2.1. Getting and installing the latest version of Python¶
2.1.1. On Linux¶
Python comes preinstalled on most Linux distributions, and is available as apackage on all others. However there are certain features you might want to usethat are not available on your distro’s package. You can easily compile thelatest version of Python from source.
In the event that Python doesn’t come preinstalled and isn’t in the repositories aswell, you can easily make packages for your own distro. Have a look at thefollowing links:
See also
- https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/maint-guide/first.en.html
for Debian users
- https://en.opensuse.org/Portal:Packaging
for OpenSuse users
- https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/package-maintainers/Packaging_Tutorial_GNU_Hello/
for Fedora users
- https://slackbook.org/html/package-management-making-packages.html
for Slackware users
2.1.2. On FreeBSD and OpenBSD¶
FreeBSD users, to add the package use:
OpenBSD users, to add the package use:
pkg_add -r pythonpkg_add ftp://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/4.2/packages/<insert your architecture here>/python-<version>.tgz
For example i386 users get the 2.5.1 version of Python using:
pkg_add ftp://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/4.2/packages/i386/python-2.5.1p2.tgz
2.2. Building Python¶
If you want to compile CPython yourself, first thing you should do is get thesource. You can download either thelatest release’s source or just grab a fresh clone. (If you wantto contribute patches, you will need a clone.)
The build process consists of the usual commands:
./configuremakemake installConfiguration options and caveats for specific Unixplatforms are extensively documented in the README.rst file in theroot of the Python source tree.
Warning
make install can overwrite or masquerade the python3 binary.make altinstall is therefore recommended instead of make installsince it only installs exec_prefix/bin/pythonversion.
2.3. Python-related paths and files¶
These are subject to difference depending on local installation conventions;prefix and exec_prefixare installation-dependent and should be interpreted as for GNU software; theymay be the same.
For example, on most Linux systems, the default for both is /usr.
File/directory | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Recommended location of the interpreter. |
| Recommended locations of the directoriescontaining the standard modules. |
| Recommended locations of the directoriescontaining the include files needed fordeveloping Python extensions andembedding the interpreter. |
2.4. Miscellaneous¶
To easily use Python scripts on Unix, you need to make them executable,e.g. with
$ chmod +x script
and put an appropriate Shebang line at the top of the script. A good choice isusually
#!/usr/bin/env python3which searches for the Python interpreter in the whole PATH. However,some Unices may not have the env command, so you may need to hardcode/usr/bin/python3 as the interpreter path.
To use shell commands in your Python scripts, look at the subprocess module.
2.5. Custom OpenSSL¶
To use your vendor’s OpenSSL configuration and system trust store, locatethe directory with
openssl.cnffile or symlink in/etc. On mostdistribution the file is either in/etc/sslor/etc/pki/tls. Thedirectory should also contain acert.pemfile and/or acertsdirectory.$ find /etc/ -name openssl.cnf -printf "%h\n"/etc/ssl
Download, build, and install OpenSSL. Make sure you use
install_swandnotinstall. Theinstall_swtarget does not overrideopenssl.cnf.$ curl -O https://www.openssl.org/source/openssl-VERSION.tar.gz$ tar xzf openssl-VERSION$ pushd openssl-VERSION$ ./config \ --prefix=/usr/local/custom-openssl \ --libdir=lib \ --openssldir=/etc/ssl$ make -j1 depend$ make -j8$ make install_sw$ popd
Build Python with custom OpenSSL(see the configure
--with-openssland--with-openssl-rpathoptions)$ pushd python-3.x.x$ ./configure -C \ --with-openssl=/usr/local/custom-openssl \ --with-openssl-rpath=auto \ --prefix=/usr/local/python-3.x.x$ make -j8$ make altinstall
Note
Patch releases of OpenSSL have a backwards compatible ABI. You don’t needto recompile Python to update OpenSSL. It’s sufficient to replace thecustom OpenSSL installation with a newer version.
