fix-conda-ssl 0.3.0

Fix Conda SSLError on Windows by copying DDLs

fix-conda-ssl

Fix the dreaded Conda SSLError on Windows by copying DDLs. This is not about validating certificates behind a corporate firewall but about Python not being able to import ssl inside conda environments resulting in "SSL module is not available" errors.

The Problem

Every once in a while, the planets are out of alignment and conda on Windows is broken again. Sometimes it is only the conda-forge channel for the newest version of Python, sometimes it is (much) worse. Reinstalling the latest version of Anaconda is, unfortunately, not a quick solution for my lab full of university-managed Windows PCs without administrator access. After noticing on a Friday late-afternoon that SSL was broken again and you could not only not install packages into a conda environment but also not run pipx-installed applications like Poetry inside of an environment, I needed a student-friendly solution to the problem. After all, when my students come in after the weekend I don't want to send them home because of broken machines. So, I sat down to write this tool.

The solution

Many reports can be found detailing the problem starting years ago. The solution seems to be pretty straight-forward, although it can be a bit cumbersome to perform. Basically, you just need to copy libcrypo-something.dll and libssl-something.dll from the environments Library/bin folder to its DLLs folder. So, enter fixconda.

Installation and usage

It is best to install using pipx to keep this application out of your base conda environment:

> pipx install fix-conda-ssl

If needed, you can also install using pip:

> pip install fix-conda-ssl

Start the application by typing:

> fixconda

Select an environment using the mouse or cursor keys and click or press enter to fix the environment.