pip install gives error: Unable to find vcvarsall.

Question

Using pip install zipline on Windows 8 with Python 2.7 gives me the error:

Downloading/unpacking six (from python-dateutil==2.1->delorean->zipline[all])
  Running setup.py egg_info for package six

Installing collected packages: blist, pytz, requests, python-dateutil, six
  Running setup.py install for blist
    building '_blist' extension
    error: Unable to find vcvarsall.bat
    Complete output from command C:\Python27\python.exe -c "import setuptools;__
file__='c:\\users\\ThatsMe\\appdata\\local\\temp\\pip-build-ThatsMe\\blist\\setup.py';ex
ec(compile(open(__file__).read().replace('\r\n', '\n'), __file__, 'exec'))" inst
all --record c:\users\ThatsMe\appdata\local\temp\pip-xvoky2-record\install-record.tx
t --single-version-externally-managed:

running install

running build

running build_py

running build_ext

building '_blist' extension

error: Unable to find vcvarsall.bat

Question: How can the error be resolved? Running pip install zipline[all] gives the same error...

Answer 1

If you are getting this error on Python 2.7 you can now get the Microsoft Visual C++ Compiler for Python 2.7 as a stand alone download.

If you are on 3.3 or later you need to install Visual Studio 2010 express which is available for free here: https://www.visualstudio.com/downloads/download-visual-studio-vs#d-2010-express

If you are 3.3 or later and using a 64 bit version of python you need to install the Microsoft SDK 7.1 that ships a 64 bit compiler and follow the directions here Python PIP has issues with path for MS Visual Studio 2010 Express for 64-bit install on Windows 7

Answer 2

Thanks to "msoliman" for his hint, however his answer doesn't give clear solution for those who doesn't have VS2010
For example I have VS2012 and VS2013 and there are no such KEYs in system registry.

Solution:
Edit file: "[Python_install_loc]/Lib/distutils/msvc9compiler.py"
Change on line 224:

productdir = Reg.get_value(r"%s\Setup\VC" % vsbase,
                               "productdir")

to:

productdir = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio [your_vs_version(11/12...)]\VC"

and that should work

Answer 3

First, you should look for the file vcvarsall.bat in your system.

If it does not exist, I recommend you to install Microsoft Visual C++ Compiler for Python 2.7. This will create the vcvarsall.bat in "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft\Visual C++ for Python\9.0" if you install it for all users.

The problem now is in the function find_vcvarsall(version) in the C:/Python27/Lib/distutils/msvc9compiler.py module, which is looking for the vcvarsall.bat file.

Following the function calls you will see it is looking for an entry in the registry containing the path to the vcvarsall.bat file. It will never find it because this function is looking in other directories different from where the above-mentioned installation placed it, and in my case, the registry didn't exist.

The easiest way to solve this problem is to manually return the path of the vcvarsall.bat file. To do so, modify the function find_vcvarsall(version) in the msvc9compiler.py file with the absolute path to the vcvarsall.bat file like this:

def find_vcvarsall(version):
    return r"C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft\Visual C++ for Python\9.0\vcvarsall.bat"

This solution worked for me.

If you already have the vcvarsall.bat file you should check if you have the key productdir in the registry:

(HKEY_USERS, HKEY_CURRENT_USERS, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT)\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\VisualStudio\version\Setup\VC

Where version = msvc9compiler.get_build_version()

If you don't have the key just do:

def find_vcvarsall(version):
        return <path>\vcvarsall.bat

To understand the exact behavior check msvc9compiler.py module starting in the find_vcvarsall(version) function.

Answer 4

You need to have Visual Studio's bin dir in your path. Pip install is trying to compile some C code.