exec format error

The binary was built for a different CPU architecture than the machine running it

why

An x86_64 binary on arm64 (or the reverse) cannot execute. With containers this usually means the image was built for one architecture and pulled on another — a constant on Apple Silicon Macs pulling images built for Intel servers.

what to do

For Docker, request the right architecture explicitly: docker run --platform linux/amd64 …, or build a multi-arch image. For conda on Apple Silicon, create the environment with CONDA_SUBDIR=osx-64 so it installs Intel builds that run under Rosetta.

architecture mismatch, canonical

This is one entry from BioErrors, a catalogue of bioinformatics error messages that point at the wrong thing. Every entry was traced to its real cause before it was written down.
If your error is not in it, paste it there and it gets traced and added.