I have Anaconda installed on my computer and I'd like to update it. In Navigator I can see that there are several individual packages that can be updated, but also an anaconda package that sometimes has a version number and sometimes says custom. How do I proceed?
If you are trying to update your Anaconda version to a new one, you'll notice that running the new installer wouldn't work, as it complains the installation directory is non-empty.
So you should use conda to upgrade as detailed by the official docs:
conda update conda
conda update anaconda
This prevents the error:
ERROR conda.core.link:_execute(502): An error occurred while uninstalling package 'defaults::conda-4.5.4-py36_0'. PermissionError(13, 'Access is denied')
This is what the official Anaconda documentation recommends:
conda update conda
conda install anaconda=2021.11
You can find the current and past version codes here.
The command will update to a specific release of the Anaconda meta-package.
I feel like (contrary to the claim made in the accepted answer) this is more what 95% of Anaconda users want imho: Upgrading to the latest version of the Anaconda meta-package (put together and tested by the Anaconda Distributors) and ignoring the update status of individual packages, which would be issued by conda update --all.
Open Anaconda cmd in base mode:
Then use conda update conda to update Anaconda.
You can then use conda update --all to update all the requirements for Anaconda:
conda update conda
conda update --all
Here's the best practice (in my humble experience). Selecting these four packages will also update all other dependencies to the appropriate versions that will help you keep your environment consistent. The latter is a common problem others have expressed in earlier responses. This solution doesn't need the terminal.
Yet, another answer:
conda update -n base conda -c anaconda
where -c your preferred channel or simply leave out.
I'm using Windows 10. The following updates everything and also installs some new packages, including a Python update (for me it was 3.7.3).
At the shell, try the following (be sure to change where your Anaconda 3 Data is installed). It takes some time to update everything.
conda update --prefix X:\XXXXData\Anaconda3 anaconda
To update your installed version to the latest version, say 2019.07, run:
conda install anaconda=2019.07
In most cases, this method can meet your needs and avoid dependency problems.
This answer wraps up many answers and comments, it does not add new code, all credits go to the other answers, especially this answer that shows how to install the official release, fully in line with the docs.
In the following, the "docs" mean the official Anaconda documentation at Updating from older versions. It makes sense to read the docs, it is a short overview.
And since it will be used quite often, here is the definition of metapackage:
A metapackage is a very simple package that has at least a name and a version. It need not have any dependencies or build steps. Metapackages may list dependencies to several core, low-level libraries and may contain links to software files that are automatically downloaded when executed.
As a first step before the anaconda install, you update conda:
conda update conda
As a second step, you have three choices: custom or official metapackage, or conda update --all.
If you are allowed to have the most recent custom metapackage (mind that this might not always be the best choice for standard packages with constrained dependencies), then you can use
conda install anaconda
Docs:
There is a special “custom” version of the Anaconda metapackage that has all the package dependencies, but none of them are constrained. The “custom” version is lower in version ordering than any actual release number.
The starting point for the tests was the installed release 2021.05. After this, conda update anaconda and conda install anaconda both lead to the same new "downgraded custom version" of custom-py38_1, see at the bottom of the code blocks: version change of anaconda = 2021.05-py38_0 --> custom-py38_1. But using update leads to far more installed packages than install here:
update leads to more installation steps than install(base) C:\WINDOWS\system32>conda update anaconda
Collecting package metadata (current_repodata.json): done
Solving environment: done
## Package Plan ##
environment location: C:\Users\toeft\anaconda3
added / updated specs:
- anaconda
The following packages will be downloaded:
package | build
---------------------------|-----------------
_anaconda_depends-2020.07 | py38_0 6 KB
anaconda-custom | py38_1 36 KB
anaconda-client-1.8.0 | py38haa95532_0 170 KB
anaconda-project-0.10.1 | pyhd3eb1b0_0 218 KB
astroid-2.6.6 | py38haa95532_0 314 KB
astropy-4.3.1 | py38hc7d831d_0 6.1 MB
attrs-21.2.0 | pyhd3eb1b0_0 46 KB
babel-2.9.1 | pyhd3eb1b0_0 5.5 MB
...
