Conda Environment Setup for Windows Path Length Issues

This directory contains scripts to work around Windows path length limitations when creating conda environments.
The scripts are provided as a fallback tool in case of difficulty creating conda environments.

Normally RESOLVE Analysts should not need to use this script - reach out to the E3 Tech Team for assistance.

Problem

Windows has a maximum path length of 260 characters by default (LongPathsEnabled=0). Building the RESOLVE conda environment with conda env create -f environment.yml fails because:

• Long user profile paths (e.g., C:\Users\myname\Documents\GitHub\resolve-e3)
• Deep conda package paths during installation
• Python pip editable install creating deep wheel build directories

Alternative Solutions

1. Software designers remove any optional packages from RESOLVE that are impacting the build depth
2. Modify the compute environment from LongPathsEnabled=0 to LongPathsEnabled=1 (Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem:LongPathsEnabled)
3. Use these provided scripts that employ drive letter mapping (subst) to create shorter paths that may (or may not) bypass Windows path length limitations.

Prerequisites (for subst strategy)

• Conda/Miniconda already installed and in PATH
• Administrator privileges may be needed (recommended for drive mapping)

Usage

Creating the Environment

1. Double-click setup-resolve-env-win11.bat
   Or Right-click setup-resolve-env-win11.bat and select "Run as administrator"
   Or from cmd or PowerShell:

   setup-resolve-env-win11.bat
   

2. The script will:

   • Create C:\tmp for short temporary paths
   • Map M: to your conda installation directory
   • Map R: to this project directory
   • Create the conda environment with short paths
   • Prompt you whether to keep the drive mappings

3. Follow the prompts to confirm environment creation

Activating the Environment

After creation, activate normally:

conda activate resolve

Removing the Environment

Remove normally:

conda env remove -n resolve

Removing Drive Mappings

If you kept the drive mappings and want to remove them later:

subst M: /d
subst R: /d

To view current mappings:

subst

What the Script Does

setup-resolve-env-win11.bat

• Detects conda installation path
• Creates short temp directory (C:\tmp)
• Maps drives to short paths:
  • M: → Conda installation directory
  • R: → Project directory
• Sets environment variables for short temp paths
• Runs conda env create -f environment.yml
• Provides option to clean up drive mappings

Drive Mappings Persistence

Drive mappings created with subst persist until:

• System restart
• Manual removal with subst X: /d

You can keep them for convenience when working with this project.

Troubleshooting

"Not running as administrator" warning

• Right-click the script and select "Run as administrator"
• Or open cmd as administrator and run the script

Drive letter already in use

• The script will detect this and ask if you want to remap
• Choose 'n' to keep existing mapping if it's correct
• Choose 'y' to remap to the new path

Environment creation still fails

If you still encounter path issues:

1. Move your conda installation to C:\conda (shorter path)
2. Shorten the environment name in environment.yml
3. Consider using Docker instead (see docker/ directory)

"conda: command not found"

• Ensure conda is installed and in your PATH
• Restart your terminal after conda installation
• Try: C:\Users\<username>\miniconda3\Scripts\activate.bat

Notes

• Drive mappings are session-persistent but survive across terminal windows
• The C:\tmp directory will remain after script execution (safe to delete)
• You can customize drive letters by editing the scripts if M: or R: conflict with existing drives