Miniconda
Although Miniconda is available on UD's clusters, Miniforge is now the recommended way to use conda for creating new virtual evironments. If you are following a recipe or instructions that use Miniconda, try loading the Miniforge VALET package instead of the Miniconda VALET package and keep all
conda commands the same. Miniforge should function as a drop-in replacement for Miniconda.
Miniconda is a free, miniature installation of Anaconda Distribution that includes only conda, Python, the packages they both depend on, and a small number of other useful packages. It is now the recommended replacement for Anaconda on UD’s HPC clusters (Caviness and DARWIN), as Anaconda changes its policy for academic use. To determine the available versions of Anaconda installed, use
$ vpkg_versions miniconda
Warning: The company that develops Anaconda has recently begun charging for use of the
defaults channel. Terms and conditions that might provide an exception for use at a university are not yet clear. The conda-forge channel is still available for free, regardless. DO NOT use Anaconda channels!
VALET Package Definitions
Keep in mind the recipes provided for each cluster may include instructions on how to create a VALET package for the virtual Python environment using a script to activate the environment, called
miniconda-activate.sh.