Error after upgrading pip: cannot import name 'main'

Question

Whenever I am trying to install any package using pip, I am getting this import error:

guru@guru-notebook:~$ pip3 install numpy
Traceback (most recent call l         


        

Answer 1

What worked for me to fix the error with using pip3 was:

sudo cp -v /usr/local/bin/pip3 /usr/bin/pip3

Everything works:

 demon@UbuntuHP:~$ pip -V
 pip 10.0.1 from /usr/local/lib/python3.5/dist-packages/pip (python 3.5)

 demon@UbuntuHP:~$ pip2 -V
 pip 10.0.1 from /home/demon/.local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/pip (python 2.7)

 demon@UbuntuHP:~$ pip3 -V
 pip 10.0.1 from /usr/local/lib/python3.5/dist-packages/pip (python 3.5)

Maybe the new 10.0.1 version of pip doesn't update the binary in /usr/bin ? (which seems it does not)

EDIT: the same issue occurs in Ubuntu 18.04. The best solution I've found is to symlink the pip binaries from /home/ to /usr/local/bin or /usr/bin (depending on your preference), as follows:

ln -sv /home//.local/bin/pip /usr/local/bin/pip
ln -sv /home//.local/bin/pip2 /usr/local/bin/pip2
ln -sv /home//.local/bin/pip2.7 /usr/local/bin/pip2.7
ln -sv /home//.local/bin/pip3 /usr/local/bin/pip3
ln -sv /home//.local/bin/pip3.6 /usr/local/bin/pip3.6

NOTE: replace with your current running user

The associated versions (latest) are in:

Version 3.6:

/home/demon/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pip (python 3.6)

Version 2.7:

/home/demon/.local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/pip (python 2.7)