xlsxwriter-3.0.1 | pyhd3eb1b0_0 111 KB
xlwings-0.24.7 | py38haa95532_0 887 KB
zeromq-4.3.4 | hd77b12b_0 4.2 MB
zipp-3.5.0 | pyhd3eb1b0_0 13 KB
zope.interface-5.4.0 | py38h2bbff1b_0 305 KB
zstd-1.4.9 | h19a0ad4_0 478 KB
------------------------------------------------------------
Total: 218.2 MB
The following NEW packages will be INSTALLED:
_anaconda_depends pkgs/main/win-64::_anaconda_depends-2020.07-py38_0
cfitsio pkgs/main/win-64::cfitsio-3.470-he774522_6
charset-normalizer pkgs/main/noarch::charset-normalizer-2.0.4-pyhd3eb1b0_0
conda-pack pkgs/main/noarch::conda-pack-0.6.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0
debugpy pkgs/main/win-64::debugpy-1.4.1-py38hd77b12b_0
fonttools pkgs/main/noarch::fonttools-4.25.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0
gmpy2 pkgs/main/win-64::gmpy2-2.0.8-py38h7edee0f_3
libllvm9 pkgs/main/win-64::libllvm9-9.0.1-h21ff451_0
matplotlib-inline pkgs/main/noarch::matplotlib-inline-0.1.2-pyhd3eb1b0_2
mpc pkgs/main/win-64::mpc-1.1.0-h7edee0f_1
mpfr pkgs/main/win-64::mpfr-4.0.2-h62dcd97_1
mpir pkgs/main/win-64::mpir-3.0.0-hec2e145_1
munkres pkgs/main/noarch::munkres-1.1.4-py_0
The following packages will be REMOVED:
jupyter-packaging-0.7.12-pyhd3eb1b0_0
The following packages will be UPDATED:
anaconda-client 1.7.2-py38_0 --> 1.8.0-py38haa95532_0
anaconda-project 0.9.1-pyhd3eb1b0_1 --> 0.10.1-pyhd3eb1b0_0
astroid 2.5-py38haa95532_1 --> 2.6.6-py38haa95532_0
astropy 4.2.1-py38h2bbff1b_1 --> 4.3.1-py38hc7d831d_0
attrs 20.3.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 21.2.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0
babel 2.9.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 2.9.1-pyhd3eb1b0_0
bitarray 1.9.2-py38h2bbff1b_1 --> 2.3.0-py38h2bbff1b_1
bleach 3.3.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 4.0.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0
bokeh 2.3.2-py38haa95532_0 --> 2.3.3-py38haa95532_0
ca-certificates 2021.4.13-haa95532_1 --> 2021.7.5-haa95532_1
certifi 2020.12.5-py38haa95532_0 --> 2021.5.30-py38haa95532_0
cffi 1.14.5-py38hcd4344a_0 --> 1.14.6-py38h2bbff1b_0
click 7.1.2-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 8.0.1-pyhd3eb1b0_0
comtypes 1.1.9-py38haa95532_1002 --> 1.1.10-py38haa95532_1002
curl 7.71.1-h2a8f88b_1 --> 7.78.0-h86230a5_0
cython 0.29.23-py38hd77b12b_0 --> 0.29.24-py38hd77b12b_0
dask 2021.4.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 2021.8.1-pyhd3eb1b0_0
dask-core 2021.4.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 2021.8.1-pyhd3eb1b0_0
decorator 5.0.6-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 5.0.9-pyhd3eb1b0_0
distributed 2021.4.0-py38haa95532_0 --> 2021.8.1-py38haa95532_0
docutils 0.17-py38haa95532_1 --> 0.17.1-py38haa95532_1
et_xmlfile pkgs/main/noarch::et_xmlfile-1.0.1-py~ --> pkgs/main/win-64::et_xmlfile-1.1.0-py38haa95532_0
fsspec 0.9.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 2021.7.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0
gevent 21.1.2-py38h2bbff1b_1 --> 21.8.0-py38h2bbff1b_1
greenlet 1.0.0-py38hd77b12b_2 --> 1.1.1-py38hd77b12b_0
idna 2.10-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 3.2-pyhd3eb1b0_0
imagecodecs 2021.3.31-py38h5da4933_0 --> 2021.6.8-py38h5da4933_0
intel-openmp 2021.2.0-haa95532_616 --> 2021.3.0-haa95532_3372
ipykernel 5.3.4-py38h5ca1d4c_0 --> 6.2.0-py38haa95532_1
ipython 7.22.0-py38hd4e2768_0 --> 7.26.0-py38hd4e2768_0
