Conda Channels

Goal: What are channels and how can they be used and configured.


What are Channels?

Managing channels: Conda channels are the locations where packages are stored. They serve as the base for hosting and managing packages. Conda packages are downloaded from remote channels, which are URLs to directories containing conda packages.


Can’t find package?

Example: I’ve heard SLiM is available to install via conda?

[]$ conda search slim Loading channels: done No match found for: slim. Search: *slim* # Name Version Build Channel r-slim 0.1.1 r36h6115d3f_0 pkgs/r ... r-waveslim 1.8.4 r43h640688f_0 pkgs/r

 


Additional Common Channels:

  • bioconda: (>10K packages) Bioconda is a distribution of bioinformatics software realized as a channel for the versatile Conda package manager.

  • conda-forge packages:

[]$ conda search bioconda::slim Loading channels: done No match found for: bioconda::slim. Search: bioconda::*slim* # Name Version Build Channel gargammel-slim 1.1.2 h06294c5_5 bioconda ... slimfastq 2.04 he1b5a44_0 bioconda ... slimm 0.3.4 hf1761c0_4 bioconda
[]$ conda search conda-forge::slim Loading channels: done # Name Version Build Channel slim 3.3.2 he1b5a44_0 conda-forge ... slim 4.2.2 h59595ed_0 conda-forge

Add Channel


Search for SLiM

No need to explicitly define the channel in the search command as it is not part of our general conda configuration.


Channel Options

The channel option can be defined within a number of other commands, such as conda install: