Miniforge

This repository holds a minimal installer for Conda specific to conda-forge. Miniforge allows you to install the conda package manager with the following features pre-configured:

• conda-forge set as the default (and only) channel.
  • Packages in the base environment are obtained from the conda-forge channel.
• Optional support for PyPy in place of standard Python interpreter (aka "CPython").
• Optional support for Mamba in place of Conda.
• An emphasis on supporting various CPU architectures (x86_64, ppc64le, and aarch64 including Apple M1).

It can be compared to the Miniconda installer.

Download

Miniforge installers are available here: https://github.com/conda-forge/miniforge/releases

Miniforge3

Latest installers with Python 3.10 (*) in the base environment:

(*) The Python version is specific only to the base environment. Conda can create new environments with different Python versions and implementations.

(**) For Raspberry PI that include a 64 bit processor, you must also use a 64-bit operating system such as Raspberry Pi OS 64-bit or Ubuntu for Raspberry PI. The versions listed as "System: 32-bit" are not compatible with the installers on this website.

(***) Apple silicon builds are experimental and haven't had testing like the other platforms.

Miniforge-pypy3

Latest installers with PyPy 3.9 in the base environment:

Mambaforge

Latest installers with Mamba in the base environment:

Mambaforge-pypy3

Latest installers with Mamba and PyPy in the base environment:

Install

Unix-like platforms (Mac OS & Linux)

Download the installer using curl or wget or your favorite program and run the script. For eg:

curl -L -O "https://github.com/conda-forge/miniforge/releases/latest/download/Mambaforge-$(uname)-$(uname -m).sh"
bash Mambaforge-$(uname)-$(uname -m).sh

or

wget "https://github.com/conda-forge/miniforge/releases/latest/download/Mambaforge-$(uname)-$(uname -m).sh"
bash Mambaforge-$(uname)-$(uname -m).sh

Uninstallation

Uninstalling Miniforge means removing the files that were created during the installation process. You will typically want to remove:

1. Any modifications to your shell rc files that were made by Miniforge:

# Use this first command to see what rc files will be updated
conda init --reverse --dry-run
# Use this next command to take action on the rc files listed above
conda init --reverse
# Temporarily IGNORE the shell message 
#       'For changes to take effect, close and re-open your current shell.', 
# and CLOSE THE SHELL ONLY AFTER the 3rd step below is completed.

2. Remove the folder and all subfolders where the base environment for Miniforge was installed:

CONDA_BASE_ENVIRONMENT=$(conda info --base)
echo The next command will delete all files in ${CONDA_BASE_ENVIRONMENT}
# Warning, the rm command below is irreversible!
# check the output of the echo command above
# To make sure you are deleting the correct directory
rm -rf ${CONDA_BASE_ENVIRONMENT}

3. Any global conda configuration files that are left behind.

echo ${HOME}/.condarc will be removed if it exists
rm -f "${HOME}/.condarc"

Windows

Download the installer and double click it on the file browser.

Non-interactive install

For non-interactive usage one can use the batch install option:

bash Miniforge3-Linux-x86_64.sh -b  # or similar for other installers for unix platforms

Look at the extra options by running the following:

bash Miniforge3-Linux-x86_64.sh -h

or if you are on windows, run:

start /wait "" Miniforge3-Windows-x86_64.exe /InstallationType=JustMe /RegisterPython=0 /S /D=%UserProfile%\Miniforge3

Downloading the installer as part of a CI pipeline

If you wish to download the appropriate installer through the command line in a more automated fashion, you may wish to a command similar to

For Linux, any architecture, use the following command

wget -O Miniforge3.sh "https://github.com/conda-forge/miniforge/releases/latest/download/Miniforge3-$(uname)-$(uname -m).sh"

When you want to use Mambaforge, you should replace Miniforge into Mambaforge:

wget -O Mambaforge.sh  "https://github.com/conda-forge/miniforge/releases/latest/download/Mambaforge-$(uname)-$(uname -m).sh"

For MacOSX, any architecture, use the following command

curl -fsSLo Miniforge3.sh "https://github.com/conda-forge/miniforge/releases/latest/download/Miniforge3-MacOSX-$(uname -m).sh"

This will download the appropriate installer for the present architecture with the filename Miniforge3.sh (or Mambaforge.sh). Run the shell script with the command in batch mode with the -b flash:

bash Miniforge3.sh -b -p "${HOME}/conda"

-p is prefix option. A directory wil be createrd on "${HOME}/conda".

Then you should create the path to conda and activate conda. Run this command:

source "${HOME}/conda/etc/profile.d/conda.sh"

Finally, you can run the command to activate the base environment

conda activate

If you downloaded the Mambaforge installer, you should also run the following command after source "${HOME}/conda/etc/profile.d/conda.sh:

source "${HOME}/conda/etc/profile.d/mamba.sh"

Homebrew

On macOS, you can install miniforge with Homebrew by running

brew install miniforge

Features

• Automatic build of constructor.
• Automatic upload of constructor results.
• Automatic testing of constructor.
• Integration with conda-forge's developer documentation.
• Integration with conda-forge's official site.
• Upstream to Anaconda ?

Testing

After construction on the CI, the installer is tested against a range of distribution that match the installer architecture ($ARCH). For example when architecture is aarch64, the constructed installer is tested against:

• Centos 7
• Debian Buster (10)
• Debian Bullseye (11)
• Ubuntu 16.04 (LTS)
• Ubuntu 18.04 (LTS)
• Ubuntu 20.04 (LTS)
• Ubuntu 22.04 (Latest release -- also happens to be LTS)

Local usage

Installers are built and uploaded via the CI but if you want to construct your own Miniforge installer, here is how:

# Configuration
export ARCH=aarch64
export DOCKERIMAGE=condaforge/linux-anvil-aarch64

bash build_miniforge.sh

Release

To release a new version of Miniforge:

• Make a new pre-release on GitHub with name $CONDA_VERSION-$BUILD_NUMBER
• Wait until all artifacts are uploaded by CI
  • For each build, we upload 3 artifacts
    1. One installer with the version name
    2. One installer without the version name
    3. The SHA256
  • At the time of writing, the is a sum of 72 artifacts, and with the two sources, we expect a grand total of 74 artifacts.
• Mark the pre-release as a release

NOTE: using a pre-release is important to make sure the latest links work.

License

BSD 3-Clause

History

Relevant conversations:

• conda-forge/conda-forge.github.io#871 (comment)
• conda-forge/conda-forge.github.io#922