Known macOS 15.4 Issue with KNIME’s Bundled Python Environments

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Dear KNIME Community,

We want to inform you of a known issue affecting the bundled Python environments in KNIME Analytics Platform on macOS 15.4.

Root Cause

Some Conda libraries—particularly libgfortran (used by numpy)—contain duplicate RPATH entries, causing them to fail to load on macOS 15.4. This is not limited to KNIME; it stems from a known problem in the numpy conda-forge feedstock (https://github.com/conda-forge/numpy-feedstock/issues/347), and a permanent fix is not yet available. In the meantime, we have prepared a script to remove duplicate RPATH entries and re-sign libraries as needed.

Impact on KNIME Users

When using KNIME’s bundled Python environments or other Conda environments on macOS 15.4, the “Python Script” node may fail immediately with the message “Execute failed: Could not connect to the Python process,” and Python-based extensions like the KNIME AI Extension might not appear. The KNIME log can also show an error similar to:

ImportError: dlopen(/Applications/KNIME 5.4.2.app/Contents/Eclipse/bundling/envs/org_knime_pythonscripting/lib/python3.11/site-packages/numpy/core/_multiarray_umath.cpython-311-darwin.so, 0x0002): Library not loaded: @rpath/libgfortran.5.dylib

Temporary Workaround

If you do not urgently need to upgrade to macOS 15.4, we recommend waiting until a permanent fix is available. For those who have already updated—or must update—to macOS 15.4, please follow the steps below to modify your KNIME application’s bundled Python environments and any standalone Conda environments. This ensures these libraries can be loaded successfully.

Instructions

  1. Download the script: Obtain the attached file
    fix_knime_python_envs.sh (5.7 KB).
  2. Open a terminal: Launch the Terminal app on macOS. In the terminal, type cd ~/Downloads (or navigate to the folder where you saved the script) to switch to that directory.
  3. Make the script executable:
    chmod +x fix_knime_python_envs.sh
  4. Run the script: Provide the path to your KNIME installation or a specific Conda environment:
    ./fix_knime_python_envs.sh "/Applications/KNIME 5.4.3.app"
./fix_knime_python_envs.sh /path/to/my_conda_env

We will provide updated Python environments in bugfix releases of KNIME Analytics Platform once conda-forge and numpy offer a general fix for these duplicate RPATH entries. In the meantime, please apply this script if you encounter any Python library loading issues on macOS 15.4.

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