Anaconda SSL error issue when installing in a new environment

SOLVED.

The problem was that the environment variable REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE was not set in the Anaconda Prompt shell profile, or any other command shell profile such as Git or Cmdr. Below are the steps I used to correct this in the various shells. You only have to set this variable in the shell you are using.

You can verify REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE is set in the shell by typing 'conda info -s' then look at the REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE entry in the list, which in my case was not set.

For Anaconda Prompt -- You need to enter the 'set' command each time since it is not saved. Copy and paste the following at the prompt, but change the {username} to your own computer.

set REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE=C:\users\{username}\anaconda3\Lib\site-packages\certifi\cacert.pem

For CMDR -- (Cmder is a console emulator downloaded from cmder.net)

Open the following profile file in a text editor: C:\cmder\config\user-profile.sh

Then insert the following line:

export REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE='C:\users\{username}\anaconda3\Lib\site-packages\certifi\cacert.pem'

Then run Cmdr and open a new console -> {bash::bash as Admin}

You can now use the Cmdr shell to run conda.

For Git Bash shell

Open the following profile file in a text editor: C:\users{username}.bashrc

Then insert the following line:

export REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE='C:\users\{username}\anaconda3\Lib\site-packages\certifi\cacert.pem'

You can now use the Git Bash shell to run conda.

Notes:

If you don't have the cacert.pem file in the certifi folder mentioned above, you can download it from

Now conda works. Hurray!