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:

OS	Architecture	Download
Linux	x86_64 (amd64)	Miniforge3-Linux-x86_64
Linux	aarch64 (arm64) `(**)`	Miniforge3-Linux-aarch64
Linux	ppc64le (POWER8/9)	Miniforge3-Linux-ppc64le
OS X	x86_64	Miniforge3-MacOSX-x86_64
OS X	arm64 (Apple Silicon) `(***)`	Miniforge3-MacOSX-arm64
Windows	x86_64	Miniforge3-Windows-x86_64

(*) 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:

OS	Architecture	Download
Linux	x86_64 (amd64)	Miniforge-pypy3-Linux-x86_64
Linux	aarch64 (arm64)	Miniforge-pypy3-Linux-aarch64
Linux	ppc64le (POWER8/9)	Miniforge-pypy3-Linux-ppc64le
OS X	x86_64	Miniforge-pypy3-MacOSX-x86_64
Windows	x86_64	Miniforge-pypy3-Windows-x86_64

Mambaforge

Latest installers with Mamba in the base environment:

OS	Architecture	Download
Linux	x86_64 (amd64)	Mambaforge-Linux-x86_64
Linux	aarch64 (arm64)	Mambaforge-Linux-aarch64
Linux	ppc64le (POWER8/9)	Mambaforge-Linux-ppc64le
OS X	x86_64	Mambaforge-MacOSX-x86_64
OS X	arm64 (Apple Silicon)	Mambaforge-MacOSX-arm64
Windows	x86_64	Mambaforge-Windows-x86_64

Mambaforge-pypy3

Latest installers with Mamba and PyPy in the base environment:

OS	Architecture	Download
Linux	x86_64 (amd64)	Mambaforge-pypy3-Linux-x86_64
Linux	aarch64 (arm64)	Mambaforge-pypy3-Linux-aarch64
Linux	ppc64le (POWER8/9)	Mambaforge-pypy3-Linux-ppc64le
OS X	x86_64	Mambaforge-pypy3-MacOSX-x86_64
Windows	x86_64	Mambaforge-pypy3-Windows-x86_64

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

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:

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.

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}

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:

miniforge/README.md

Users who have contributed to this file