using pip3: module "importlib._bootstrap" has no attribute "SourceFileLoader"

Question

I have installed pip for python 3.6 on Ubuntu 14. After I run

sudo apt-get install python3-pip

to install pip3, it works very well. However, after installation, when I am trying to run

pip3 install packagename

to install a new package, something strange occurs:

File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/pkg_resources.py", line 1479, in <module>
 register_loader-type(importlib_bootstrap.SourceFileLoader, DefaultProvider)
AttributeError: module "importlib._bootstrap" has no attribute "SourceFileLoader"

It seems that I did nothing wrong, and I really cannot figure out the reason.

@SamChats yep… Actually every time I type "pip3" this problem occurs, such as "pip3 --version" etc. — Arsenal591, Jun 26 '17 at 14:53
@phd Why did you post that. The reason people came here is because the first command of the top answer does not work. — stephen, Sep 04 '17 at 12:11
Correct answer at this stage is: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/41720578/modulenotfounderror-in-tracebacks-with-python3-6-on-linux — stephen, Sep 04 '17 at 12:13
> pip uninstall setuptools > pip install setuptools worked for me — graypacket, Jun 08 '20 at 19:31

score 85 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 14 '17 at 05:21

85

Faced the same problem. I think this is because python3.6 and pip3 were installed from different sources. I suggest using python's inbuilt facility to install pip i.e

python3 -m ensurepip --upgrade

This should install pip3 and pip3.x where x in python3.x. Same works for python2 also.

answered Nov 14 '17 at 05:21

azhar22k

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'/usr/bin/python3.6: No module named ensurepip' Any ideas? – Marek Židek Mar 04 '18 at 11:26
That's strange! According to https://docs.python.org/3/library/ensurepip.html `ensurepip` is part of python standard library. Are you sure you installed python correctly and is accessible as well? – azhar22k Mar 05 '18 at 05:03
6

Is `ensurepip` available on Ubuntu? On my Ubuntu environment, I can't import it. Maybe, on many other environments, `ensurepip` is not available. – H. Jang Nov 26 '18 at 02:45
3

@H.Jang Yeah. Its a bug in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/python3.4/+bug/1290847 – azhar22k Nov 26 '18 at 08:48
@azhar22k is `ensurepip` available for python3.7 installed from `deadsnakes/ppa`repository? – Ibrahim.H Jul 22 '20 at 14:24
1

Hey @Ibrahim.H, haven't checked it myself so can't say – azhar22k Jul 28 '20 at 05:16

score 78 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 22 '19 at 17:59

78

I can't edit my existing answer, so I had to add another one:

This worked for me:

sudo pip install python-dotenv

answered Jan 22 '19 at 17:59

Rod McLaughlin

789
4
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2

1. How did you know? 2. Y tho – Kyle S. Sep 11 '19 at 23:19
This is the one that worked for me. The accepted answer did not do a thing in my case – demongolem Nov 20 '19 at 19:11
1

I think this answer is specific to dotenv – Jamie Lindsey Jan 13 '20 at 20:20
`sudo pip3 install python-dotenv` if you have pip3 installed alongside pip for python2 – Papotitu Jan 26 '20 at 18:24

score 17 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 23 '19 at 21:03

17

I had the same problem on my ubuntu 18.04 with python 3.6. None of the above methods helped, but this one solved the problem:

pip3 uninstall setuptools

answered Aug 23 '19 at 21:03

mishadr

185
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I had issues with fs-uae-launcher not starting on Debian Buster because: AttributeError: module 'importlib._bootstrap' has no attribute 'SourceFileLoader' Uninstalling setuptools fixed it. – Okw Aug 30 '20 at 11:55
Thanks for the solution, none of the above solution worked and this issue was annoying my day :) – rkachach Sep 21 '20 at 13:45

score 13 · Answer 4 · answered May 13 '20 at 09:12

13

Tried to install Tensorflow in venv on Windows 10 machine with python 3.8 and got the same issue.

What helped for me was:

pip install setuptools --upgrade

answered May 13 '20 at 09:12

fbrand

141
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Also helps for Ubuntu 18.04 – Stanislav Ivanov Dec 14 '20 at 15:14

score 6 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 10 '19 at 03:41

6

when update python3.4 to python3.6 on ubuntu 14.04. The following solved me:

wget https://bootstrap.pypa.io/ez_setup.py -O - | python3

answered Jul 10 '19 at 03:41

neighbor wang

151
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3

didn't fix it for me. – Amichai Schreiber Jan 03 '20 at 09:11

score 4 · Answer 6 · answered Jan 20 '21 at 22:22

4

I had the same error whatever I asked to pip. I gave a look to this page: https://packaging.python.org/tutorials/installing-packages/

That line is the one that solved my problem:

python3 -m pip install --upgrade pip setuptools wheel

answered Jan 20 '21 at 22:22

FourchetteVerte

63
5

After upgrading from Ubuntu 19.10 to 20.04 I had this problem with pip3. Nothing I'd found worked. This finally solved it. – wrkyle Jan 26 '21 at 21:25

Mehrshad Firouzian · Answer 7 · 2019-08-18T16:31:29.480

3

that's because you are using an old version of setuptools, check up this issue.

edited Aug 18 '19 at 16:31

answered Aug 18 '19 at 16:17

Mehrshad Firouzian

31
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score 3 · Answer 8 · edited May 29 '20 at 15:41

3

If you face this issue in anaconda environment, simply upgrade setuptools using the following:

conda install -c conda-forge setuptools

edited May 29 '20 at 15:41

Martin Gal

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answered May 29 '20 at 13:16

M Subramanian

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score 2 · Answer 9 · answered Sep 09 '18 at 06:07

2

I met the same problem, this is the key:

curl -sS https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py | sudo python3

answered Sep 09 '18 at 06:07

Tom Kruise

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score 2 · Answer 10 · edited Dec 28 '20 at 21:25

2

I am facing the same problem, which is solved by downloading the source files of the setuptools and installing the module manually.

The setuptools can be downloaded here:

https://pypi.org/project/setuptools/

After downloading, unzip the package first, then cd to the directory and run

python setup.py install --user

edited Dec 28 '20 at 21:25

Anna

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answered Sep 03 '19 at 08:58

Lutong Zhang

21
1

saved my life :) – Jaydeep Apr 29 '20 at 06:44

score 2 · Answer 11 · answered Jun 09 '20 at 18:40

2

pip install setuptools --upgrade

This command fixed my problem

answered Jun 09 '20 at 18:40

Jeex Box

39
4

Alex Jolig · Answer 12 · 2020-04-04T11:15:32.047

1

For me the error happened while trying to create a virtual env with python 3.8:

sudo virtualenv venv -ppython3.8

And after trying all the answers here, finally the problem solved by installing the new version of virtualenv (20.0.7):

sudo pip3 install virtualenv

edited Apr 04 '20 at 11:15

answered Feb 27 '20 at 13:23

Alex Jolig

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Mayank Banga · Answer 13 · 2020-06-01T10:18:40.750

1

I had faced the same issue on Ubuntu 19.10 and now I upgraded to Ubuntu 20.04 and faced the issue again. This issue is due to broken pip3. So whenever you enter pip3 and hit enter it will show the same error. So instead of using "pip3 uninstall setuptools" use the below code

python3 -m pip uninstall setuptools

It resolved my issue 3rd time

edited Jun 01 '20 at 10:18

answered Jun 01 '20 at 09:56

Mayank Banga

11
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score 1 · Answer 14 · answered Nov 17 '20 at 02:48

I encountered this error message triggered by a slightly different situation which I'll mention here for anyone who finds this.

This same error also occurs when installing the distribute Python package (which is currently just a compatibility layer in front of setuptools) in Python 3.6 or newer.

In my specific situation I discovered this as I was using pyzmail which has been somewhat abandoned and depends on distribute.

Collecting distribute
  Downloading distribute-0.7.3.zip (145 kB)
    ERROR: Command errored out with exit status 1:
     command: /var/lang/bin/python -c 'import sys, setuptools, tokenize; sys.argv[0] = '"'"'/tmp/pip-install-ssqyqflj/distribute/setup.py'"'"'; __file__='"'"'/tmp/pip-install-ssqyqflj/distribute/setup.py'"'"';f=getattr(tokenize, '"'"'open'"'"', open)(__file__);code=f.read().replace('"'"'\r\n'"'"', '"'"'\n'"'"');f.close();exec(compile(code, __file__, '"'"'exec'"'"'))' egg_info --egg-base /tmp/pip-pip-egg-info-hgbjn0js
         cwd: /tmp/pip-install-ssqyqflj/distribute/
    Complete output (15 lines):
    Traceback (most recent call last):
      File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
      File "/tmp/pip-install-ssqyqflj/distribute/setuptools/__init__.py", line 2, in <module>
        from setuptools.extension import Extension, Library
      File "/tmp/pip-install-ssqyqflj/distribute/setuptools/extension.py", line 5, in <module>
        from setuptools.dist import _get_unpatched
      File "/tmp/pip-install-ssqyqflj/distribute/setuptools/dist.py", line 7, in <module>
        from setuptools.command.install import install
      File "/tmp/pip-install-ssqyqflj/distribute/setuptools/command/__init__.py", line 8, in <module>
        from setuptools.command import install_scripts
      File "/tmp/pip-install-ssqyqflj/distribute/setuptools/command/install_scripts.py", line 3, in <module>
        from pkg_resources import Distribution, PathMetadata, ensure_directory
      File "/tmp/pip-install-ssqyqflj/distribute/pkg_resources.py", line 1518, in <module>
        register_loader_type(importlib_bootstrap.SourceFileLoader, DefaultProvider)
    AttributeError: module 'importlib._bootstrap' has no attribute 'SourceFileLoader'

