How can I upgrade specific packages using pip and a requirements file?

Question

I'm using pip with a requirements file, in a virtualenv, for my Django projects. I'm trying to upgrade some packages, notably Django itself, and I'm getting an error about source code conflicts:

Source in <virtualenv>/build/Django has version 1.2.3 that conflicts with Django==1.2.4 (from -r requirements/apps.txt (line 3))

That's after updating the version number of Django from 1.2.3 to 1.2.4 in my requirements file. I'm using this command to actually do the upgrade:

pip --install --upgrade -E `<virtualenv dir`> --requirement `<requirements file`>

I can't find any flag that triggers a total package re-download. I even tried running an uninstall command first, and then the install, but no dice. Am I missing something?

Please check @dr-jimbob 's answer because recent versions of pip will actually upgrade all other dependencies that the package you are upgrading depends on. — Lokesh Meher, Jan 31 '18 at 09:00

score 1414 · Answer 1 · edited Nov 29 '16 at 22:10

1414

I ran the following command and it upgraded from 1.2.3 to 1.4.0

pip install Django --upgrade

Shortcut for upgrade:

pip install Django -U

Note: if the package you are upgrading has any requirements this command will additionally upgrade all the requirements to the latest versions available. In recent versions of pip, you can prevent this behavior by specifying --upgrade-strategy only-if-needed. With that flag, dependencies will not be upgraded unless the installed versions of the dependent packages no longer satisfy the requirements of the upgraded package.

edited Nov 29 '16 at 22:10

dr jimbob

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answered May 03 '12 at 22:56

JoeyG

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This for me updated all my packaged and totally messed up everything!!!! Documents states: --upgrade all packages to the newest available version. Is this correct or did I do something wrong? – Prometheus Nov 10 '14 at 12:12
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@OrbiterFleet I needed to update "requests" so I did `pip install Requests --upgrade` and *only* "requests" was upgraded. The description says "upgrade all *specified* packages" when I view the docs. – harperville Jan 28 '15 at 14:14
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ATTENTION, it also **updates all dependencies** and can mess up with everything. the best option is to uninstall and reinstall the package. – marcelosalloum May 07 '15 at 13:54
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to upgrade specific package use `pip install --upgrade django==1.4.0` – whale_steward Oct 12 '16 at 01:46
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this should be the right answer according to question or the question itself is wrong. – int soumen Dec 01 '19 at 15:07
Is that the proper syntax highlight for the command lines (*not* a rhetorical question)? – Peter Mortensen Jun 27 '20 at 16:29
`pip install -U ` and `pip install --upgrade ` are also valid syntax – Luis_RH Sep 22 '20 at 15:48
If you are using `pipenv` you run the command `pipenv update PackageName` – FedericoCapaldo Mar 31 '21 at 10:19

score 69 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 02 '21 at 15:25

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First make sure you have checked the most voted answer.

I'm not sure if it's exactly your problem, but in my case, I wasn't able to upgrade Django to 1.2.4 - I was always finishing with 1.2.3 version, so I uninstalled Django with:

<virtualenv>/bin/pip uninstall Django

Then I removed <virtualenv>/build/Django directory and finally I installed the proper version with:

<virtualenv>/bin/pip install Django

edited Feb 02 '21 at 15:25

Antonio

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answered Jan 03 '11 at 09:56

Marcin Świerczyński

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This is not the best practice. Use `pip install Django -U` or `pip install Django --upgrade` as described in @JoeyG 's answer. – Happy Ahmad Jul 26 '18 at 03:05
@Ahmad agree. There should be a smooth update process in pip and virtual env. – Parth Joshi Jul 16 '19 at 17:45

score 63 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 27 '20 at 16:31

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According to pip documentation example 3:

pip install --upgrade django

But based on my experience, using this method will also upgrade any package related to it. Example:

Assume you want to upgrade somepackage that require Django >= 1.2.4 using this kind of method it will also upgrade somepackage and django to the newest update. Just to be safe, do:

# Assume you want to keep Django 1.2.4
pip install --upgrade somepackage django==1.2.4

Doing this will upgrade somepackage and keeping Django to the 1.2.4 version.

