Download, install, and build Python 2.7.10 in a local folder

build_python_2_7.txt

# Create a folder where you want to install different Pythons, and cd into it:
# Note that it doesn't need to be your home folder. Put it wherever you want to maintain such software:
export PYTHON_BASE="$HOME/python"
mkdir -p $PYTHON_BASE
cd $PYTHON_BASE

# Download source tarball into a subfolder named src, and untar:
curl --create-dirs -L -o src/Python-2.7.10.tgz https://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.7.10/Python-2.7.10.tgz
cd src
tar -zxf Python-2.7.10.tgz

# Configure, build, and install into a properly versioned subdirectory:
cd Python-2.7.10
./configure --prefix=$PYTHON_BASE/python-2.7.10 --enable-shared --enable-unicode=ucs4 LDFLAGS="-Wl,-rpath=$PYTHON_PREFIX/lib"
make
make install

# Make sure the latest setuptools and pip are installed:
$PYTHON_BASE/python-2.7.10/bin/python -m ensurepip
$PYTHON_BASE/python-2.7.10/bin/pip install --upgrade setuptools pip

# Install all the various packages we use here at MSKCC:
$PYTHON_BASE/python-2.7.10/bin/pip install --upgrade alabaster ansi argparse azure babel biopython drmaa filemagic fireworks fusepy ipython lockfile markerlib nose powerline-status pygments pyvcf sh snowballstemmer sphinx virtualenv wheel
$PYTHON_BASE/python-2.7.10/bin/pip install --upgrade pysam matplotlib pandas cython scipy

Hi,
do you need to have root permission to perform this installation?

I get:

Creating directory /Python-2.7.14/bin
/usr/bin/install: cannot create directory `/Python-2.7.14': Permission denied
Creating directory /Python-2.7.14/lib
/usr/bin/install: cannot create directory `/Python-2.7.14': Permission denied
make: *** [altbininstall] Error 1

when running make install
Thanks

i get the same error.

You probably need to run as sudo

This might help someone trying to run a local installation of python 2.7 to test some legacy code (the script is meant to be read and not blindly run):
old_python_install.sh

Leaving some final notes here for people having trouble:

• You need to have SSL installed and available in your system for pip to work
• If you define the environment variable DESTDIR before running make install you don't need sudo to install and it won't be installed with system files.
• I recommend creating a virtualenv before installing extra packages, that way it is easier to clean up and/or test multiple requirements.
• It shouldn't be said enough: Python 2.7.18 is the last of Python 2.x and it is no longer supported, so, do not use this installation for anything serious ...

Hope it helps!

normal not use make install for python

for python use online

make altinstall

and for pip install not use

$PYTHON_BASE/python-2.7.10/bin/python -m ensurepip

use online

$PYTHON_BASE/python-2.7.10/bin/python -m ensurepip --altinstall

But you didn't set PYTHON_PREFIX...

./configure --prefix=$PYTHON_BASE/python-2.7.10 --enable-shared --enable-unicode=ucs4 LDFLAGS="-Wl,-rpath=$PYTHON_PREFIX/lib")!

becomes

./configure --prefix=$PYTHON_BASE/python-2.7.10 --enable-shared --enable-unicode=ucs4 LDFLAGS="-Wl,-rpath=/lib")!

So shouldn't PYTHON_PREFIX be set to something in $PYTHON_BASE/python-2.7.10 ?? If it is not set, /lib will be used as shown above.

:edit: Apparently yes, since python/cpython#80840 says rpath is runtime path and it needs to be the correct directory to find libpython, but I'm not sure where libpython will end up.

./configure --enable-shared --prefix=/opt/python LDFLAGS=-Wl,-rpath=/opt/python/lib

./configure --enable-shared --prefix=/opt/python LDFLAGS=-Wl,-rpath=/opt/python/lib

Thanks, that clarifies it should be nested. But...if you want multiple versions of Python installed (which is already assumed by installing Python 2), putting a version in the path will make it more maintainable (So your programs can require that version, instead of using the wrong version on a different computer or after reinstall). In other words, if that directory structure works:

• The original script which specifies the version can be fixed simply by setting export PYTHON_PREFIX=$PYTHON_BASE/python-2.7.10 after export PYTHON_BASE="$HOME/python", then:
  • ./configure --prefix=$PYTHON_PREFIX --enable-shared --enable-unicode=ucs4 LDFLAGS="-Wl,-rpath=$PYTHON_PREFIX/lib"
  • I'd even use $PYTHON_BASE/python-2.7 for PYTHON_PREFIX (and for -prefix) instead, so programs can find still find it after updating Python 2 (and there probably aren't API changes between subminor versions such as between 2.7.10 and 2.7.11. If you really need to distinguish between them, you could make $PYTHON_BASE/python2 a symlink to the one you want to use for your programs).