How to Install Anaconda on Debian 12

Introduction

Install Anaconda on Debian 12 to utilize an open-source distribution of Python and R, designed for data science, machine learning, and scientific computing. Anaconda includes Conda, a powerful package and environment manager, along with various scientific libraries for processing large-scale data and performing advanced computations. It is an ideal platform for building machine learning models and executing complex computations on a server.

This article explains how to install Anaconda on Debian 12 and manage Conda environments to run multiple packages on a server.

Install Anaconda On Debian 12

Anaconda is not available in the default package repositories on Debian 12. Follow the steps below to download the latest installation script and install Anaconda on your Debian server.

1. Install all required dependency packages for Anaconda.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo apt-get install libgl1-mesa-glx libegl1-mesa libxrandr2 libxrandr2 libxss1 libxcursor1 libxcomposite1 libasound2 libxi6 libxtst6 -y

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

2. Visit the Anaconda repository, and download the latest installation script for Linux. For example, Anaconda3-2024.10-1-Linux-x86_64.sh.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ wget -O anaconda.sh https://repo.anaconda.com/archive/Anaconda3-2024.10-1-Linux-x86_64.sh

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

3. Test the integrity of the downloaded Anaconda installation script.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ shasum -a 256 anaconda.sh

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Verify that the generated hash value matches the installer's SHA256 value in the Anaconda repository similar to the one below.

   3ba0a298155c32fbfd80cbc238298560bf69a2df511783054adfc151b76d80d8

4. Run the script using Bash to install Anaconda on Debian server.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ bash anaconda.sh

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   • Press Enter when prompted to start the installation and review the Anaconda license agreement.

     Welcome to Anaconda3 2024.10-1
     In order to continue the installation process, please review the license
     agreement.
     Please, press ENTER to continue
     >>>

   • Press Space to review the Anaconda terms of service, and press Q to close the pager.

   • Enter yes when prompted to accept the license terms and press Enter to install Anaconda to the default location in your user's home directory.

     Do you accept the license terms? [yes|no]
     >>> yes
     
     Anaconda3 will now be installed into this location:
     /home/linuxuser/anaconda3
     - Press ENTER to confirm the location
     - Press CTRL-C to abort the installation
     - Or specify a different location below
     
     [/home/linuxuser/anaconda3] >>>

   • Enter yes and press Enter when prompted to update your shell profile and initialize Conda to activate it in every session.

     Do you wish to update your shell profile to automatically initialize conda?
     This will activate conda on startup and change the command prompt when activated.
     If you'd prefer that conda's base environment not be activated on startup,
     run the following command when conda is activated:
     
     conda config --set auto_activate_base false
     
     You can undo this by running `conda init --reverse $SHELL`? [yes|no]
     [no] >>> yes

     Your output should be similar to the one below when the installation is successful.

     .....................
     modified      /home/linuxuser/.bashrc
     
     ==> For changes to take effect, close and re-open your current shell. <==
     
     Thank you for installing Anaconda3!

5. Reload your shell configuration to apply the Anaconda changes.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ source ~/.bashrc

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Verify that your shell prompt changes to the default base Conda environment.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   (base) linuxuser@vultr~$

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

6. View the installed Conda version.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ conda --version

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Output:

   conda 24.9.2

7. View information about the active Conda environment, Python version, and channels.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ conda info

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Your output should be similar to the one below.

   active environment : base
   active env location : /home/linuxuser/anaconda3
           shell level : 1
      user config file : /home/linuxuser/.condarc
   populated config files : /home/linuxuser/anaconda3/.condarc
         conda version : 24.9.2
   conda-build version : 24.9.0
        python version : 3.12.7.final.0
      base environment : /home/linuxuser/anaconda3  (writable)
     conda av data dir : /home/linuxuser/anaconda3/etc/conda
          channel URLs : https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/main/linux-64
                         https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/main/noarch
                         https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/r/linux-64
                         https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/r/noarch
         package cache : /home/linuxuser/anaconda3/pkgs
                         /home/linuxuser/.conda/pkgs
      envs directories : /home/linuxuser/anaconda3/envs
                         /home/linuxuser/.conda/envs
              platform : linux-64

If you use an Ubuntu 24.04 server, you can follow this guide to install Anaconda on Ubuntu 24.04 and set up its environment for data science, machine learning, and scientific computing tasks.

