conda environment has access to system modules, how to prevent?

by

In addition to what @VikashB mentioned, these can result from packages installed with pip install --user. As @TimRoberts alluded to in the comments, the site module, which populates the sys.path variable, searches paths like ~/.local/lib/python*/site-packages by default.

Temporary Options

One can disable the site module from loading such packages (see PEP 370), either by launching Python with an -s flag (python -s) or by setting the environment variable PYTHONNOUSERSITE:

export PYTHONNOUSERSITE=1
python

Longer-term options

Hiding from site module

If you need to keep these packages for some reason, one option is to move them to a non-default location so the site module doesn’t find them. For example,

mkdir ~/.local/lib/py_backup
mv ~/.local/lib/python* ~/.local/lib/py_backup

This will effectively hide them, and they could still be used through PYTHONPATH if necessary.

Removal

If you don’t need the packages, and only use Conda then consider just removing them

rm -r ~/.local/lib/python*

For reference, Conda users are discouraged from using the --user flag in the Conda documentation. Conda environments assume full isolation of environments, so leakage such as OP reports can lead to undefined behavior.

Experimental: envvar-pythonnousersite-true

In response to another question, I put together a simple Conda package that sets the PYTHONNOUSERSITE=1 variable at environment activation time. There are other ways to set environment variables, but this is a quick and minimal patch.

It can be installed with:

conda install merv::envvar-pythonnousersite-true

More Related Contents:

  1. How to run Conda?
  2. How to activate an Anaconda environment
  3. How to interpret conda package conflicts?
  4. How do I upgrade to Python 3.6 with conda?
  5. ‘Conda’ is not recognized as internal or external command
  6. How to install R packages that are not available in “R-essentials”?
  7. Combining conda environment.yml with pip requirements.txt
  8. Conda command is not recognized on Windows 10
  9. How to change default Anaconda python environment
  10. Using multiple Python engines (32Bit/64bit and 2.7/3.5)
  11. How do I update Anaconda?
  12. Does Conda replace the need for virtualenv?
  13. How do I keep track of pip-installed packages in an Anaconda (Conda) environment?
  14. What is the effect of using pip to install python packages on anaconda?
  15. Conda set LD_LIBRARY_PATH for env only [duplicate]
  16. conda install python=3.6 UnsatisfiableError
  17. How do I install theano in Anaconda ver. 2.1 Windows 64 bit for Python 3.4?
  18. Conda – offline install / update
  19. Issues with installing python libraries on Windows : CondaHTTPError: HTTP 000 CONNECTION FAILED for url
  20. What is the meaning of conda’s build string?
  21. How to install PyPi packages using anaconda conda command
  22. How can I install a conda environment when offline?
  23. Where is site-packages located in a Conda environment?
  24. How can I host my own private conda repository?
  25. Viewing history of conda transactions?
  26. conda environment in google colab [google-colaboratory]
  27. How can I run Conda?
  28. Activate conda environment in docker
  29. How to move .conda from one folder to another at the moment of creating the environment
  30. ModuleNotFoundError: No module named ‘sklearn’

Leave a Comment