Can I install Anaconda alongside Canopy?

Question

I need to install Canopy, but I have Anaconda already installed. If I install Canopy will there be conflict or not? an if will be what are the possible problems?

Answer 1

I have not used Canopy but use system installed Python and Anaconda a lot so I can explain some issues people run into. When you have 2 different python installations there will be a problem of which Python is used(Type python at the command prompt and which one opens the interpreter?). Usually the executable Python location is added to the PATH so if 2 are in your PATH it will use the first one. With this you will likely have a mess with environments. If you go to use Canopy's Python you will not access Anaconda's Python packages and vice versa.

Other weird issues can come up if one python package picks up a .so or .dylib file that doesn't work or isn't the specific version. One installation may remove a version of these in favor of it's dependent version and then another piece of code no longer works.

Answer 2

Multiple Python installations can co-exist on a system, but it is important to keep them isolated (none should be set as default or referenced in any environment variable).

Canopy will not set these at all, so will not interfere with Anaconda. You can run Canopy Python scripts from inside Canopy. If you want to run them from a Terminal / Command Prompt, you can open it from the Canopy Tools menu.

To avoid possible interference of Anaconda with Canopy, please modify your PATH or PYTHONPATH environment variable to remove any references to Anaconda or any other Python installation using the instructions in this article as a guide (note that in this case you would be removing Python from this variable).

You may wish to write a small batch file or shell script to re-insert any such references temporarily when you do want to run anaconda.