Install Anaconda for Multiple Users

Anaconda is installed and available in your active user's home directory with a default base environment. To enable multiple users to use Anaconda and manage Conda environments, create a new dedicated anaconda group, and grant it ownership privileges to the Anaconda installation directory. Follow the steps below to create the anaconda group, add users to the group, and enable read permissions to the Anaconda installation directory.

1. Switch to your user's home directory.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ cd

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

2. Create a new anaconda group.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo groupadd anaconda

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

3. Grant the anaconda group ownership privileges to the Anaconda installation directory.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo chgrp -R anaconda /home/linuxuser/anaconda3/

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

4. Grant the owner and the anaconda group full privileges to the Anaconda installation directory.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo chmod 770 -R /home/linuxuser/anaconda3/

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

5. Add your active user to the anaconda group. Replace linuxuser with your actual user.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo usermod -a -G anaconda linuxuser

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

6. Create a new user such as exampleuser.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo adduser exampleuser

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

7. Add the user to the anaconda group.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo usermod -a -G anaconda exampleuser

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

8. Switch to the new user.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ su - exampleuser

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Enter the user's password when prompted to log in.

9. Activate the base Conda environment in the user's session.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ source /home/linuxuser/anaconda3/bin/activate

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

10. Initialize Conda in the user's environment.

    CONSOLE

    Copy

    $ conda init

    Explain Code

    Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

    Your output should be similar to the one below.

    no change     /home/linuxuser/anaconda3/shell/condabin/Conda.psm1
    no change     /home/linuxuser/anaconda3/shell/condabin/conda-hook.ps1
    no change     /home/linuxuser/anaconda3/lib/python3.12/site-packages/xontrib/conda.xsh
    no change     /home/linuxuser/anaconda3/etc/profile.d/conda.csh
    modified      /home/exampleuser/.bashrc

11. Reload the user's shell configuration to apply the changes.

    CONSOLE

    Copy

    $ source ~/.bashrc

    Explain Code

    Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

    Verify that your shell prompt changes to the default base Conda environment.

    CONSOLE

    Copy

    (base) exampleuser@vultr~$

    Explain Code

    Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

12. View the installed Conda version to ensure the user can manage Conda environments.

    CONSOLE

    Copy

    $ conda --version

    Explain Code

    Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

    Output:

    conda 24.9.2

13. Press Ctrl + D to switch back to your previous user's session.

Manage Conda Environments

Conda environments isolate specific resources including packages, versions, and dependencies for projects on your server. A single Conda environment is active at a time and activating another environment automatically deactivates the active environment. Follow the steps below to create and activate Conda environments to manage specific packages on your server.

1. Create a new myenv Conda environment.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ conda create -n myenv 

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   • Enter y and press Enter when prompted to create the myenv environment.

     Proceed ([y]/n)? y

     Output:

     Preparing transaction: done
     Verifying transaction: done
     Executing transaction: done
     #
     # To activate this environment, use
     #
     #     $ conda activate myenv
     #
     # To deactivate an active environment, use
     #
     #     $ conda deactivate

2. Activate the myenv environment.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ conda activate myenv

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

3. Verify that your shell prompt changes from base to the myenv environment.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   (myenv) $

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

4. Install new packages such as numpy and pandas in the myenv environment.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ conda install numpy pandas=2.0 scipy

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

5. Update packages in the Conda environment. For example, update the pandas package to the latest version.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ conda update pandas

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

6. Remove a Conda package from the active environment. For example, remove the scipy package.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ conda remove scipy

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Enter y and press Enter when prompted to remove the scipy package.

   Proceed ([y]/n)? y

7. Remove all unused packages including cached tarballs, index cache, logfiles, and temporary files.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ conda clean --all

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Enter y and press Enter to confirm and remove the packages when prompted.

   Will remove 525 (1.09 GB) tarball(s).
   Proceed ([y]/n)? y
   
   Will remove 1 index cache(s).
   Proceed ([y]/n)? y
   
   Will remove 16 (165.9 MB) package(s).
   Proceed ([y]/n)? y
   
   There are no tempfile(s) to remove.
   There are no logfile(s) to remove.

