Using the free channel

The free channel contains packages created prior to September 26, 2017. Prior to conda 4.7, the free channel was part of the defaults channel. Read more about the defaults channel.

Removing the free channel reduced conda's search space and hid old software. That old software could have incompatible constraint information. Read more about why we made this change.

If you still need the content from the free channel to reproduce old environments, you can re-add the channel following the directions below.

Changed in version 24.9.0: The restore_free_channel option has been marked for pending deprecation with removal in conda 25.3.0.

To achieve the same effect, you may add the free channel to your the defaults channel using the regular condarc configuration.

On UNIX-style systems:

default_channels:
    - https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/main
    - https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/free
    - https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/r

On Windows:

default_channels:
    - https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/main
    - https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/free
    - https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/r
    - https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/msys2

Note that the free channel is listed after the main channel.

Adding the free channel to defaults

If you want to add the free channel back into your default list, use the command:

conda config --set restore_free_channel true

The order of the channels is important. Using the above command will restore the free channel in the correct order.

Changing .condarc

You can also add the free channel back into your defaults by changing the .condarc file itself.

Add the following to the conda section of your .condarc file:

restore_free_channel: true

Read more about Using the .condarc conda configuration file.

Package name changes

Some packages that are available in the free channel have different names in the main channel.

Package name in free	Package name in main
dateutil	python-dateutil
gcc	gcc_linux-64 and similar
pil	pillow
ipython-notebook	now installable via notebook, a metapackage could be created
Ipython-qtconsole	now installable via qtconsole, a metapackage could be created
beautiful-soup	beautifulsoup4
pydot-ng	pydot

Troubleshooting

You may encounter some errors, such as UnsatisfiableError or a PackagesNotFoundError.

An example of this error is:

$ conda create -n test -c file:///Users/jsmith/anaconda/conda-bld bad_pkg
Collecting package metadata: done
Solving environment: failed

UnsatisfiableError: The following specifications were found to be in conflict:
  - cryptography=2.6.1 -> openssl[version='>=1.1.1b,<1.1.2a']
  - python=3.7.0 -> openssl[version='>=1.0.2o,<1.0.3a']
Use "conda search <package> --info" to see the dependencies for each package.

This can occur if:

• you’re trying to install a package that is only available in free and not in main.

• you have older environments in files you want to recreate. If those spec files reference packages that are in free, they will not show up.

• a package is dependent upon files found only in the free channel. Conda will not let you install the package if it cannot install the dependency, which the package requires to work.

If you encounter these errors, consider using a newer package than the one in free. If you want those older versions, you can add the free channel back into your defaults.