The anaconda metapackage is a version-locked collection of packages that were included in an Anaconda Distribution installer. Version-locked packages (also called pinned packages) are tied to a specific version of their software. Conda does not update pinned packages when resolving dependencies if other packages in the environment are added or modified. Because each package in the metapackage is pinned, any attempt to update the environment will almost certainly result in build conflicts. However, it is still possible to install the anaconda metapackage and update the environment that contains it. For more information, see Updating a metapackage environment.
The anaconda metapackage was removed from Anaconda Distribution installers in February of 2023 and no longer appears in your base environment by default.

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Installing the metapackage

If you plan to install the anaconda metapackage, Anaconda recommends that you create an environment specifically for that metapackage first:
  1. Open Anaconda Prompt (Terminal on macOS/Linux).
  2. Create a new environment by running the following command: 
    # Replace <ENV> with the name of your environment
conda create --name <ENV>
  3. (Optional) Search for metapackage versions available for install by running the following command: 
    conda search anaconda
  4. Install the anaconda metapackage or specify a metapackage version by running one of the following commands: 
    conda install anaconda

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Updating a metapackage environment

If you have an environment containing the anaconda metapackage and need to update packages in that environment, you must first unpin the package versions in your environment. This is accomplished by installing the anaconda=custom version of the metapackage:
  1. Open Anaconda Prompt (Terminal on macOS/Linux).
  2. Open the environment containing the metapackage you want to update: 
    # Replace <ENV> with the name of your metapackage environment
conda activate <ENV>
  3. Install the custom version of the anaconda package using the following command: 
    conda install anaconda=custom
  4. Install or update packages as desired. For more information on managing packages, see Managing packages in the conda documentation.