edited Jun 27 '20 at 16:31

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jan 07 '15 at 05:16

whale_steward

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Good catch but your explanation is confusing since you started with `django` as a main package then in the example you use `somepackage` and then use `django` as a dependency. – Long May 22 '20 at 03:34
Yes it should be `pip install --upgrade django==1.2.4` without the "somepackage" – Veliko Sep 15 '20 at 08:08

score 39 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 31 '14 at 13:04

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The shortcut command for --upgrade:

pip install Django --upgrade

Is:

pip install Django -U

answered Aug 31 '14 at 13:04

Aaron Lelevier

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How about editing the existing answer to add this bit of information instead of an (incomplete) answer? – a1an Jun 02 '15 at 08:18
@a1an please suggest what extra info that you think should be added in a "suggested edit". Thanks – Aaron Lelevier Jun 02 '15 at 14:22
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I mean you could edit the answer given by JoeyG, adding the shortcut option you provided in context there. – a1an Jun 03 '15 at 09:39

score 21 · Answer 5 · edited Jun 27 '20 at 16:32

If you only want to upgrade one specific package called somepackage, the command you should use in recent versions of pip is

pip install --upgrade --upgrade-strategy only-if-needed somepackage

This is very useful when you develop an application in Django that currently will only work with a specific version of Django (say Django=1.9.x) and want to upgrade some dependent package with a bug-fix/new feature and the upgraded package depends on Django (but it works with, say, any version of Django after 1.5).

The default behavior of pip install --upgrade django-some-package would be to upgrade Django to the latest version available which could otherwise break your application, though with the --upgrade-strategy only-if-needed dependent packages will now only be upgraded as necessary.

score 18 · Answer 6 · edited Jun 27 '20 at 16:34

18

If you upgrade a package, the old one will be uninstalled.

A convenient way to do this is to use this pip-upgrader which also updates the versions in your requirements.txt file for the chosen packages (or all packages).

Installation

pip install pip-upgrader

Usage

Activate your virtualenv (important, because it will also install the new versions of upgraded packages in current virtualenv).

cd into your project directory, and then run:

pip-upgrade

Advanced usage

If the requirements are placed in a non-standard location, send them as arguments:

pip-upgrade path/to/requirements.txt

If you already know what package you want to upgrade, simply send them as arguments:

pip-upgrade -p django -p celery -p dateutil

If you need to upgrade to pre-release / post-release version, add --prerelease argument to your command.

Full disclosure: I wrote this package.

edited Jun 27 '20 at 16:34

Peter Mortensen

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answered Apr 27 '17 at 20:22

Simion Agavriloaei

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is there an option to upgrade all packages at once (ie, without listing them) with this approach? – 3pitt May 18 '18 at 14:37
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@MikePalmice yes: `pip-upgrade -p all` will upgrade all your packages and update requirements file without needing any input from you. – Simion Agavriloaei May 21 '18 at 07:30
Doesn't fork for me. Helped finally: pip install -r requirements.txt --upgrade – Vodyanikov Andrew Anatolevich Jan 27 '21 at 04:58

score 5 · Answer 7 · edited Jun 27 '20 at 16:34

5

This solved the issue for me:

pip install -I --upgrade psutil --force

Afterwards just uninstall psutil with the new version and hop you can suddenly install the older version (:

edited Jun 27 '20 at 16:34

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jul 14 '19 at 15:11

Eran Hpac

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score 4 · Answer 8 · answered May 04 '12 at 00:43

Normally, pip will clean up after itself and remove the contents of the build directory. The only time it doesn't do this is if:

You used the --no-install option
You are using editable packages
The installation was cancelled or was otherwise interrupted.

In all other cases, you shouldn't have build directory that's clogging your environment.

score 2 · Answer 9 · edited Jun 27 '20 at 16:35

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Defining a specific version to upgrade helped me instead of only the upgrade command.

pip3 install larapy-installer==0.4.01 -U

edited Jun 27 '20 at 16:35

Peter Mortensen

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answered Apr 07 '20 at 14:30

Bedram Tamang

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score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Oct 04 '19 at 10:31

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I use this:

pip3 install -r  requirements.txt

answered Oct 04 '19 at 10:31

Shahab Rahnama

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How can I upgrade specific packages using pip and a requirements file?

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