Cannot install brightway2 with conda: `PackagesNotFoundError`

[nicolnt]

I am trying to install Brightway2 (not 25) to test some things to do some work on the same version of Brightway as is currently used by Activity-Browser interface.

However, following the official instructions with conda does not seem to work. I don't know exactly what is going wrong.

Note that appart from this conda works

Versions

Ubuntu running on WSL on Windows 11.

DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS"

Processor	13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-13700H (2.40 GHz)
Installed RAM	32.0 GB (31.7 GB usable)

Edition	Windows 11 Pro
Version	24H2
Installed on	‎10/‎12/‎2024
OS build	26100.6584

conda 25.9.1

Attempts

Attempt: Following official Brightway2 legacy documentation

https://docs.brightway.dev/en/legacy/content/installation/installation.html#quickstart

conda create -n 20251106-brightway2 brightway2

Console output

conda create -n 20251106-brightway2 brightway2
Retrieving notices: done
Collecting package metadata (current_repodata.json): done
Solving environment: unsuccessful attempt using repodata from current_repodata.json, retrying with next repodata source.
Collecting package metadata (repodata.json): failed

CondaHTTPError: HTTP 000 CONNECTION FAILED for url <https://conda.anaconda.org/conda-forge/noarch/repodata.json>
Elapsed: -

An HTTP error occurred when trying to retrieve this URL.
HTTP errors are often intermittent, and a simple retry will get you on your way.
'https//conda.anaconda.org/conda-forge/noarch'

Attempt: specifying conda-forge

conda create -n 20251106-brightway2 -f conda-forge brightway2

Console output

conda create -n 20251106-brightway2 -f conda-forge brightway2
Retrieving notices: done
Collecting package metadata (current_repodata.json): done
Solving environment: unsuccessful attempt using repodata from current_repodata.json, retrying with next repodata source.
Collecting package metadata (repodata.json): done
Solving environment: failed

PackagesNotFoundError: The following packages are not available from current channels:

  - conda-forge

Current channels:

  - 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
  - https://conda.anaconda.org/conda-forge/linux-64
  - https://conda.anaconda.org/conda-forge/noarch

To search for alternate channels that may provide the conda package you're
looking for, navigate to

    https://anaconda.org

and use the search bar at the top of the page.

Attempt: Following conda forge instruction

https://anaconda.org/conda-forge/brightway2

conda create -n 20251106-brightway2
conda activate 20251106-brightway2
conda install conda-forge::brightway2

Console output

conda install conda-forge::brightway2                             
Collecting package metadata (current_repodata.json): done                                                                                                   
Solving environment: unsuccessful initial attempt using frozen solve. Retrying with flexible solve.                                                         
Solving environment: unsuccessful attempt using repodata from current_repodata.json, retrying with next repodata source.                                    
Collecting package metadata (repodata.json): done                                                                                                           
Solving environment: / (20251106-brightway2)

[cmutel]

Use -c for channels, not -f

[nicolnt]

Use -c for channels, not -f

Good spot! But this does not solve the issue, unfortunately. It gets stuck just like the other attempts.

Console output

conda install -c conda-forge brightway2
Collecting package metadata (current_repodata.json): done
Solving environment: unsuccessful initial attempt using frozen solve. Retrying with flexible solve.
Solving environment: unsuccessful attempt using repodata from current_repodata.json, retrying with next repodata source.
Collecting package metadata (repodata.json): - 

Following the official instructions (first attempt and last attempt) does not work either.

On the other hand, those two installations work at the moment, so I don't think it's an issue with my conda installation:

conda create -n test-env -c conda-forge -c cmutel brightway25

conda create -n test-env-2 -c conda-forge jupyterlab

Can you reproduce, and if so, can you reopen this issue?

[cmutel]

@nicolnt I don't have the infrastructure to debug this. If using this legacy version is important to you or your institution, you can get commercial support from https://www.cauldron.ch/.

[nicolnt]

OK, thanks for yur reply. Unfortunately, commercial support won't be possible in the scope of our research.

I am exploring this version 2 of Brightway to better understand how Activity Browser loads, match and export Excel inventories, and this software is still based on bw2. For instance, I am trying to figure out why the "type" property in Excel LCI from AB2 is inconsistent with the "type" property of activities in Ecoinvent database, as can be seen in bw25.

While Activity Browser version 3 will use bw25, it is still under beta testing and I cannot yet use it. Bw2 is therefore not so much of a legacy package considering all the AB users.