installing additional python modules

There seems to be an almost unlimited supply of python modules floating around on the web, of which only a small fraction is installed / available in Venus. While more modules can be added to it, it is often easier to build them first on the target to check if they are useful at all. Below instructions install setuptools and pip which seems commonly used by python modules. Be patient when a modules actually needs to be compiled!

NOTE: don't be surprised if this makes a complete mess of your python modules!

update the opkg repository

opkg update

# note that, when running a candidate version instead of a release version, you
# first need to run `/opt/victronenergy/swupdate-scripts/set-feed.sh candidate` before
# the opkg update command.

install some additional python packages

opkg install python-misc python-distutils python-numbers python-html python-ctypes python-pkgutil
opkg install python-unittest python-difflib python-compile gcc binutils python-dev python-unixadmin python-xmlrpc

install setuptools

wget https://bootstrap.pypa.io/ez_setup.py
python ez_setup.py

install pip

wget https://pypi.python.org/packages/source/p/pip/pip-6.0.7.tar.gz#md5=26fa8f4c0f9a78c6c96ccfbcf34f5c31
tar -xzvf pip-6.0.7.tar.gz
cd pip-6.0.7
python setup.py build
python setup.py install

from here on pip can be used to download and install packages, e.g.

pip install ndg-httpsclient pyasn1