python.md

Installing Python packages

APT

Some Python packages can be found in the Raspbian archives and can be installed using APT, for example:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install python3-picamera

This is a preferable method of installing software, as it means that the modules you install can be kept up to date easily with the usual sudo apt-get update and sudo apt-get upgrade commands.

Python packages in Raspbian which are compatible with Python 2.x will always have a python- prefix. So, the picamera package for Python 2.x is named python-picamera (as shown in the example above). Python 3 packages always have a python3- prefix. So, to install rpi.gpio for Python 3 you would use:

sudo apt-get install python3-rpi.gpio

Uninstalling packages installed via APT can be accomplished as follows:

sudo apt-get remove python3-rpi.gpio

or completely remove with --purge:

sudo apt-get remove python3-rpi.gpio --purge

pip

Not all Python packages are available in the Raspbian archives, and those that are can sometimes be out of date. If you can't find a suitable version in the Raspbian archives you can install packages from the Python Package Index (also known as PyPI). To do so, use the pip tool.

First install pip with apt.

sudo apt-get install python3-pip

or the Python 2 version:

sudo apt-get install python-pip

pip-3.2 installs modules for Python 3 and pip installs modules for Python 2.

For example, the folowing command installs the Pibrella library for Python 3:

pip-3.2 install pibrella

and the folowing command installs the Pibrella library for Python 2:

pip install pibrella

Uninstall Python modules with pip-3.2 uninstall or pip uninstall.

Upload your own Python modules to pip with the guide at PyPI.