no module named zlib

Question

First, please bear with me. I have hard time telling others my problem and this is a long thread...

I am using pythonbrew to run multiple versions of python in Ubuntu 10.10. For installing pythonbrew and how it works, please refers to this link below

http://www.howopensource.com/2011/05/how-to-install-and-manage-different-versions-of-python-in-linux/

After reading a couple stackoverflow threads, I finally found the file called Setup under this directory: ~/.pythonbrew/pythons/Python-2.7.1/lib/python2.7/config

In this Setup file I see 
# Andrew Kuchling's zlib module.
# This require zlib 1.1.3 (or later).
# See http://www.gzip.org/zlib/
# zlib zlibmodule.c -I$(prefix)/include -L$(exec_prefix)/lib -lz

I uncommented the last line, then I ran python -v again. However, I received the same error when I tried import zlib, so I guess I have to do something to install zlib into the lib.

But I am clueless about what I need to do. Can someone please direct me in the right direction??? Thank you very much!

I am doing this because I want to use different version of python in different virtualenv I created. When I did virtualenv -p python2.7 I received no module named zlib.

jwxie518@jwxie518-P5E-VM-DO:~$ virtualenv -p python2.7 --no-site-packages testenv

Running virtualenv with interpreter /home/jwxie518/.pythonbrew/pythons/Python-2.7.1/bin/python2.7

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/virtualenv.py", line 17, in <module>
    import zlib

ImportError: No module named zlib

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EDIT

I have to install 2.7.1 by appending --force.

I am developing Django, and I need some of these missing modules, for example sqlite3, and to create my virtualenv I definitely need zlib. If I just use the system default (2.6.6), I have no problem.

To do this with system default, all I need to do is

virtualenv --no-site-packages testenv

Thanks!

---

(2nd edit)

I installed 3.2 also and I tested it without problem, so I guess my problem comes down to how to install the missing module(s).

jwxie518@jwxie518-P5E-VM-DO:~$ virtualenv -p python3.2  testenv
Running virtualenv with interpreter /home/jwxie518/.pythonbrew/pythons/Python-3.2/bin/python3.2
New python executable in testenv/bin/python3.2
Also creating executable in testenv/bin/python
Installing distribute..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................done.
Installing pip...............done.
jwxie518@jwxie518-P5E-VM-DO:~$ virtualenv -p python3.2 --no-site-packages testenv
Running virtualenv with interpreter /home/jwxie518/.pythonbrew/pythons/Python-3.2/bin/python3.2
New python executable in testenv/bin/python3.2
Also creating executable in testenv/bin/python
Installing distribute..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................done.
Installing pip...............done.

Answer 1

After running configure, you can change the config option in the file Modules/Setup as below:

zlib zlibmodule.c -I$(prefix)/include -L$(exec_prefix)/lib -lz

Or you can uncomment the zlib line as-is.

Answer 2

For the case I met, I found there are missing modules after make. So I did the following:

1. install zlib-devel
2. make and install python again.