Objective
This policy outlines the guidelines for the installation and use of Anaconda software at Kansas State University for academic courses, research, educational purposes, and commercial services.
Audience
This policy applies to all faculty, staff, and students who use Anaconda on institution-owned devices for academic and commercial purposes.
Usage Guidelines
Educational Use
- Free Use: Anaconda is free for use in course curricula, including teaching, learning, and research at accredited universities, regardless of the number of employees.
- Research Projects: Faculty and students can use Anaconda for research projects without a commercial license, provided the research is part of the university’s educational activities.
- Administrative Use: Administrative use of Anaconda may require a commercial license if it involves activities beyond the scope of teaching and research
Commercial Use
- Any use beyond standard educational purposes, such as embedding Anaconda in other products, providing third-party access, or performing analysis services for profit, requires a commercial license.
Environment
Procedure
Version Control: Users should install the latest stable version of Anaconda unless specific course or research requirements dictate otherwise.
Security: Ensure that all installations are performed from the official Anaconda website to avoid security risks. (https://www.anaconda.com/download/success)
Download Anaconda
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Visit the Anaconda download page and select the appropriate installer for your operating system (Windows, macOS, or Linux).
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Ensure you download the version suitable for your system architecture (64-bit).
Verify the Installer (Optional)
- Verify the integrity of the installer using the SHA-256 hash provided on the download page. This step ensures the installer has not been tampered with.
- On Windows, you can use PowerShell:
- Get-FileHash .\Downloads\<INSTALLER-FILE> -Algorithm SHA256
- Replace <INSTALLER-FILE> with the name of the downloaded installer file.
- Install Anaconda
Install Anaconda
- Double-click the installer to launch it.
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Follow the prompts in the setup wizard. It is recommended to install for “Just Me” to avoid permission issues.
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Choose the installation location. Avoid paths with spaces or special characters.
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Decide whether to add Anaconda to your PATH environment variable. It is generally recommended to leave this option unchecked to avoid conflicts.
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Click “Install” and wait for the installation to complete.
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Open the downloaded .pkg file.
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Follow the installation prompts.
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You may need to provide your administrator password.
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Open a terminal and navigate to the directory where the installer is downloaded.
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Run the installer script:
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Follow the prompts in the terminal.
Post-Installation Steps
To verify installation:
- Open a terminal or Anaconda Prompt and run:
- This command lists all installed packages, confirming a successful installation.
Update Anaconda
It is a good practice to update Anaconda after installation:
- Open a terminal or Anaconda Prompt and run:
- conda update conda
- conda update anaconda
Notes
Important Licensing Information
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No Mirroring: Do not mirror Anaconda’s repository on your university’s servers without a license. Mirroring requires a commercial license and is not covered under the free usage terms.
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Downloading, installing, using, and updating packages from the Anaconda Repository (“defaults” channels, see: https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs) is free.
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Downloading, installing, using, and updating packages from anaconda.org, including the conda-forge channel, is free.
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Pay extra attention if adding any other repositories and prior to installation verify that those packages do not require purchasing licenses. If they do, purchase the license PRIOR to installing the package.
Additional Resources