Updating pip not working

Question

I am in a bind. Conda keeps telling me to upgrade pip, however, when I run the conda update pip command, it says pip is fully updated. My exact terminal output is below:

Anton-MacBook-Pro:~ anton$ conda update pip -p /Users/anton/anaconda/envs/py3k

# All packages already at latest version, nothing to do.
# packages in environment at /Users/anton/anaconda/envs/py3k:
#
# Warning: Your version of pip is older than what conda requires for pip
# integration, so pip-installed packages will not be displayed.  Please
# update pip, (conda update pip -p /Users/anton/anaconda/envs/py3k)

pip                       1.4.1                    py33_1  

Anton-MacBook-Pro:~ anton$

My interpretation of the terminal output is:

1. Me telling conda to update pip.
2. Conda telling me pip is up to date, then,
3. Conda warning me that pip is not up to date and that I should run the exact code I just ran in step 1.

Answer 1

This is a conda bug, as Jacob Budin noted. Try running

conda update distribute

and see if that makes the problem go away. Either way, you don't need to worry about it.

Answer 2

As of this writing, pip v1.4.1 is the latest stable release. The warning you're encountering is a known bug in conda (pydata/conda #429).

Check to see if running ./python ./pip list in the bin/ directory of your conda environment (i.e., using the local Python and pip scripts) produces the output you'd expect (that is, a list of installed packages, without errors); if not, that what it's getting hung up on.

I'd add your experience to the GitHub bug thread.