error: externally-managed-environment

[krishnaTORQUE]

Crash & Error

krishna@torque:~$ python3 -m pip install pip
error: externally-managed-environment

× This environment is externally managed
╰─> To install Python packages system-wide, try apt install
    python3-xyz, where xyz is the package you are trying to
    install.
    
    If you wish to install a non-Debian-packaged Python package,
    create a virtual environment using python3 -m venv path/to/venv.
    Then use path/to/venv/bin/python and path/to/venv/bin/pip. Make
    sure you have python3-full installed.
    
    If you wish to install a non-Debian packaged Python application,
    it may be easiest to use pipx install xyz, which will manage a
    virtual environment for you. Make sure you have pipx installed.
    
    See /usr/share/doc/python3.11/README.venv for more information.

note: If you believe this is a mistake, please contact your Python installation or OS distribution provider. You can override this, at the risk of breaking your Python installation or OS, by passing --break-system-packages.
hint: See PEP 668 for the detailed specification.

Your environment

• CPython versions tested on: Python 3.11.2
• Operating system and architecture: Debian 11, Gnome 42, x86_64

It was working until today its howing this error. sell & setuptools are installed.
I am just trying to install or update python module & for every module, its showing this error.

[JelleZijlstra]

This looks like Debian patched something (either pip or CPython itself) to nudge you towards using virtual environments. If that doesn't work for you, please report it to Debian.

[CAM-Gerlach]

What is this?

As the message you're getting explains, this is actually not an issue with Python itself, but rather your Linux distribution (Kali, Debian, etc.) implementing a deliberate policy to ensure you don't break your operating system and system packages by using pip (or Poetry, Hatch, PDM or another non-OS package manager) outside the protection of a virtual environment.

This has been a long-standing recommendation from both the Python team and Linux distros, due to the severe problems that frequently occur for people as a result of using pip or other package managers directly with your system Python.

What should I do about it?

Like the error message says, you have a few options:

• To install dependencies required by your/others' Python code, create and activate a virtual environment for your project, and then use pip (or another non-system package manager, like Poetry, Hatch or PDM) to install the packages you need.

• For command-line applications and tools you want to be available system-wide, install and run them with a tool like pipx.

• To install and manage your own version of Python separate from the one bundled with your operating system, try a tool like Pyenv.

• If the packages provided by your distribution meet your needs, install the software you want with your system package manager (apt, dnf/yum, pacman, etc) instead. See your distro's documentation for more information.

Here be dragons...read this part at your own risk!

If you're really, really, really sure you want to use pip or another non-system package manager directly on the packages installed by your Linux distribution, you can pass the --break-system-packages flag to pip. However, it will do exactly what it says if you aren't extremely careful, so if you aren't 120% sure you're an expert who knows exactly what you're doing, don't use it. And if you do, don't say I didn't warn you! :)

Where can I get more information?

The message you get should explain where you can find more information specific to your distro, and for those curious PEP 668: Marking Python environments as externally managed has the full technical details.

I'm still confused! Help!

The best people to talk to about this will be the folks with your particular Linux distribution, so please reach out to them with further questions. Best of luck!

What about the other workarounds proposed in this thread? Why is it closed?

We appreciate folks trying to help other users! However, since this is getting a lot of traffic (it's the top hit on Google) we wanted to make sure that you can all find the accurate answers to your questions, and since there isn't anything we can do on CPython's end (since this is controlled by your Linux distro), we've closed/locked the issue with this as the final comment, and collapsed duplicate and resolved comments by default to make it easier for viewers to find the canonical answer, and avoid other out of date, incomplete, confusing and potentially system-breaking workarounds. Thanks for your understanding, and hope this is helpful!