Permanently set Python path for Anaconda within Cygwin

To work with the interactive Python shell in Cygwin I use the -i option.

To get it from the Anaconda install, I used the steps suggested above:

$ export PATH=/cygdrive/c/anaconda:$PATH$ which python/cygdrive/c/anaconda/python

Then I launch python within Cygwin with the -i option:

$ python -iPython 2.7.8 |Anaconda 2.1.0 (64-bit)| (default, Jul  2 2014, 15:12:11) [MSC v.1500 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.Anaconda is brought to you by Continuum Analytics.Please check out: http://continuum.io/thanks and https://binstar.org>>>>

The libraries are also working fine. For instance the pandas library (which has been installed through Anaconda) can be imported now.

>>>> import pandas>>>> pandas.DataFrame<class 'pandas.core.frame.DataFrame'>

Now to make this permanent I added the path in my bashrc file:

$ echo 'export PATH=/cygdrive/c/anaconda:$PATH' >> .bashrc$ source .bashrc$ which python/cygdrive/c/anaconda/python

I hope this helps.

I too was having an issue getting anaconda set up with my Cygwin / Windows 7 system. What worked was the following:

1. Edited the ~/.bashrc. Add below to the bottom of file.

   export PATH=/cygdrive/c/Anaconda:$PATH

2. This mapped Cygwin's python to the anaconda distribution as proof by entering which python in Cygwin's console. However, when launching python it would hang up forcing me to ^C out of the command. I found that python -i will launch the interactive python interpreter with no issues.

Path

Regarding your path issue, see Installing anaconda to use with windows on how to fix that. Alternatively, you can just run /cygdrive/c/Anaconda/python.exe to start the Anaconda/windows python and leave the standard python pointing to the cygwin version.

Note that few of the suggestions given on the internet also include the necessary change to PYTHONPATH: if you use the anaconda/windows python, you also want the anaconda python libraries. Binary modules like numpy will surely crash or misbehave if you mix things up. The easiest way to check this is to install a module in cygwin that you do not need in Conda and test whether you can import that from anaconda python. If you can, your path is wrong.

Anaconda python will automatically add c:\Anconda to your PYTHONPATH, but if you have it set to serve CYGWIN python libraries, those will be found before the Anaconda libs. Try

import syssys.path

Terminal

However, this is also a terminal issue: Anaconda (Windows) python expects a windows shell and a modern cygwin shell is like an xterm, so very different. Diagnose this by running python --help, if that works but plain python hangs, the interactive prompt is the problem. This means you can run python programs, you just cannot interact with them.

A way around this is to use the cygwin bash shell instead of the cygwin terminal (both are under Cygwin group in the Start menu). They look very similar, but the font in the bash shell is less pretty and you cannot make the window wider than 80 chars (like all other CMD windows, never understood that 'feature'). This is cygwin bash running inside a CMD window, and your anaconda python will be interactive. The cygwin terminal gives you a bash shell running in a putty derivative, which mimics an xterm and cannot be used by anaconda python.