimaopen
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  • I was my own intern, this was messed up on the back of me trying to fix pyenv. Thanks for the tip. – bidi Aug 19 '21 at 17:35
1

This only happens when you create an environment without specifying any additional packages. I am using Conda 4.10.3

Refer https://github.com/conda/conda/issues/9392#issuecomment-696897058

The following comment from the above link worked in my case:

I noticed that it works if i install a packet when i create the environment.

antony@antony-fedora : ~/Workspace/tmp : which python /usr/bin/python
antony@antony-fedora : ~/Workspace/tmp : conda create --name my_env 
antony@antony-fedora : ~/Workspace/tmp : conda activate my_env 
(my_env) antony@antony-fedora : ~/Workspace/tmp : which python
/usr/bin/python 
(my_env) antony@antony-fedora : ~/Workspace/tmp : conda create --name my_env pip  
(my_env) antony@antony-fedora : ~/Workspace/tmp : conda activate my_env 
(my_env) antony@antony-fedora : ~/Workspace/tmp : which python ~/anaconda3/envs/my_env/bin/python

Also, recommend adding conda deactivate to the end of your .zshenv or .bash_profile

wuerfelfreak
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rhimanshu909
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1

With MacOS, I was facing a similar issue. I was able to resolve the issue by changing the python interpreter (appears on bottom left corner) within VS-code.

Akul Bansal
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