Why can I not install snakemake on my SLURM computer even though I can find it in the bioconda channel? I searched for the package 'snakemake' on my SLURM cluster using:

conda search --channel bioconda snakemake

and I get many versions, up to 5.4.2.

I then try to install it using:

conda install --channel bioconda --yes snakemake=5.4.2

but it fails with the following message:

PackagesNotFoundError: The following packages are not available from current channels:

  - snakemake

Current channels:

  - https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/main/linux-64
  - https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/main/noarch
  - https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/free/linux-64
  - https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/free/noarch
  - https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/r/linux-64
  - https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/r/noarch
  - https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/pro/linux-64
  - https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/pro/noarch


Why?

Why is the bioconda channel not included in the current channels? I thought that was what the --channel bioconda did in my install command.

Note that conda install --channel bioconda --yes samtools=1.9 worked fine and installed samtools successfully.
I created a file .condarc in my home directory with the following content:

channels:
  - conda-forge
  - bioconda
  - defaults


and it works now. I don't understand why this is necessary though. I thought the channels in the .condarc file would be used if I did not specify them in my command.