Error after upgrading pip: cannot import name '

Question

Whenever I am trying to install any package using pip, I am getting this import error:

guru@guru-notebook:~$ pip3 install numpy
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/pip3", line 9, in <module>
    from pip import main
ImportError: cannot import name 'main'

guru@guru-notebook:~$ cat `which pip3`
#!/usr/bin/python3
# GENERATED BY DEBIAN

import sys

# Run the main entry point, similarly to how setuptools does it, but because
# we didn't install the actual entry point from setup.py, don't use the
# pkg_resources API.
from pip import main
if __name__ == '__main__':
    sys.exit(main())

It was working fine earlier, I am not sure why it is throwing this error. I have searched about this error, but can't find anything to fix it.

Please let me know if you need any further detail, I will update my question.

Answer 1

Same thing happened to me on Pixelbook using the new LXC (strech). This solution is very similar to the accepted one, with one subtle difference, whiched fixed pip3 for me.

sudo python3 -m pip install --upgrade pip

That bumped the version, and now it works as expected.

I found it here ... Python.org: Ensure pip is up-to-date

Answer 2

As @cryptoboy said - check what pip/python version you have installed

 demon@UbuntuHP:~$ pip -V
 demon@UbuntuHP:~$ pip2 -V
 demon@UbuntuHP:~$ pip3 -V

and then check for no-needed libraries in your .local/lib/ folder.

I did backup of settings when I was migrating to newer Kubuntu and in had .local/lib/python2.7/ folder in my home directory. Installed python 3.6. I just removed the old folder and now everything works great!

Answer 3

import main from pip._internal

from pip._internal import main

Edit the pip code from

sudo nano /usr/bin/pip3

Answer 4

resolved in one step only.

I too faced this issue, But this can be resolved simply by 1 command without bothering around and wasting time and i have tried it on multiple systems it's the cleanest solution for this issue. And that's:

For python3:- sudo python3 -m pip uninstall pip && sudo apt install python3-pip --reinstall.

By this , you can simply install packages using pip3. to check use pip3 --version.

For older versions, use : sudo python -m pip uninstall pip && sudo apt install python-pip --reinstall.

By this, now you can simply install packages using pip. to check use pip --version.

Answer 5

You must have inadvertently upgraded your system pip (probably through something like sudo pip install pip --upgrade)

pip 10.x adjusts where its internals are situated. The pip3 command you're seeing is one provided by your package maintainer (presumably debian based here?) and is not a file managed by pip.

You can read more about this on pip's issue tracker

You'll probably want to not upgrade your system pip and instead use a virtualenv.

To recover the pip3 binary you'll need to sudo python3 -m pip uninstall pip && sudo apt install python3-pip --reinstall.

If you want to continue in "unsupported territory" (upgrading a system package outside of the system package manager), you can probably get away with python3 -m pip ... instead of pip3.

Answer 6

We can clear the error by modifying the pip file.

Check the location of the file:

$ which pip

path -> /usr/bin/pip

Go to that location(/usr/bin/pip) and open terminal

Enter: $ sudo nano pip

You can see:

import sys
from pip import main
if __name__ == '__main__':
     sys.exit(main())

Change to:

import sys
from pip import __main__
if __name__ == '__main__':
     sys.exit(__main__._main())

then ctrl + o write the changes and exit

Hope this will do!!