# Installation error - unsolvable sortmerna issue
**URL:** https://forum.qiime2.org/t/installation-error-unsolvable-sortmerna-issue/34297
**Category:** Technical Support
**Created:** [August 24, 2026, 1:57pm UTC](https://forum.qiime2.org/t/installation-error-unsolvable-sortmerna-issue/34297 "2026-08-24T13:57:09Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@desmodus1984](https://forum.qiime2.org/u/desmodus1984)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2026, 1:57pm UTC](https://forum.qiime2.org/t/installation-error-unsolvable-sortmerna-issue/34297/1 "2026-08-24T13:57:09Z")
Hi,
A friend shared some fastq.gz files of 16S to compare communities across a river. I offered to analyze them,so I am trying to install qiime2 in conda, and it failed with error:
conda env create
--name qiime2
--file [https://raw.githubusercontent.com/qiime2/distributions/refs/heads/dev/2026.7/qiime2/released/rachis-qiime2-linux-64-conda.yml](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/qiime2/distributions/refs/heads/dev/2026.7/qiime2/released/rachis-qiime2-linux-64-conda.yml) -y
Retrieving notices: done
Channels:
- conda-forge
- bioconda
- [released](https://packages.qiime2.org/qiime2/2026.7/qiime2/released)
- defaults
Platform: linux-64
Collecting package metadata (repodata.json): done
Solving environment: failed
LibMambaUnsatisfiableError: Encountered problems while solving:
- package deblur-1.1.1-pyhdfd78af\_0 requires sortmerna 2.0, but none of the providers can be installed
Could not solve for environment specs
The following package could not be installed
└─ deblur =1.1.1 \* is not installable because it requires
└─ sortmerna ==2.0 \*, which conflicts with any installable versions previously reported.
* * *
* * *
I tried a clean/new environment to make it easier, and it failed.
The code and full error message is as follows:
I used --verbose as suggested:
conda env create --name qiime2 --file [https://raw.githubusercontent.com/qiime2/distributions/refs/heads/dev/2026.7/qiime2/released/rachis-qiime2-linux-64-conda.yml](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/qiime2/distributions/refs/heads/dev/2026.7/qiime2/released/rachis-qiime2-linux-64-conda.yml) -y --verbose
Channels:
- conda-forge
- bioconda
- [released](https://packages.qiime2.org/qiime2/2026.7/qiime2/released)
- defaults
Platform: linux-64
Collecting package metadata (repodata.json): ...working... done
Solving environment: ...working... warning libmamba The specification of the environment does not seem solvable in your current setup.
warning libmamba For instance, packages from different channels might be specified,
warning libmamba whilst your current configuration might not allow their resolution.
warning libmamba
warning libmamba If it is the case, you need to either:
warning libmamba - adapt the channel ordering (e.g. by reordering the `-c` flags in your command line)
warning libmamba - use the flexible channel priority (e.g. using `--channel-priority flexible` in your command line)
warning libmamba
warning libmamba For reference, see this piece of documentation on channel priority:
warning libmamba [Managing channels — conda 26.7.2 documentation](https://docs.conda.io/projects/conda/en/stable/user-guide/tasks/manage-channels.html#strict-channel-priority)
failed
LibMambaUnsatisfiableError: Encountered problems while solving:
- package deblur-1.1.1-pyhdfd78af\_0 requires sortmerna 2.0, but none of the providers can be installed
Could not solve for environment specs
The following package could not be installed
└─ deblur =1.1.1 \* is not installable because it requires
└─ sortmerna ==2.0 \*, which conflicts with any installable versions previously reported.
Hope it can be installed in conda, by the way, docker doesn't work in my HPC.
---
### Author:  [@felicia](https://forum.qiime2.org/u/felicia)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2026, 2:02pm UTC](https://forum.qiime2.org/t/installation-error-unsolvable-sortmerna-issue/34297/2 "2026-08-24T14:02:48Z")
Hi @desmodus1984, this looks like the same as this issue: [WSL2 install q2 error](https://forum.qiime2.org/t/wsl2-install-q2-error/33720) and should be solved by trying to set
```bash
conda config --set channel_priority flexible
```
Then retry the same environment creation command again. Let me know if that fixes your issue!
---
### Author:  [@colinbrislawn](https://forum.qiime2.org/u/colinbrislawn)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2026, 12:41am UTC](https://forum.qiime2.org/t/installation-error-unsolvable-sortmerna-issue/34297/3 "2026-09-12T00:41:07Z")
An off-topic reply has been split into a new topic: [using new from Silva 144 classifiers with qiime2-amplicon-2025.10](https://forum.qiime2.org/t/using-new-from-silva-144-classifiers-with-qiime2-amplicon-2025-10/34325)
Please keep replies on-topic in the future.
---
### Author:  [@MarkoFlow](https://forum.qiime2.org/u/MarkoFlow)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2026, 1:54pm UTC](https://forum.qiime2.org/t/installation-error-unsolvable-sortmerna-issue/34297/4 "2026-09-21T13:54:05Z")
> [@desmodus1984](#):
>
> Could not solve for environment specs
> The following package could not be installed
> └─ deblur =1.1.1 \* is not installable because it requires
> └─ sortmerna ==2.0 \*, which conflicts with any installable versions previously reported.
>
> Hope it can be installed in conda, by the way, docker doesn't work in my HPC.
Since Docker is restricted on your HPC, you can convert the official QIIME 2 Docker image into a Singularity/Apptainer `.sif` file using `singularity pull` to bypass Conda solver conflicts entirely.