.. _cloud-introduction:

===============
Anaconda Cloud
===============

:emphasis:`What is Anaconda Cloud?`

`Anaconda Cloud <http://www.anaconda.org>`_ is a
package management service by `Anaconda <http://anaconda.com>`_. Cloud makes
it easy to find, access, store and share public notebooks,
environments, and conda and PyPI packages. Cloud also makes it easy to stay
current with updates made to the packages and environments you are using. Cloud
hosts hundreds of useful Python packages, notebooks and environments for 
a wide variety of applications. You do not need to log in, or even to have 
a Cloud account, to search for public packages, download and 
install them.

You can build new packages using the Anaconda Client command line 
interface (CLI), then manually or automatically upload the packages to 
Cloud to quickly share with others or access yourself from anywhere.

For developers, Cloud is designed to make software development,
release and maintenance easy by providing broad package management
support. Cloud allows for free public package 
hosting, as well as package channels, providing a flexible and 
scalable service for groups and organizations of all sizes.

Hosting of freely available packages always remains free for
individuals and organizations hosting up to 3\ |nbsp|\ GB of packages.


To use Cloud, you should first:

* `Download Anaconda <https://www.anaconda.com/downloads>`_.

* Become familiar with using conda. A good place to start is 
  the `conda cheat sheet 
  <http://conda.pydata.org/docs/using/cheatsheet.html>`_ 
  and the `conda test drive 
  <http://conda.pydata.org/docs/test-drive.html>`_.

.. toctree::
   :maxdepth: 2
   :hidden:

   User guide <user-guide/index>
   faq
   help-support
   Command reference <commandreference>
   glossary

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