Prevent package installs in the root environment

[nelson-liu]

Hi,
When I used to use virtualenv I was a big fan of using the PIP_REQUIRE_VIRTUALENV flag, which stipulates that any pip install commands must be run in a virtualenv in order to work. The rationale for this was to avoid polluting the global package space.

Too often, I find myself absentmindedly forgetting to activate my conda environment and {pip|conda} installing something. It'd be great to have a similar flag in conda to prevent this from happening, and block me from installing packages in the root environment.

Alternatively, it'd be great to know of a way to reset the root environment to the default state (I couldn't find anything solving this when i looked online), to quickly clean up the global package space without {pip|conda} uninstalling every single package.

Thanks! Conda has been great for me, but this is a big feature (to me) that I sorely miss from my old virtualenv/pip setup

[kalefranz]

I appreciate this feature request. I think it's a great idea. We'll keep it in mind..

[H0R5E]

I think this is a great idea, particularly because I have noticed that environments used on Windows seem to be able to pick up packages in the root environment sometimes. This has caused me a lot of confusion when I have inadvertently installed something to the root environment which I did not intend to.

Could it be extended to prevent setuptools installs as well?

[kalefranz]

possibly related: #4943

[scottdraves]

totally wish for this feature.

[msarahan]

You might be interested in the standalone executables: https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/misc/conda-execs/

[github-actions]

Hi there, thank you for your contribution to Conda!

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed automatically if no further activity occurs.

If you would like this issue to remain open please:

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Thanks!

[scottdraves]

please re-open, still valid afaik

[github-actions]

Hi there, thank you for your contribution!

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed automatically if no further activity occurs.

If you would like this issue to remain open please:

1. Verify that you can still reproduce the issue at hand
2. Comment that the issue is still reproducible and include:
   - What OS and version you reproduced the issue on
   - What steps you followed to reproduce the issue

NOTE: If this issue was closed prematurely, please leave a comment.

Thanks!