isort 5.8.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 5.9.3-pyhd3eb1b0_0
itsdangerous 1.1.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 2.0.1-pyhd3eb1b0_0
jinja2 2.11.3-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 3.0.1-pyhd3eb1b0_0
json5 0.9.5-py_0 --> 0.9.6-pyhd3eb1b0_0
jupyterlab 3.0.14-pyhd3eb1b0_1 --> 3.1.7-pyhd3eb1b0_0
jupyterlab_server 2.4.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 2.7.1-pyhd3eb1b0_0
keyring 22.3.0-py38haa95532_0 --> 23.0.1-py38haa95532_0
krb5 1.18.2-hc04afaa_0 --> 1.19.2-h5b6d351_0
libcurl 7.71.1-h2a8f88b_1 --> 7.78.0-h86230a5_0
libxml2 2.9.10-hb89e7f3_3 --> 2.9.12-h0ad7f3c_0
lz4-c 1.9.3-h2bbff1b_0 --> 1.9.3-h2bbff1b_1
markupsafe 1.1.1-py38he774522_0 --> 2.0.1-py38h2bbff1b_0
matplotlib 3.3.4-py38haa95532_0 --> 3.4.2-py38haa95532_0
matplotlib-base 3.3.4-py38h49ac443_0 --> 3.4.2-py38h49ac443_0
mkl 2021.2.0-haa95532_296 --> 2021.3.0-haa95532_524
mkl-service 2.3.0-py38h2bbff1b_1 --> 2.4.0-py38h2bbff1b_0
mkl_random 1.2.1-py38hf11a4ad_2 --> 1.2.2-py38hf11a4ad_0
more-itertools 8.7.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 8.8.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0
nbconvert 6.0.7-py38_0 --> 6.1.0-py38haa95532_0
networkx 2.5-py_0 --> 2.6.2-pyhd3eb1b0_0
nltk 3.6.1-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 3.6.2-pyhd3eb1b0_0
notebook 6.3.0-py38haa95532_0 --> 6.4.3-py38haa95532_0
numpy 1.20.1-py38h34a8a5c_0 --> 1.20.3-py38ha4e8547_0
numpy-base 1.20.1-py38haf7ebc8_0 --> 1.20.3-py38hc2deb75_0
openjpeg 2.3.0-h5ec785f_1 --> 2.4.0-h4fc8c34_0
openssl 1.1.1k-h2bbff1b_0 --> 1.1.1l-h2bbff1b_0
packaging 20.9-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 21.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0
pandas 1.2.4-py38hd77b12b_0 --> 1.3.2-py38h6214cd6_0
path 15.1.2-py38haa95532_0 --> 16.0.0-py38haa95532_0
pathlib2 2.3.5-py38haa95532_2 --> 2.3.6-py38haa95532_2
pillow 8.2.0-py38h4fa10fc_0 --> 8.3.1-py38h4fa10fc_0
pkginfo 1.7.0-py38haa95532_0 --> 1.7.1-py38haa95532_0
prometheus_client 0.10.1-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 0.11.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0
pydocstyle 6.0.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 6.1.1-pyhd3eb1b0_0
pyerfa 1.7.3-py38h2bbff1b_0 --> 2.0.0-py38h2bbff1b_0
pygments 2.8.1-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 2.10.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0
pylint 2.7.4-py38haa95532_1 --> 2.9.6-py38haa95532_1
pyodbc 4.0.30-py38ha925a31_0 --> 4.0.31-py38hd77b12b_0
pytest 6.2.3-py38haa95532_2 --> 6.2.4-py38haa95532_2
python-dateutil 2.8.1-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 2.8.2-pyhd3eb1b0_0
pywin32 227-py38he774522_1 --> 228-py38hbaba5e8_1
pyzmq 20.0.0-py38hd77b12b_1 --> 22.2.1-py38hd77b12b_1
qtconsole 5.0.3-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 5.1.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0
qtpy 1.9.0-py_0 --> 1.10.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0
regex 2021.4.4-py38h2bbff1b_0 --> 2021.8.3-py38h2bbff1b_0
requests 2.25.1-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 2.26.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0
rope 0.18.0-py_0 --> 0.19.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0
scikit-learn 0.24.1-py38hf11a4ad_0 --> 0.24.2-py38hf11a4ad_1
seaborn 0.11.1-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 0.11.2-pyhd3eb1b0_0
singledispatch 3.6.1-pyhd3eb1b0_1001 --> 3.7.0-pyhd3eb1b0_1001
