Upgrading python3.4 to python3.6 on ubuntu breaks

Question

I'm attempting to install python3.6 on my machine after I currently have python3.4. However, after installation trying to run pip under python3.6 gives me the error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "pip3", line 7, in <module>
    from pip import main
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/pip/__init__.py", line 59, in <module>
    from pip.log import logger
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/pip/log.py", line 9, in <module>
    import colorama, pkg_resources
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/pkg_resources.py", line 1520, in <module>
    register_loader_type(importlib_bootstrap.SourceFileLoader, DefaultProvider)
AttributeError: module 'importlib._bootstrap' has no attribute 'SourceFileLoader'
Error in sys.excepthook:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/apport_python_hook.py", line 63, in apport_excepthook
    from apport.fileutils import likely_packaged, get_recent_crashes
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/apport/__init__.py", line 5, in <module>
    from apport.report import Report
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/apport/report.py", line 30, in <module>
    import apport.fileutils
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/apport/fileutils.py", line 23, in <module>
    from apport.packaging_impl import impl as packaging
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/apport/packaging_impl.py", line 20, in <module>
    import apt
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/apt/__init__.py", line 23, in <module>
    import apt_pkg
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'apt_pkg'

Original exception was:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "pip3", line 7, in <module>
    from pip import main
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/pip/__init__.py", line 59, in <module>
    from pip.log import logger
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/pip/log.py", line 9, in <module>
    import colorama, pkg_resources
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/pkg_resources.py", line 1520, in <module>
    register_loader_type(importlib_bootstrap.SourceFileLoader, DefaultProvider)
AttributeError: module 'importlib._bootstrap' has no attribute 'SourceFileLoader'

There were several comments on the internet about that error being encountered, However, none of them contain any actual resolution suggestion. Does anyone have any idea how I could fix this?

Answer 1

I managed to solve it without installing anything from sources. Here's what I did:

1. First, install pip for Python3.x (for some weird reason I didn't have it...)

   $ sudo apt-get install python3-pip
   

   It is an old version...

   $ pip3 --version
   pip 1.5.4 from /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages (python 3.4)
   

2. ... so upgrade it to the latest

   $ sudo pip3 install --upgrade pip
   

   Now it is much better

   $ sudo pip3 --version
   pip 9.0.1 from /usr/local/lib/python3.4/dist-packages (python 3.4)
   

---

3. Then upgrade virtualenvvwrapper

   $ sudo pip3 install --upgrade virtualenvwrapper
   # ...
   Successfully installed pbr-3.0.1 six-1.10.0 stevedore-1.22.0 virtualenv-15.1.0 virtualenv-clone-0.2.6 virtualenvwrapper-4.7.2
   

4. Now creating a new virtualenv works:

   $ mkvirtualenv -p `which python3.6` <VIRTUALENV_NAME>
   

   pip also works:

   $ pip install django
   # ...
   Successfully installed django-1.11.2 pytz-2017.2
   
   $ pip freeze
   Django==1.11.2
   pytz==2017.2
   

Note: Now I realize it's a bit more than what you asked for, but (without knowing where exactly you failed) I guess you should be OK after step 2.

Answer 2

I was having the same issue. It seems I had 2 versions of pkg_resources on my system.

/usr/local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pkg_resources.py

/usr/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pkg_resources/__init__.py

Moving the old version so my system could find the newer version fixed it for me.

mv /usr/local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pkg_resources.py /usr/local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pkg_resources.py.back

Answer 3

You can solve this error by using this command. it will update your setuptools

python -m ensurepip --upgrade

Answer 4

I replaced Python 3.4 with 3.6 on my Ubuntu 14.04 servers and I had the same problem. In my case the cause seemed to be an ancient system pip:

$ pip --version
pip 1.5.4 from /usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages (python 2.7)

I have never installed python3-pip. Instead I solved the error as follows:

$ sudo pip install --upgrade pip
$ sudo pip install --upgrade virtualenv

Answer 5

I could not solve it by running

python3 get-pip.py

or

pip3 install --upgrade

because there I already had issues with pkg_resources.py. Also re-installing the python3-setuptools package from Ubuntu did not help as this still seems to install the one for the version originally installed with the Ubuntu system (3.4 in my case) but I could solve it by manually installing the setuptools via

wget https://bootstrap.pypa.io/ez_setup.py -O - | python3

Note: python3 points to my new python version 3.6. If thats not the case for you then you would need to run

wget https://bootstrap.pypa.io/ez_setup.py -O - | python3.6

Answer 6

Had the same problem. Installing python from the source helped.

# Remove existing python 3.6 if installed with apt
$ sudo apt-get autoremove python3.6

# Get the source
$ wget https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.6.1/Python-3.6.1.tar.xz
$ tar xvf Python-3.6.1.tar.xz
$ cd Python-3.6.1

# Configure and install
$ sudo ./configure
$ sudo make altinstall

# Success!
$ pip3.6 -V
pip 9.0.1 from /usr/local/lib/python3.6/site-packages (python 3.6)

---

Edit: I since discovered pyenv. Makes installing and managing different python versions a lot easier. Give it a try!