Edit: distribute_setuptools.rst
:orphan: "ImportError: No module named setuptools" +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Although using ``pip install --upgrade setuptools`` to upgrade from distribute to setuptools works in isolation, it's possible to get "ImportError: No module named setuptools" when using pip<1.4 to upgrade a package that depends on setuptools or distribute. e.g. when running a command like this: `pip install --upgrade pyramid` Solution ~~~~~~~~ To prevent the problem in *new* environments (that aren't broken yet): * Option 1: * *First* run `pip install -U setuptools`, * *Then* run the command to upgrade your package (e.g. `pip install --upgrade pyramid`) * Option 2: * Upgrade pip using :ref:`get-pip <get-pip>` * *Then* run the command to upgrade your package (e.g. `pip install --upgrade pyramid`) To fix the problem once it's occurred, you'll need to manually install the new setuptools, then rerun the upgrade that failed. 1. Download `ez_setup.py` (https://bitbucket.org/pypa/setuptools/downloads/ez_setup.py) 2. Run `python ez_setup.py` 3. Then rerun your upgrade (e.g. `pip install --upgrade pyramid`) Cause ~~~~~ distribute-0.7.3 is just an empty wrapper that only serves to require the new setuptools (setuptools>=0.7) so that it will be installed. (If you don't know yet, the "new setuptools" is a merge of distribute and setuptools back into one project). distribute-0.7.3 does its job well, when the upgrade is done in isolation. E.g. if you're currently on distribute-0.6.X, then running `pip install -U setuptools` works fine to upgrade you to setuptools>=0.7. The problem occurs when: 1. you are currently using an older distribute (i.e. 0.6.X) 2. and you try to use pip to upgrade a package that *depends* on setuptools or distribute. As part of the upgrade process, pip builds an install list that ends up including distribute-0.7.3 and setuptools>=0.7 , but they can end up being separated by other dependencies in the list, so what can happen is this: 1. pip uninstalls the existing distribute 2. pip installs distribute-0.7.3 (which has no importable setuptools, that pip *needs* internally to function) 3. pip moves on to install another dependency (before setuptools>=0.7) and is unable to proceed without the setuptools package Note that pip v1.4 has fixes to prevent this. distribute-0.7.3 (or setuptools>=0.7) by themselves cannot prevent this kind of problem. .. _setuptools: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/setuptools .. _distribute: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/distribute
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