[Python] Conda offline install module shows DONE, but the module is not installed

I am trying to install pyarrow using conda. The install appears to succeed but the files are not placed in the relevant directory.

My Python install is on a corporate Linux server with no internet access, that I SSH in to. Python on this machine is tolerated but not supported by my organisation's IT. There are restrictions on what can be transferred onto the server which is why I'm not using the online latest versions.

I'm new to Python and Anaconda so rookie mistakes are likely, but googling has not helped me with this one.

Steps to reproduce :

1. Initialise anaconda-2020.07-py38. This is the latest version available on my machine.

> /applications/python2020/Anaconda3/bin/conda init zsh

1. Create and activate a new environment named personal.

> conda create --name personal --clone base
...
> conda activate personal
(personal)

1. Manually download latest python3.8 compatible release of pyarrow from conda-forge and install it.

> conda install -v -n personal --offline '/home/imacthere4iam/Downloads/pyarrow-17.0.0-py38hb563948_1.conda'
initializing UnlinkLinkTransaction with
target_prefix: /home/imacthere4iam/.conda/envs/personal
unlink_precs:

link_precs:
<unknown>/linux-64:yarrow-17.0.0-py38hb563948_1


Preparing transaction: ...working... done
Verifying transaction: ...working... done
Executing transaction: ...working... ===> LINKING PACKAGE: <unknown>:yarrow-17.0.0-py38hb563948_1 <===
prefix=/home/imacthere4iam/.conda/envs/personal
source=/home/imacthere4iam/.conda/pkgs/pyarrow-17.0.0-py38hb563948_1


done
(personal)

1. Check that conda list shows the module is installed (other packages snipped).

> conda list
# packages in environment at /home/imacthere4iam/.conda/envs/personal:
#
# Name Version Build Channel
pyarrow 17.0.0 py38hb563948_1 <unknown>

Expected result:


Module pyarrow to be installed in /home/imacthere4iam/.conda/envs/personal/lib/python3.8/site-packages.

If I had messed something up (like missing dependencies, permission error or an incompatible version, then I would expect some error message from conda.

Actual result:


import pyarrow results in ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pyarrow'

I checked that I'm running the interpreter in the intended environment: print(os.environ['CONDA_PREFIX']) prints personal.

sys.path is correct; the problem really seems to be that the module isn't actually getting installed.

Looking in /home/imacthere4iam/.conda/envs/personal/lib/python3.8/site-packages, I confirm that pyarrow is not there.

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