Clone a Python environment with the Python Command Prompt

Summary

ArcGIS Pro provides a user-friendly interface to manage Python environments with the Python Package Manager; a tool that can create, clone, activate and remove Python environments. However in some instances, the Manage Environment dialog does not allow cloning or creating a new environment.

As a workaround, Python environments can be cloned using the Python Command Prompt. Use the instructions provided in this article.

Procedure

1. Run the Python Command Prompt as an administrator.
   1. Click the Start icon.
   2. Navigate to the ArcGIS folder.
   3. Right-click Python Command Prompt > More > Open file location.
   4. Right-click Python Command Prompt and click Run as administrator.
2. Search for all the available Python environments by entering the following command:

conda env list

3. Identify the name of the Python environment to clone. In this example, the environment to be cloned is arcgispro-py3.

4. Clone the environment by entering the following command:

conda create --clone <environment to clone>  --name <new environment name> --pinned

Note:
For this example, the command is: conda create --clone arcgispro-py3 --name arcgispro-py3_clone --pinned

Alternatively, to clone the environment to a specific directory path, enter the command as:

conda create --clone <environment to clone>  -p <path><new environment name> --pinned

Note:
For this example, the command is: conda create --clone arcgispro-py3 -p C:\ProgramFiles\ArcGIS\Pro\bin\Python\envs\arcgispro-py3_clone3 --pinned