Python Integration Installation Blocked For Multiuser Version of KNIME AP

[jude_ran]

Greetings, KNIME Team!

We have a multiuser installation of the KNIME AP on a Windows virtual machine (“multiuser” being a single installation with “write” permissions removed to). The “configuration” folder is set to a writable location, allowing the user to install personal plugins.

All desired plugins install and operate perfectly, except for the “KNIME Python Integration” extension. When it attempts to install, it reports the following error:

An error occurred while installing the items

session context was:(profile=KNIMEProfile, phase=org.eclipse.equinox.internal.p2.engine.phases.Install, operand=null → [R]org.knime.pythonscripting.channel.v1.bin.win32.x86_64 4.7.1.v202301201518, action=org.knime.product.p2.actions.ShellExec).

ShellExec command exited non-zero exit value:

This program is blocked by group policy. For more information, contact your system administrator.

From the text, I am assuming the plugin is attempting to execute a shell command to do “something” that requires it to have write permissions which have been restricted. It was difficult to manual inspect it to ascertain what it’s attempting to write.

IT is willing to tweak the group policy to permit its execution, but due to security protocols they need to know what operation is precisely being performed within this shell command before they can proceed.

Any technical information you can share will be greatly appreciated as this can be communicated back to the IT team. Having this plugin would greatly extend the usage of the application to our users.

Thanks.

[bwilhelm]

Hi @jude_ran,
The “KNIME Python Integration” creates a Conda environment that provides some frequently used Python packages at installation—this way the user does not have to set up his own Python environment for most tasks.
This is done by a script that is executed during the installation and that calls “micromamba” to create the environment. The script is called bin\create_env.bat in the plugin directory for the “org.knime.pythonscripting.channel.v1.bin.win32.x86_64” plugin and should still be there after a failed installation for inspection. Also, the script writes to two files bin/create_env.out and bin/create_env.err to save the standard output and standard error. These files might contain some useful information.
I hope that helps to find the concrete problem.