Elastic Compute Service:FAQ: Installing Alibaba Cloud SDK for Python on a Linux ECS instance

Question 1: What is the minimum Python version?

The required Python version for the Alibaba Cloud SDK for Python is determined by the official end-of-life schedule for each Python version. You can visit the OpenAPI Portal OpenAPI Portal to view the minimum version requirement. On the Elastic Compute Service (ECS) page in the Alibaba Cloud SDK Center, select V2.0 (Recommended) as the SDK generation and Python as the language. Go to the Quick Start tab. In the Prerequisites section, you can find that the minimum version requirement is Python >= 3.7.

Question 2: Resolve the "egg_info failed" error

This issue is typically caused by an outdated Python or pip version, or by a missing dependency. Follow these steps to troubleshoot and resolve the issue:

1. Check your Python version.

   Ensure your Python version meets the SDK's requirements. Run the python -V or python3 -V command on your ECS instance to check the installed version. If the version is incompatible, install a newer one. For more information, see Question 4: How do I install Python 3?.

2. If your Python version is compatible, upgrade pip.

   An outdated pip version can cause known issues. Run pip install --upgrade pip to upgrade it, and then try installing the SDK again.

Question 3: Resolve the "ModuleNotFoundError" error

This error indicates that a required dependency is missing. Run pip install XX to install it.

Question 4: How do I install Python 3?

To install Python 3 on CentOS, follow these steps. For more information about how to install Python 3, see Install Python on Linux.

1. Visit the official Python website to get the download link for the latest source code package. The following example shows the commands to download and decompress Python 3.11.10.

   wget https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.11.10/Python-3.11.10.tgz
   tar -xzvf Python-3.11.10.tgz
   

2. Before you compile Python, install the necessary dependencies and tools.

   sudo yum -y install gcc
   sudo yum -y install zlib-devel bzip2-devel openssl-devel ncurses-devel sqlite-devel readline-devel tk-devel gdbm-devel libpcap-devel xz-devel libffi-devel

3. Navigate to the source code directory to configure and compile.

   cd Python-3.11.10
   ./configure --prefix=/usr/python 
   make && sudo make altinstall
   

4. Run which python3 pip3 to check if symbolic links for python3 and pip3 exist. If they do, you must remove them.

   [root@xxx]# which python3 pip3
   /usr/bin/python3
   /usr/bin/pip3
   

   sudo rm -rf /usr/bin/python3 /usr/bin/pip3

5. Create new symbolic links to point python3 and pip3 to the new executable files.

   Note

   Symbolic links act as shortcuts to files or directories for quick access. For example, python3 can point to the python3.11 interpreter.

   sudo ln -s /usr/python/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/python3
   sudo ln -s /usr/python/bin/pip3.11 /usr/bin/pip3

6. Check the installed Python version.

   python3 -V
   pip3 -V

   [root@iZxxx ~]# python3 -V
   Python 3.11.10
   [root@iZxxx ~]# pip3 -V
   pip 24.0 from /usr/python/lib/python3.11/site-packages/pip (python 3.11)

Question 5: Upgrade from Python 2 to Python 3

Instead of upgrading Python 2, install Python 3 to run alongside it. After installation, use the python3 and pip3 commands. For more information about how to install Python 3, see Question 4: How do I install Python 3?.