Conda update fails with SSL error CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED

Question

I have a problem with conda update. Specifically, I tried doing

conda update <package>

, and I got the following error:

Could not connect to https://repo.continuum.io/pkgs/free/osx-64/decorator-4.0.2-py27_0.tar.   
bz2 Error: Connection error: [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed 
(_ssl.c:590): https://repo.continuum.io/pkgs/free/osx-64/decorator-4.0.2-py27_0.tar.bz2

The full output of the command was the following:

conda update bokeh Fetching package metadata: SSL verification error: [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed (_ssl.c:590) .SSL verification error: [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed (_ssl.c:590) .SSL verification error: [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed (_ssl.c:590) .SSL verification error: [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed (_ssl.c:590) . Solving package specifications: . Package plan for installation in environment //anaconda:

The following packages will be downloaded:

    package                    |            build
    ---------------------------|-----------------
    decorator-4.0.2            |           py27_0          11 KB
    ipython_genutils-0.1.0     |           py27_0          32 KB
    path.py-8.1.1              |           py27_0          45 KB
    pexpect-3.3                |           py27_0          60 KB
    pickleshare-0.5            |           py27_0           8 KB
    simplegeneric-0.8.1        |           py27_0           6 KB
    traitlets-4.0.0            |           py27_0          88 KB
    ipython-4.0.0              |           py27_0         916 KB
    jinja2-2.8                 |           py27_0         263 KB
    tornado-4.2.1              |           py27_0         515 KB
    bokeh-0.9.3                |       np19py27_0        14.3 MB
    ------------------------------------------------------------
                                           Total:        16.2 MB

The following NEW packages will be INSTALLED:

    ipython_genutils: 0.1.0-py27_0    
    path.py:          8.1.1-py27_0    
    pexpect:          3.3-py27_0      
    pickleshare:      0.5-py27_0      
    simplegeneric:    0.8.1-py27_0    
    traitlets:        4.0.0-py27_0    

The following packages will be UPDATED:

    bokeh:            0.9.0-np19py27_0 --> 0.9.3-np19py27_0
    decorator:        3.4.2-py27_0     --> 4.0.2-py27_0    
    ipython:          3.2.0-py27_0     --> 4.0.0-py27_0    
    jinja2:           2.7.3-py27_1     --> 2.8-py27_0      
    tornado:          4.2-py27_0       --> 4.2.1-py27_0    

Proceed ([y]/n)? y

Fetching packages ... Could not connect to https://repo.continuum.io/pkgs/free/osx-64/decorator-4.0.2-py27_0.tar.bz2 Error: Connection error: [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed (_ssl.c:590): https://repo.continuum.io/pkgs/free/osx-64/decorator-4.0.2-py27_0.tar.bz2

dendisuhubdy:finalproject dendisuhubdy$ brew link --force openssl Linking /usr/local/Cellar/openssl/1.0.2d_1... 1548 symlinks created dendisuhubdy:finalproject dendisuhubdy$ conda update bokeh Fetching package metadata: SSL verification error: [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed (_ssl.c:590) .SSL verification error: [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed (_ssl.c:590) .SSL verification error: [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed (_ssl.c:590) .SSL verification error: [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed (_ssl.c:590) . Solving package specifications: . Package plan for installation in environment //anaconda:

The following packages will be downloaded:

    package                    |            build
    ---------------------------|-----------------
    decorator-4.0.2            |           py27_0          11 KB
    ipython_genutils-0.1.0     |           py27_0          32 KB
    path.py-8.1.1              |           py27_0          45 KB
    pexpect-3.3                |           py27_0          60 KB
    pickleshare-0.5            |           py27_0           8 KB
    simplegeneric-0.8.1        |           py27_0           6 KB
    traitlets-4.0.0            |           py27_0          88 KB
    ipython-4.0.0              |           py27_0         916 KB
    jinja2-2.8                 |           py27_0         263 KB
    tornado-4.2.1              |           py27_0         515 KB
    bokeh-0.9.3                |       np19py27_0        14.3 MB
    ------------------------------------------------------------
                                           Total:        16.2 MB

The following NEW packages will be INSTALLED:

    ipython_genutils: 0.1.0-py27_0    
    path.py:          8.1.1-py27_0    
    pexpect:          3.3-py27_0      
    pickleshare:      0.5-py27_0      
    simplegeneric:    0.8.1-py27_0    
    traitlets:        4.0.0-py27_0    

The following packages will be UPDATED:

    bokeh:            0.9.0-np19py27_0 --> 0.9.3-np19py27_0
    decorator:        3.4.2-py27_0     --> 4.0.2-py27_0    
    ipython:          3.2.0-py27_0     --> 4.0.0-py27_0    
    jinja2:           2.7.3-py27_1     --> 2.8-py27_0      
    tornado:          4.2-py27_0       --> 4.2.1-py27_0    

Proceed ([y]/n)? y

Fetching packages ... Could not connect to https://repo.continuum.io/pkgs/free/osx-64/decorator-4.0.2-py27_0.tar.bz2 Error: Connection error: [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed (_ssl.c:590): https://repo.continuum.io/pkgs/free/osx-64/decorator-4.0.2-py27_0.tar.bz2

Please advise: what should I do to overcome this error?

Answer 1

Please note that the following solution is not secure. See: https://conda.io/projects/conda/en/latest/user-guide/configuration/disable-ssl-verification.html

according to @jreback here https://github.com/conda/conda/issues/1166

conda config --set ssl_verify false 

will turn off this feature, e.g. here