six pkgs/main/win-64::six-1.15.0-py38haa9~ --> pkgs/main/noarch::six-1.16.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0
sortedcontainers 2.3.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 2.4.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0
sphinx 4.0.1-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 4.0.2-pyhd3eb1b0_0
sphinxcontrib-htm~ 1.0.3-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 2.0.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0
sphinxcontrib-ser~ 1.1.4-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 1.1.5-pyhd3eb1b0_0
sqlalchemy 1.4.7-py38h2bbff1b_0 --> 1.4.22-py38h2bbff1b_0
sqlite 3.35.4-h2bbff1b_0 --> 3.36.0-h2bbff1b_0
testpath 0.4.4-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 0.5.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0
threadpoolctl 2.1.0-pyh5ca1d4c_0 --> 2.2.0-pyhbf3da8f_0
tifffile 2021.4.8-pyhd3eb1b0_2 --> 2021.7.2-pyhd3eb1b0_2
tqdm 4.59.0-pyhd3eb1b0_1 --> 4.62.1-pyhd3eb1b0_1
typed-ast 1.4.2-py38h2bbff1b_1 --> 1.4.3-py38h2bbff1b_1
typing_extensions 3.7.4.3-pyha847dfd_0 --> 3.10.0.0-pyh06a4308_0
urllib3 1.26.4-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 1.26.6-pyhd3eb1b0_1
wheel 0.36.2-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 0.37.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0
xlsxwriter 1.3.8-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 3.0.1-pyhd3eb1b0_0
xlwings 0.23.0-py38haa95532_0 --> 0.24.7-py38haa95532_0
zeromq 4.3.3-ha925a31_3 --> 4.3.4-hd77b12b_0
zipp 3.4.1-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 3.5.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0
zope.interface 5.3.0-py38h2bbff1b_0 --> 5.4.0-py38h2bbff1b_0
zstd 1.4.5-h04227a9_0 --> 1.4.9-h19a0ad4_0
The following packages will be DOWNGRADED:
anaconda 2021.05-py38_0 --> custom-py38_1
install leads to less installation steps than update:(base) C:\WINDOWS\system32>conda install anaconda
Collecting package metadata (current_repodata.json): done
Solving environment: done
## Package Plan ##
environment location: C:\Users\toeft\anaconda3
added / updated specs:
- anaconda
The following packages will be downloaded:
package | build
---------------------------|-----------------
_anaconda_depends-2020.07 | py38_0 6 KB
anaconda-custom | py38_1 36 KB
ca-certificates-2021.7.5 | haa95532_1 113 KB
certifi-2021.5.30 | py38haa95532_0 140 KB
gmpy2-2.0.8 | py38h7edee0f_3 145 KB
libllvm9-9.0.1 | h21ff451_0 61 KB
mpc-1.1.0 | h7edee0f_1 260 KB
mpfr-4.0.2 | h62dcd97_1 1.5 MB
mpir-3.0.0 | hec2e145_1 1.3 MB
openssl-1.1.1l | h2bbff1b_0 4.8 MB
------------------------------------------------------------
Total: 8.4 MB
The following NEW packages will be INSTALLED:
_anaconda_depends pkgs/main/win-64::_anaconda_depends-2020.07-py38_0
gmpy2 pkgs/main/win-64::gmpy2-2.0.8-py38h7edee0f_3
libllvm9 pkgs/main/win-64::libllvm9-9.0.1-h21ff451_0
mpc pkgs/main/win-64::mpc-1.1.0-h7edee0f_1
mpfr pkgs/main/win-64::mpfr-4.0.2-h62dcd97_1
mpir pkgs/main/win-64::mpir-3.0.0-hec2e145_1
The following packages will be UPDATED:
ca-certificates 2021.4.13-haa95532_1 --> 2021.7.5-haa95532_1
certifi 2020.12.5-py38haa95532_0 --> 2021.5.30-py38haa95532_0
openssl 1.1.1k-h2bbff1b_0 --> 1.1.1l-h2bbff1b_0
The following packages will be DOWNGRADED:
anaconda 2021.05-py38_0 --> custom-py38_1
In the following code snippets, update and install lead to the same results. I use install like in the docs.
