Anaconda won't update: "No default base environment" error

user_3196848 0
Viewed 6795

Issue

I've been trying to update my Anaconda installation, but whether I run the updater from the GUI or the Terminal via conda update conda, I receive the error: "NoBaseEnvironmentError: This conda installation has no default base environment."

I don't understand what is going on here. I have successfully run Python 2 and 3 scripts on this computer. Every tutorial I've found assumes a base environment is created by default. When I run conda info --envs I see an active environment named "base":

# conda environments:
#
base                  *  /Users/MYUSERNAME/anaconda3
ipykernel_py2            /Users/MYUSERNAME/anaconda3/envs/ipykernel_py2
                         /Users/MYUSERNAME/opt/anaconda3

I'm not well-versed in Python or the command line, so I'd appreciate any help in solving this. I imagine all I need to do is set the base environment, but after much Googling I cannot figure out how to do so. All I want to do is update Anaconda.

Things I've Tried

conda activate prior to running update command

conda activate base prior to running update command

sudo conda update conda

conda update -p /Users/MYUSERNAME/anaconda3 conda

All have resulted in the same error.

System Details

I'm running MacOS Catalina 10.15.5, Conda version 4.7.10

conda info output:

 active environment : base
    active env location : /Users/MYUSERNAME/anaconda3
            shell level : 1
       user config file : /Users/MYUSERNAME/.condarc
 populated config files : /Users/MYUSERNAME/.condarc
          conda version : 4.7.10
    conda-build version : 3.18.8
         python version : 3.7.3.final.0
       virtual packages : 
       base environment : /Users/MYUSERNAME/anaconda3  (read only)
           channel URLs : https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/main/osx-64
                          https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/main/noarch
                          https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/r/osx-64
                          https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/r/noarch
          package cache : /Users/MYUSERNAME/anaconda3/pkgs
                          /Users/MYUSERNAME/.conda/pkgs
       envs directories : /Users/MYUSERNAME/.conda/envs
                          /Users/MYUSERNAME/anaconda3/envs
               platform : osx-64
             user-agent : conda/4.7.10 requests/2.22.0 CPython/3.7.3 Darwin/19.5.0 OSX/10.15.5
                UID:GID : 501:20
             netrc file : None
           offline mode : False

conda config --show-sources output:

==> /Users/MYUSERNAME/.condarc <==
ssl_verify: True
channels:
  - defaults
macos-catalina anaconda conda macos python
5 Answers

See if there is a file called history in ~/anaconda3/conda-meta/. If not, create it by writing touch ~/anaconda3/conda-meta/history.

@igor-rivin has already pointed in the direction of this solution in his comment, the post in question is here

user_156752500

I never found the solution to this, but resolved the issue by doing a full clean uninstall of Anaconda using the free trial for App Cleaner Uninstaller. (I first followed uninstall instructions from two different places and still missed a number of key files.)

user_31968480

You need to restart your shell after installing it.

user_135351200

I had the same issue a few months ago. I solved the issue by finding the _conda.exe file in the Anaconda3 directory. Today, I was having issues with finding packages and using pip/conda. I ended up uninstalling anaconda and manually deleting all related files.

All of this to say, make sure you're operating in the 'Anaconda Prompt' application. After running the application, the base environment will be automatically activated. Note that you will have to run the application as an administrator if you downloaded conda to be used by any user on the PC. If you have installed it this way, it will be located in C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3. I suggest adding this to your environment variables to find it easily next time you go in to manage your packages.

user_200086980

You need activate conda enviroment

conda activate base
user_3392060
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