Environments

With Anaconda Desktop, you can create and manage conda environments to isolate your projects and dependencies using a graphical interface.

Anaconda Desktop also includes several pre-configured quick start environments that come with curated packages for fields that rely on data analytics.

Viewing environments

To view your environments, select Environments from the left navigation.

The Environments page displays your environments in a table. Select a column header to sort environments by name, number of packages, or when it was last updated.

Select an environment’s name to open the environment’s details page. From the details page, you can view the environment’s packages, dependencies, and channels. For more information on managing packages, see Packages, and for more information on managing channels, see Channels.

Searching for an environment

Use the Search box to locate an environment by name. Enter all (or part of) an environment’s name to filter the list to display only environments that contain the search string.

Using a quick start environment

Anaconda Desktop provides a set of quick start environments that come pre-configured with curated packages for a variety of use cases.

To install a quick start environment using its default configuration, select the Create button on the environment’s card:

To view details about the environment and make custom configurations, select anywhere on the environment’s card to view its details page. From the details page, you can customize the environment’s configuration options. Use the Packages button to add additional packages to the environment.

After you’ve configured the environment, select Create Environment to create the quick start environment:

Creating an environment

To create a new environment, select the Create button in the upper-right corner:

In the Create Environment dialog, you can import an environment.yml file to create the environment, create a new environment manually, or select a quick start environment.

Creating an environment manually

1. In the Create Environment dialog, select Create Manually.
2. Set configuration options for the environment.
3. Select Create Environment to create the environment.

Importing an environment

There are two situations in which you might want to import an environment:

• Someone has exported their environment to a environment.yml file and shared it with you, and you want to reproduce their environment on your machine.
• You have exported an environment, and you want to restore it to the exported state.

To create an environment from an imported environment.yml file:

1. In the Create Environment dialog, select Import.

2. Set configuration options for the environment.

   Environment names must be unique.

3. Browse your local files and select the .yaml or .yml file you want to import.

4. Select Create Environment to create the environment.

Environment configuration options

When you create a new environment, you can configure it with the following options:

Managing environments

You don’t need to activate an environment to manage it in Anaconda Desktop.

Cloning an environment

Attempting to clone the base environment can generate an incomplete environment, which can cause errors while using Desktop or conda. For these reasons, Anaconda Desktop does not allow you to clone your base environment.

To clone an environment:

1. Select the Actions button in the environment’s row and select Clone.

   

2. Set the Location and Name for the new environment. See configuration options for more information.

   Environment names must be unique.

3. Select Clone to create the new environment.

Exporting an environment

When you export an environment, you create a .yml file that contains the environment’s configuration. This file can be used as a back up for the environment, to recreate the environment on another machine, or to share the environment with other users.

To export an environment:

1. Select Actions beside an environment, then select Export.

   

2. Using your system’s Save dialog, enter a file name for your exported environment and choose a download location.

3. Save the file.

The exported environment file is saved to the selected location.

Deleting an environment

To delete an environment:

1. Select Actions beside the environment, then select Delete.

   

2. Select Delete again to confirm you want to delete the environment.

The environment is deleted and removed from your environments list.