If you do not want to install a custom version of the metapackage but rather need the most recent official release, install with
conda install anaconda=VersionNumber
At the time of writing, in 09/2021, the latest available release (Anaconda individual edition) is
conda install anaconda=2021.05
But how to get hold of this VersionNumber?
Have a look at the Anaconda Release notes of the individual edition. If you need an older version, you need to scroll down that page, for example to find 2020.11. The most recent is always on top of the page. If you use a commercial edition, you need to check other release notes.
Thus, something like the 2021.05 version code is the latest release shortcut that you need to find. You can also find the full version name of your OS like for example Anaconda3-2021.05-Windows-x86_64.exe in the list of available Anaconda versions that is directly linked in the docs. It is sorted by name and date, thus, you need to search for the year like "YYYY-MM" / "YYYY-" or scroll through the whole list to find the most recent versions:
For the example of Windows 10 64 bit, the command could as well be:
conda update anaconda=Anaconda3-2021.05-Windows-x86_64.exe
If you install a release after having installed the most recent custom metapackage, you will see some packages to be removed and quite many to be downgraded slightly. This is because the release is slightly back in time, but therefore also fully trusted.
Docs:
conda update anaconda=VersionNumbergrabs the specific release of the Anaconda metapackage, for exampleconda update anaconda=2019.10. That metapackage represents a pinned state that has undergone testing as a collection.
conda update --allAs to the docs (last sentence of the following quote below), installing the custom (= most recent) metapackage of 2019.07 can be done as well by running
conda update --all
and if you have virtual environments, you need:
conda update -n myenv --all
YET: This was probably an exception for 2019.07. It does not seem to hold for higher metapackage versions. I checked the differences of conda update --all against conda update anaconda on a row to row comparison (see below, after the quote). Although they seem like twins at first, there were enough small differences to say that you should keep your hands off conda update --all since possible conflicting constraints are even mentioned in the docs.
Docs:
conda update --allwill unpin everything. This updates all packages in the current environment to the latest version. In doing so, it drops all the version constraints from the history and tries to make everything as new as it can.This has the same behavior with removing packages. If any packages are orphaned by an update, they are removed. conda update --all may not be able to make everything the latest versions because you may have conflicting constraints in your environment.
With Anaconda 2019.07’s newer Anaconda metapackage, conda update --all will make the metapackage go to the custom version in order to update other specs.
The whole output, put against each other on a row to row base, reveals the following remaining row differences. This proves that conda update --all is not just the custom metapackage:
conda update --all output lines not found in conda update anaconda(base) C:\WINDOWS\system32>conda update --all
The following packages will be downloaded:
anaconda-navigator-2.0.4 | py38_0 5.2 MB
conda-build-3.21.4 | py38haa95532_0 552 KB
conda-content-trust-0.1.1 | pyhd3eb1b0_0 56 KB
conda-repo-cli-1.0.4 | pyhd3eb1b0_0 47 KB
conda-token-0.3.0 | pyhd3eb1b0_0 10 KB
menuinst-1.4.17 | py38h59b6b97_0 96 KB
python-3.8.11 | h6244533_1 16.0 MB
Total: 224.8 MB
The following NEW packages will be INSTALLED:
conda-content-tru~ pkgs/main/noarch::conda-content-trust-0.1.1-pyhd3eb1b0_0
conda-repo-cli pkgs/main/noarch::conda-repo-cli-1.0.4-pyhd3eb1b0_0
conda-token pkgs/main/noarch::conda-token-0.3.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0
The following packages will be UPDATED:
anaconda-navigator 1.10.0-py38_0 --> 2.0.4-py38_0
conda-build 3.20.5-py38_1 --> 3.21.4-py38haa95532_0
et_xmlfile pkgs/main/noarch::et_xmlfile-1.0.1-py~ --> pkgs/main/win-64::et_xmlfile-1.1.0-py38haa95532_0
menuinst 1.4.16-py38he774522_1 --> 1.4.17-py38h59b6b97_0