score 0 · Answer 15 · edited Dec 22 '19 at 01:06

I had the same issue when I tried to install the Slate package in Windows 10, Python 3.7.4 version:

AttributeError: module 'importlib._bootstrap' has no attribute 'SourceFileLoader'

The instruction that generated the error:

C:\WINDOWS\system32>python -m pip install slate

The instruction that worked:

C:\WINDOWS\system32>python -m pip install https://github.com/timClicks/slate/archive/master.zip

score 0 · Answer 16 · answered Mar 17 '20 at 19:31

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/bin/pipenv", line 6, in <module>
from pkg_resources import load_entry_point
File "/home/myuser/.local/lib/python3.7/site-packages/pkg_resources.py", line 
1479, in <module>

Mine looked pretty similar, but for some reason I had a python installation in my home directory .local folder.

I did some of the other answers in this thread to ensure I had good local copy of python, then did:

rm -rf ~/.local

score 0 · Answer 17 · answered Mar 20 '20 at 17:23

I had the same problem with my cloud computer. If all above didn't work for you don't worry. Here's how I resolved it:

Download the pip file (pip-version.tar.gz) from:

https://pypi.org/project/pip/#files

For cloud, use this

curl https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/8e/76/66066b7bc71817238924c7e4b448abdb17eb0c92d645769c223f9ace478f/pip-20.0.2.tar.gz --output pip.tar.gz

Extract the content of the file and cd into the directory.
Run the following in the directory

python3 setup.py install --user

You should have pip3 working without errors.

Still get same error - Ubuntu 14: AttributeError: module 'importlib._bootstrap' has no attribute 'SourceFileLoader' — DtechNet, Jun 17 '20 at 17:23

Dev Ran · Answer 18 · 2020-11-08T17:47:38.063

0

just go inside the /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/ first copy setuptools file somewhere and then delete the setuptools everything will be okay for deleting you can use

sudo rm -r setuptools

for copying

sudo cp -r setuptools /...Desktop/

after that if it gives errors just

sudo pip3 install setuptools==3.8.1

download again

edited Nov 08 '20 at 17:47

answered Nov 08 '20 at 17:17

Dev Ran

11
1

score 0 · Answer 19 · edited Mar 03 '21 at 17:26

0

pip3 install setuptools --upgrade

This also cured the issue on Python 3.9 running on Windows 10 and even on a custom Docker image.

edited Mar 03 '21 at 17:26

Obsidian

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answered Mar 03 '21 at 13:26

Cruz Jurgen

1

score 0 · Answer 20 · edited Mar 31 '21 at 09:59

0

I was having the same issue while using docker-compose. This exact error can be caused by not being the root user. Running the same commands with sudo fixed it for me. I don't not have setup-tools installed, and I'm running pip3. My issue was that IntelliJ didn't have sudo rights, so i had to do it from the terminal.

edited Mar 31 '21 at 09:59

Dharman

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answered Mar 31 '21 at 09:53

Matthew

1
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score -1 · Answer 21 · answered Aug 20 '20 at 04:12

-1

This is For Python 2

curl the package

curl "https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py" -o "get-pip.py"

And do python get-pip.py

This is Important use command pip2 not pip

answered Aug 20 '20 at 04:12

CodeTheBlank

1

This does not answer the question. The question of the OP was what he is doing wrong or how to solve his issue with python3. This is about something entirely different. – Dom Aug 20 '20 at 07:08

using pip3: module "importlib._bootstrap" has no attribute "SourceFileLoader"

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