Can't upgrade Anaconda base to Python 3.8

Question

I want to upgrade my base environment to Python 3.8. According to the official documentation, I should just run conda install -c anaconda python. This, however, only upgrades Python 3.7, so, in the end:

(base) C:\Users\bob>conda install -c anaconda python
Collecting package metadata (current_repodata.json): done
Solving environment: done

# All requested packages already installed.


(base) C:\Users\bob>python --version
Python 3.7.6

conda update -c anaconda python only updated a number of packages, but not Python itself.

And if I specify a version, like explained here, after two hours analyzing dependencies, the upgrade fails because of conflicts.

I managed to set up a 3.8 environment, but I'd rather upgrade my base environment as it's the one my system path for use outside of Anaconda.

Any suggestion?

Answer 1

The latest stable version of anaconda is version 3.7

Please see here:

https://www.anaconda.com/distribution/

There isn't an option to get python 3.8, this is due to anaconda sometimes running a version behind the release of python.

Answer 2

It doesn't appear to be possible to update the base version of anaconda to 3.8 yet because of the conflicts you mention. I assume once all the standard packages are updated to support 3.8+ (and updated versions of all dependencies), then the anaconda release will include 3.8.x as the default. This might take a while.

The problem here is version conflicts in the packages that anaconda installs by default. The reason you can install 3.8 in a clean environment is because no other packages are installed in that environment, so no conflicts.

This does now present a solution, although it requires reinstalling everything from scratch...

disclaimer: I don't use windows, so adapt my instructions accordingly to your OS.

• Remove your existing anaconda install from the path and delete anything in your bashrc (or windows equivalent) that points to it.
  • You can just delete/uninstall anaconda, but it's good to have a backup just incase, so leaving it there and removing links to it is a good option.
• Download and install miniconda, and put it in your path as you had before.
• Install python 3.8 in the base environment conda install python=3.8
• Install all the packages that you need to do whatever you do.

Depending on what you install, at some point you may run into the same conflicts that prevent a standard anaconda install from updating at the moment, but that hasn't happened for me.