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Install Conda

This guide covers installing Miniconda and Anaconda on Linux (Debian / Ubuntu) and macOS. Windows users can use the official graphical .exe installer with similar steps.

tip

See the Miniconda docs and Anaconda docs.

Choose a version​

  • Miniconda: lightweight, only Conda + Python — recommended for most cases.
  • Anaconda: full suite, out-of-the-box — good for beginners or teaching.
  • Miniforge (recommended for ARM / China networks): maintained by conda-forge, bundles Conda + Mamba, better ARM support and uses conda-forge by default.

💡 Architecture note: official installers come in x86_64 (Intel/AMD) and arm64 (Apple Silicon). For Linux ARM64 devices use the -aarch64 script (see below), NOT MacOSX-arm64.

Download the installer (Linux / macOS)​

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⚠️ ARM platforms: recent official Miniconda installers ship a constructor binary that requires ARMv8.1+ instructions. On ARMv8.0 devices (e.g. Raspberry Pi 3/4 early revs, some Rockchip/Radxa boards with Cortex-A53/A72) it crashes with Illegal instruction. On such hardware use the Miniforge aarch64 installer instead (verified working on ARMv8.0).

Linux / macOS
# x86_64 (Intel / AMD)
curl -fsSL -o miniconda.sh https://repo.anaconda.com/miniconda/Miniconda3-latest-Linux-x86_64.sh
# Apple Silicon (macOS arm64)
curl -fsSL -o miniconda.sh https://repo.anaconda.com/miniconda/Miniconda3-latest-MacOSX-arm64.sh
# Linux ARM64 (aarch64) — note: not MacOSX-arm64
curl -fsSL -o miniconda.sh https://repo.anaconda.com/miniconda/Miniconda3-latest-Linux-aarch64.sh

Run the installer​

For Miniconda (replace miniconda.sh with anaconda.sh for Anaconda, or miniforge.sh for Miniforge):

Linux / macOS
bash miniconda.sh
# or Miniforge
bash miniforge.sh

💡 To install non-interactively to the default ~/miniconda3, add -b: bash miniforge.sh -b.

During install you will be prompted to:

  1. Press enter to read the license, then type yes to accept.
  2. Confirm the install path (default ~/miniconda3).
  3. Initialize Conda (Do you wish the installer to initialize Miniconda3...) — type yes so it injects into your shell.

Reload your shell:

Linux / macOS
source ~/.bashrc        # Bash
# or
source ~/.zshrc         # Zsh

Verify​

Linux / macOS
conda --version
# e.g. conda 24.11.3

Update Conda itself:

Linux / macOS
conda update -n base -c defaults conda

Configure a mirror (China / restricted networks)​

The default Anaconda source (repo.anaconda.com / conda.anaconda.org) can be slow, time out, or be unreachable in some networks. Configure a local mirror.

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⚠️ Mirror URLs may change — follow each mirror site's latest guide. Common mirrors that work:

  • Beijing Foreign Studies Univ. (BFSU): https://mirrors.bfsu.edu.cn/anaconda/ (the HTTP plaintext http://... is often more reliable than HTTPS on restricted networks)
  • Tsinghua TUNA: https://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/anaconda/
  • USTC: https://mirrors.ustc.edu.cn/anaconda/

Configure Conda channels​

Linux / macOS
# Use HTTP plaintext to avoid HTTPS issues on some networks
conda config --remove-key channels 2>/dev/null
conda config --add channels http://mirrors.bfsu.edu.cn/anaconda/pkgs/main
conda config --set channel_alias http://mirrors.bfsu.edu.cn/anaconda
conda config --set show_channel_urls yes
conda config --set ssl_verify false
warning

⚠️ Clean up Miniforge's default channels: Miniforge writes a default conda-forge channel (pointing to official HTTPS conda.anaconda.org / prefix.dev) into $HOME/miniconda3/.condarc (or $HOME/.condarc). On restricted networks this slows down or blocks installs. Edit that file so channels only lists your chosen mirror, and delete the mirrored_channels block.

Raise download retries (large files fail easily)​

On some networks, larger packages (> a few MB) intermittently fail with CondaHTTPError: HTTP 000 CONNECTION FAILED. Raising retries makes installs stable:

Linux / macOS
conda config --set remote_max_retries 10
conda config --set remote_read_timeout_secs 60
conda config --set remote_connect_timeout_secs 30

Verify:

Linux / macOS
conda config --show channels

Configure a pip mirror​

Inside a Conda env, pip from the official PyPI may also be unreachable. Configure a pip mirror too (BFSU example):

Linux / macOS
pip config set global.index-url https://mirrors.bfsu.edu.cn/pypi/web/simple

Uninstall Conda​

To fully remove (default path):

Linux / macOS
rm -rf ~/miniconda3
# also delete the conda init block in ~/.bashrc / ~/.zshrc (between # >>> conda initialize >>> and # <<< conda initialize <<<)

⚠️ Back up important envs first (Export / Import); rm -rf is irreversible.

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