Performance tips and tricks#

conda-libmamba-solver is much faster than classic for many reasons, but there are certain tricks you can use to make it even faster!

These tips apply to both solvers:

  • Explicit is better. Instead of letting the solver do all the work, specify target versions for your packages. conda install python=3.11 numpy is way better than conda install python numpy.

  • Use --strict-channel-priority. Strict channel priority drastically reduces the solver search space when you are mixing channels. Make this decision permanent with conda config --set channel_priority strict.

  • Use --update-specs. For existing environments, do not attempt to freeze installed packages by default.

For conda-libmamba-solver#

  • Experimental: CONDA_LIBMAMBA_SOLVER_MAX_ATTEMPTS=0. Setting this environment variable will disable the retry loop, making it behave more like micromamba.

For conda classic#

The above tips also apply to classic, but you can supplement them with:

  • --repodata-fn=repodata.json to skip using current_repodata.json.

  • CONDA_UNSATISFIABLE_HINTS_CHECK_DEPTH=1 won’t help solves get any faster, but failures will be reported more quickly.

References#