How to Fix the IPython Notebook 'unknown locale: UTF-8' Error on macOS?

IPython Notebook Locale Error

When attempting to start IPython Notebook on a Mac OSX 64-bit Anaconda Python installation, users may encounter a ValueError. This error originates from an unknown locale setting.

Problem Details

The error message typically includes the following traceback:

ValueError: unknown locale: UTF-8

Examining the system locale settings using the command locale reveals the following:

LANG=
LC_COLLATE="C"
LC_CTYPE="UTF-8"
LC_MESSAGES="C"
LC_MONETARY="C"
LC_NUMERIC="C"
LC_TIME="C"
LC_ALL=

Solution

To resolve this error, set the locale explicitly. The following steps provide instructions for configuring the locale:

1. Add the following lines to the .bash_profile file:

export LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8
export LANG=en_US.UTF-8

2. Reload the profile using the command:

source ~/.bash_profile

3. Restart IPython Notebook:

ipython notebook

Modifying Locales

The settings provided above are specific to the English language in a US locale. Users may require different settings depending on their language and regional preferences.

To view the current system locale settings, use the command:

$ locale

To retrieve a list of all valid locale settings, enter:

$ locale -a

Choose the preferred locale and update the appropriate lines in the .bash_profile file. For instance, to configure a Swiss French locale, use the following settings:

export LC_ALL=fr_CH.UTF-8
export LANG=fr_CH.UTF-8

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