Arcgis Pro 1.4.1: Failed to load system tools. Please restart ArcGIS Pro

[EdAmrhein]

Recently developed a problem where ArcGIS Pro 1.4.1 will not load the tools/tool boxes.  Have completed several iterations of uninstall/install but problem persists.  Anyone have any ideas how to solve this?

[DrewFlater]

I haven't seen issues with the GPU cause geoprocessing to fail to load before, that is an interesting theory. If anyone is still having the problem, can they try to delete any files from the folder C:\Users\{yourusername}\AppData\Local\ESRI\Local Caches then restart Pro to see if it is able to load the system tools? Restarting Pro should generate two files that start with g* in the above directory, one ~50kb and one ~400kb. If it is still failing to load the system tools, please try to execute a simple arcpy command from the Python window in Pro, and see if the method fails - something simple like arcpy.GetInstallInfo(). If this fails, there is a serious problem with the Python environment, and this knowledge will help with further troubleshooting.

[NeilIrvine]

Drew. I followed your suggested actions. Only one file is regenerated in the ....\Local Caches folder ~50kb. Running a python command crashes the application to the Serious Application Error Window. I upgraded Pro version 1.2 to version 1.4.1 about two days ago using the Project>About>Update route.

[DrewFlater]

Please try the workaround described at https://community.esri.com/message/690550-workaround-installed-package-crashing-pro-141 

[ScottStopyak]

So this just happened to me, I'm thinking that it is because of adding Python packages. Maybe arcgis api? Could've been Jupyter.  Anyway, to fix it you have to rename or delete the Python folder (C:\Program Files\ArcGIS\Pro\bin\Python) in the ArcGIS Pro install,  then repair Pro. This will give you a fresh python install without whatever the bad package is. I'm hoping it isn't arcgis api, because I need to use it to automate some tasks, but all indications are that it might be the culprit.

Update:

After initially thinking this solution was working, it seems that it is not. Pro keeps crashing. I had to uninstall everything again and completely delete every directory involved in an Esri installation, delete every python installation and every environmental variable that has anything to do with python, then run a registry cleaner, then reinstall. It seems ok for the moment. 

[PetrBlahník]

I had the same issue. Probably this cause adding a python package arcgis. I uninstall ArcGIS Pro and manually delete rest of the folder "ArcGIS Pro" in Program Files. Then it's working normally.

[Anonymous User]

I am also having this same issue. The problem is coming from python for sure. I created separate conda environment because I needed some specific package versions, and that is when this problem began. Overall updating/removing/installing packages in Pro seems to cause issues even when it is done in a separate conda environment from the Pro default environment. This occurs in 1.4 and 2.0 (beta). Any resolution to this would be great, thanks!

[DanPatterson_Retired]

Ethan

The ArcGIS PRO conda package is 'special'.  I only use it when it need to use pro.  I created a totally different distribution to work with more recent versions of python etc.  The PRO distribution is quite finicky about what is where and what versions of other packages are supported.  Tread carefully or you will end up with a mess

[Anonymous User]

Very true I noticed it is finicky immediately. But, correct me if I am wrong, creating a new anaconda environment shouldn't mess with the default Pro environment and therefore shouldn't cause any issues. I will check things again, but it seems like it is still affecting it. You have had no trouble doing this?

[DanPatterson_Retired]

The Pro distribution's is totally separate from that I installed from Continuum.

This link shows a fairly recent blog post on the new Anaconda Navigator for accessing package installation, updating and some of the more common packages like R, Spyder, Orange etc etc.  One nice feature is that you can work with MatPlotLib 2.0 which you won't likely see in the Arc Pro distribution for some time.  

The top part of the post is recent... the latter section is left for legacy information

https://community.esri.com/blogs/dan_patterson/2016/07/17/anaconda-spyder-and-arcgis-pro

[ClintonDow1]

At the moment, arcpy and thus the underlying Python functionality in Pro is not a true site-package, the code in arcpy is laid down with the installation of Pro in the Resources directory. As such there are a few special files within Pro environments to  temporarily set the OS PATH to include the location of arcpy when python.exe from within a Pro env is run.

If those aren't present in a newly created environment then arcpy won't run successfully. You are correct that creating an additional environment will not affect the one which has the arcpy functionality - you should be able to switch between these without issue - however if you've installed Anaconda alongside Pro you have to be mindful of which conda.exe, python.exe etc you are calling. Since there are essentially two installations of the same program, you will only be able to access the envs associated with the executable that is being run. This is based off the system's PATH variable.

The conda installation in Pro, including its envs, exists within Pro's folders. Any envs outside of that folder structure will not work with arcpy (we are working on improving this, but as of Pro 1.4 it is the case) Anaconda is aggressive in changing the PATH, so if you've installed it after installing Pro your PATH likely points to the non-Pro installation's executables.

A handy command in the cmd prompt is 'where conda' - this will show a list of all the locations conda shows up on your PATH. The topmost one will be executed by calling that command on its own.