   If you receive a file permissions error, ensure that your active user has full privileges to the pkgs subdirectory in the Anaconda installation directory.

8. Export the active Conda environment to a file such as environment.yml.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ conda env export > environment.yml

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

9. Create a new Conda environment such as myenv-2 using the exported environment file.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ conda env create -f environment.yml -n myenv-2

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

10. List all available Conda environments.

    CONSOLE

    Copy

    $ conda env list

    Explain Code

    Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

    Your output should be similar to the one below. The active environment is marked with an asterisk (*).

    base                     /home/linuxuser/anaconda3
    myenv                 *  /home/linuxuser/anaconda3/envs/myenv
    myenv-2                  /home/linuxuser/anaconda3/envs/myenv-2

Run Applications in a Conda Environment

Jupyter Notebook is an open-source application for interactive computing that uses computational notebooks and supports multiple programming languages. Follow the steps below to install and run Jupyter Notebook as a sample application in the active myenv environment.

1. Install the latest jupyter package.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ conda install jupyter

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

2. List all installed packages in your environment and verify that the jupyter package is available.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ conda list -n myenv

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Output:

   jupyter                   1.0.0           py312h06a4308_9
   jupyter-lsp               2.2.0           py312h06a4308_0
   jupyter_client            8.6.0           py312h06a4308_0
   jupyter_console           6.6.3           py312h06a4308_1
   jupyter_core              5.7.2           py312h06a4308_0
   jupyter_events            0.10.0          py312h06a4308_0
   jupyter_server            2.14.1          py312h06a4308_0

3. Run the following command to create a sample hello.ipynb Jupyter notebook that outputs a Greetings from Vultr message.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ echo '{
    "cells":[
     {
        "cell_type":"code",
        "execution_count":2,
        "id":"5acd64e3-b2bc-41b0-8fc1-1666cb479f30",
        "metadata":{
          
        },
        "outputs":[
           {
              "name":"stdout",
              "output_type":"stream",
              "text":[
              ]
           }
        ],
        "source":[
           "msg=\"Greetings from Vultr!\"\n",
           "print(msg)"
        ]
     },
     {
        "cell_type":"raw",
        "id":"7ed9e62d-6bc3-4116-b0e9-1b06814cc5f2",
        "metadata":{
          
        },
        "source":[
          
        ]
     }
    ],
    "metadata":{
     "kernelspec":{
        "display_name":"Python 3 (system-wide)",
        "language":"python",
        "name":"python3"
     },
     "language_info":{
        "codemirror_mode":{
           "name":"ipython",
           "version":3
        },
        "file_extension":".py",
        "mimetype":"text/x-python",
        "name":"python",
        "nbconvert_exporter":"python",
        "pygments_lexer":"ipython3",
        "version":"3.10.12"
     }
    },
    "nbformat":4,
    "nbformat_minor":5
   }' > hello.ipynb

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

4. Run the hello.ipynb notebook and write the output to a new hello.nbconvert.ipynb file.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ jupyter nbconvert --to notebook --execute hello.ipynb

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Output:

   [NbConvertApp] Converting notebook hello.ipynb to notebook
   [NbConvertApp] Writing 1175 bytes to hello.nbconvert.ipynb

5. Print the hello.nbconvert.ipynb file and verify that a Greetings from Vultr! message displays in the outputs cell.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ cat hello.nbconvert.ipynb

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Output:

   {
    "cells":[
     {
        ...
        "outputs":[
           {
              "name":"stdout",
              "output_type":"stream",
              "text":[
                 "Greetings from Vultr!\n"
              ]
           }
        ],
        "source":[
           "msg=\"Greetings from Vultr!\"\n",
           "print(msg)"
        ]
     }
     ...
   }  

6. Deactivate the myenv environment to switch back to the default base environment.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   (myenv) $ conda deactivate

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Output:

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   (base) $

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

Conclusion

You have installed Anaconda on a Debian 12 server and set up a Conda environment to manage packages. You can use Conda to create multiple isolated environments to install and manage Python packages based on your project needs. For more information and environment options, visit the Anaconda documentation.