python 3.8.8-hdbf39b2_5 --> 3.8.11-h6244533_1
six pkgs/main/win-64::six-1.15.0-py38haa9~ --> pkgs/main/noarch::six-1.16.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0
sphinxcontrib-htm~ 1.0.3-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 2.0.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0
sphinxcontrib-ser~ 1.1.4-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 1.1.5-pyhd3eb1b0_0
conda update anaconda output lines not found in conda update --all(base) C:\WINDOWS\system32>conda update anaconda
added / updated specs:
- anaconda
The following packages will be downloaded:
cfitsio-3.470 | he774522_6 512 KB
imagecodecs-2021.6.8 | py38h5da4933_0 6.1 MB
jinja2-3.0.1 | pyhd3eb1b0_0 110 KB
tifffile-2021.7.2 | pyhd3eb1b0_2 135 KB
typed-ast-1.4.3 | py38h2bbff1b_1 135 KB
Total: 209.8 MB
The following NEW packages will be INSTALLED:
cfitsio pkgs/main/win-64::cfitsio-3.470-he774522_6
The following packages will be UPDATED:
et_xmlfile pkgs/main/noarch::et_xmlfile-1.0.1-py~ --> pkgs/main/win-64::et_xmlfile-1.1.0-py38haa95532_0
imagecodecs 2021.3.31-py38h5da4933_0 --> 2021.6.8-py38h5da4933_0
jinja2 2.11.3-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 3.0.1-pyhd3eb1b0_0
six pkgs/main/win-64::six-1.15.0-py38haa9~ --> pkgs/main/noarch::six-1.16.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0
sphinxcontrib-htm~ 1.0.3-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 2.0.0-pyhd3eb1b0_0
sphinxcontrib-ser~ 1.1.4-pyhd3eb1b0_0 --> 1.1.5-pyhd3eb1b0_0
tifffile 2021.4.8-pyhd3eb1b0_2 --> 2021.7.2-pyhd3eb1b0_2
typed-ast 1.4.2-py38h2bbff1b_1 --> 1.4.3-py38h2bbff1b_1
Therefore, conda update --all is not recommended, better stick to the custom metapackage if you need the highest possible update, or take the official metapackage if you are fine with a lag of a couple of months and a collection of packages without any conflicts is most important (for example, if you are in a production environment).
Some answers or comments say that the custom metapackage install might need to be run twice to get to a proper state. I cannot confirm this (tested with conda install anaconda and conda update anaconda, but I am also in a fresh Python installation). This is still a hint that it might be more stable to install the most recent official metapackage (= release, conda install anaconda=VersionNumber = conda update anaconda=VersionNumber) which can have a lag of some months.
On the other hand, the custom metapackage (the most recent trusted package collection) might be good if you want the most recent versions available. Then run conda install anaconda or the even stronger command conda update anaconda.
This is also the way to update Spyder:
They do not even use conda update conda before conda update anaconda, the latter seems enough.
Small "proof": I used conda update conda at first, and after that, conda update anaconda had nothing to do anymore, conda update conda had done all or the tasks.
conda update anaconda
Collecting package metadata (current_repodata.json): done Solving environment: done
# All requested packages already installed.
That again sounds as if both commands are made the same now, perhaps they have not been the same only in the past.
The choice is up to you, it depends on how urgently you need to be up-to-date with some packages. Just start the installer to see what would happen, you can still enter n to cancel the installation. I am going to take
conda update anaconda
without conda update conda.
And do not take conda update --all unless you need the most recent update of some package, for example as a requirement for another package to be installed. I ran into that when testing --all, only after that, a new tensorflow add-on was suggested for download, but not after the other commands. Normally, you will not need to be up to date on the point, therefore do not use --all.
On Mac, open a terminal and run the following two commands.
conda update conda
conda update anaconda
Make sure to run each command multiple times to update to the current version.
Use:
conda create -n py37 -c anaconda anaconda=5.3.1
conda env export -n py37 --file env.yaml
Locate the env.yaml file in C:\Windows\System32 and run the cmd as administrator:
conda env update -n root -f env.yaml
Then it works!