Unable to upgrade Python on Red Hat Linux

Question

I have Python 2.6.6. to run a certain script on my Red Hat Linux VM. Need to upgrade to 3.4.1. Tried

easy_install --upgrade python

But I always get

bash-4.1# easy_install --upgrade python
Searching for python
Reading http://pypi.python.org/simple/python/
Reading http://www.python.org
Reading http://www.python.org/2.3
Reading http://www.python.org/2.4
Reading http://www.python.org/2.4.1
Reading http://www.python.org/2.5
Reading http://www.python.org/download/
Best match: Python 3.4.1
Downloading https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.4.1/Python-3.4.1.tgz
Processing Python-3.4.1.tgz
Running Python-3.4.1/setup.py -q bdist_egg --dist-dir /tmp/easy_install-Qd_HVP/Python-3.4.1/egg-dist-tmp-iqaG4H
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/easy_install", line 9, in <module>
    load_entry_point('distribute==0.6.10', 'console_scripts', 'easy_install')()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/setuptools/command/easy_install.py", line 1715, in main
    with_ei_usage(lambda:
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/setuptools/command/easy_install.py", line 1696, in with_ei_usage
    return f()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/setuptools/command/easy_install.py", line 1719, in <lambda>
    distclass=DistributionWithoutHelpCommands, **kw
  File "/usr/lib64/python2.6/distutils/core.py", line 152, in setup
    dist.run_commands()
  File "/usr/lib64/python2.6/distutils/dist.py", line 975, in run_commands
    self.run_command(cmd)
  File "/usr/lib64/python2.6/distutils/dist.py", line 995, in run_command
    cmd_obj.run()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/setuptools/command/easy_install.py", line 236, in run
    self.easy_install(spec, not self.no_deps)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/setuptools/command/easy_install.py", line 472, in easy_install
    return self.install_item(spec, dist.location, tmpdir, deps)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/setuptools/command/easy_install.py", line 502, in install_item
    dists = self.install_eggs(spec, download, tmpdir)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/setuptools/command/easy_install.py", line 681, in install_eggs
    return self.build_and_install(setup_script, setup_base)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/setuptools/command/easy_install.py", line 958, in build_and_install
    self.run_setup(setup_script, setup_base, args)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/setuptools/command/easy_install.py", line 947, in run_setup
    run_setup(setup_script, args)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/setuptools/sandbox.py", line 29, in run_setup
    lambda: execfile(
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/setuptools/sandbox.py", line 70, in run
    return func()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/setuptools/sandbox.py", line 31, in <lambda>
    {'__file__':setup_script, '__name__':'__main__'}
  File "setup.py", line 1865
    exec(f.read(), globals(), fficonfig)
SyntaxError: unqualified exec is not allowed in function 'configure_ctypes' it contains a nested function with free variables
bash-4.1# SyntaxError: unqualified exec is not allowed in function 'configure_ctypes' it contains a nested function with free variables

And of course I can't delete Python 2.6.6 from the machine as a lot of system scripts depend on it. Any ideas what to do?

Answer 1

Red Hat supplies multiple versions of Python (and other packages) that can be installed in parallel as part of software collections. They leave the system /usr/bin/ intact and are supported by Red Hat.

You need to: * enable the RHSCL and optional software repos * then you can yum install rh-python36 or python27 (2.7.13) * Use scl enable rh-python 36 bash to add python to your path.

See How to install Python 3 on RHEL. It covers many tips for working with multiple versions of Python, Python virtual environments, and software collections.

Answer 2

I generally advise against manually upgrading packages on an RPM-managed distribution such as RHEL. If an upgrade is needed, it should only be done by upgrading via rpm. There is a reason why the rpm tools exists, and why it is used. There's more than one reason, actually. It serves an important purpose, and manually installing or upgrading packages completely subverts it.

If it's absolutely necessary, the following procedure should be as follows:

1. Grab the source RPM for Red Hat's python package.
2. Grab the source for the new version of python.
3. Figure out what patches in Red Hat's python RPM, if any, are still applicable to the new version of python.
4. Use the spec file from the python RPM to build rpms with a new version of python.
5. Hope that step #4 works. If so, yay! Install it. If not, figure out why not, patch the spec file, as needed, go back to step #4.
6. You now installed a new version of python. Check that none of the other RHEL rpms that use python break with the new version. If not, yay! You're done. If something is broken, figure out what to do about it.

Many RHEL system management tools and scripts use Python. It's not entirely out of the question that something ends up being broken, as a result of the new python package being installed.

The whole reason for using RHEL is to have a commercially-supported, stable Linux distribution whose all components have been tested for interoperability. Upgrading random parts of it misses the whole point of having RHEL; typically you upgrade to an entire new release of RHEL, instead of the individual packages; but, to each their own...

Answer 3

You will need to find a source for Python-3.4 packages, or build it yourself.

A quick search finds http://wiki.guibin.info/?p=133 for building Python-3.4 yourself.

With some more searching, you may be able to find a source for RPM packages, but of course it's up to you how much you trust those packages -- I wouldn't use a random RPM in production!