OSGeo
Doc: Conda environments on Windows
What is the bug?
The current docs Building on Windows with Conda dependencies and Visual Studio no longer work with newer versions of Python (3.13).
Steps to reproduce the issue
cd c:\dev
conda create --name gdal
conda activate gdal
conda install --yes --quiet curl libiconv icu git python swig numpy pytest zlib
conda install --yes --quiet -c conda-forge compilers clcache
conda install --yes --quiet -c conda-forge \
cmake proj geos hdf4 hdf5 \
libnetcdf openjpeg poppler libtiff libpng xerces-c expat libxml2 kealib json-c \
cfitsio freexl geotiff jpeg libpq libspatialite libwebp-base pcre postgresql \
sqlite tiledb zstd charls cryptopp cgal librttopo libkml openssl xz
Versions and provenance
(gdal) PS C:\dev> python --version
Python 3.13.2
Pinning Python to an older version would be fine, but some of the dependencies are only available up to Python 3.10:
conda search -c conda-forge clcache
...
clcache 4.2.0 py310h5588dad_1 conda-forge
clcache 4.2.0 py36h57928b3_0 conda-forge
clcache 4.2.0 py38haa244fe_1 conda-forge
clcache 4.2.0 py39hcbf5309_1 conda-forge
Using Python 3.10 results in:
warning libmamba Problem type not implemented SOLVER_RULE_STRICT_REPO_PRIORITY
warning libmamba Problem type not implemented SOLVER_RULE_STRICT_REPO_PRIORITY
LibMambaUnsatisfiableError: Encountered problems while solving:
- cannot install both pin-1-1 and pin-1-1
- nothing provides libcurl 7.79.0 h789b8ee_0 needed by curl-7.79.0-h789b8ee_0
And further errors.
Additional context
A working minimal Conda setup for Windows to build the documentation, using PowerShell, is shown below.
md c:\dev
cd c:\dev
conda create --name gdal
conda activate gdal
conda install --yes --quiet -c conda-forge pip doxygen cmake proj ca-certificates swig
git clone https://github.com/OSGeo/gdal/
pip install -r C:\dev\gdal\doc\requirements.txt
cd C:\dev\gdal
md build
cd build
cmake -DGDAL_BUILD_OPTIONAL_DRIVERS=OFF -DOGR_BUILD_OPTIONAL_DRIVERS=OFF ..
cmake --build . --target html --config Release
python -m http.server -d C:\dev\gdal\build\doc\build\html
It may need to be run with admin privileges or the following errors may be encountered:
Warning: using menuinst v1 shortcuts
Please update menuinst in the base environment and reinstall git.
- Insufficient permissions to write menu folder. Falling back to user location
There are passing Conda-based workflows at https://github.com/OSGeo/gdal/blob/master/.github/workflows/conda.yml and scripts https://github.com/OSGeo/gdal/blob/master/ci/travis/conda/setup.sh - however these are difficult to follow if wanting to setup a basic dev environment.
A possible improvement would be to have a simple CI workflow and script, and include this in the docs output so if it breaks it can be updated.
It looks like the command works fine if pinning to Python 3.10 - it just has to remove python from the install list, or it updates it back to 3.13.
md c:\dev
cd c:\dev
conda create --name gdal python=3.10 -c conda-forge
conda activate gdal
conda activate gdal
python --version
# Python 3.10.16
conda install --yes -c conda-forge curl git libiconv icu swig numpy pytest zlib
conda install --yes -c conda-forge compilers clcache
conda install --yes -c conda-forge `
cmake proj geos hdf4 hdf5 `
libnetcdf openjpeg poppler libtiff libpng xerces-c expat libxml2 kealib json-c `
cfitsio freexl geotiff jpeg libpq libspatialite libwebp-base pcre postgresql `
sqlite tiledb zstd charls cryptopp cgal librttopo libkml openssl xz
git clone https://github.com/OSGeo/gdal/
pip install -r c:\dev\gdal\doc\requirements.txt
cd c:\dev\gdal
md build
cd build
cmake -DGDAL_BUILD_OPTIONAL_DRIVERS=OFF -DOGR_BUILD_OPTIONAL_DRIVERS=OFF ..
cmake --build . --config Release
instead of listing all dependent libraries, the use of the --only-deps flag might help. Something like: "conda install -c conda-forge --only-deps libgdal libgdal-hdf4 libgdal-hdf5 libgdal-netcdf libgdal-pdf libgdal-openjpeg"
