CondaValueError: The target prefix is the base prefix. Aborting
PythonAnacondaCondaPython Problem Overview
I have the following conda environment file environment.yml:
name: testproject
channels:
- defaults
dependencies:
- python=3.7
prefix: /opt/projects/testproject
Before creating the environment, only the base environment exists:
(base) me@mymachine:/opt/projects/testproject$ conda env list
# conda environments:
#
base * /opt/anaconda/anaconda3
When trying to create the environment, I get the following error:
(base) me@mymachine:/opt/projects/testproject$ conda create -f environment.yml
CondaValueError: The target prefix is the base prefix. Aborting.
What does this error mean?
Python Solutions
Solution 1 - Python
You need to use
conda env create -f environment.yml
Notice the extra env after conda and before create.
For more information check the documentation.
Solution 2 - Python
Very tricky, see the difference between the two:
conda create –-name my_env
and
conda create --name my_env
The first dash before name is slightly different (– instead of -). It takes me 15 mins to notice.
Solution 3 - Python
You can use:
conda create --name nameOfEnv
Solution 4 - Python
I have had the same issue even with correct command syntax, right after the anaconda installation. The solution was to make the base environment not be activated on startup:
conda config --set auto_activate_base false
Then restart you terminal. After that I've bean able to create my first conda environment.