In this tutorial, we will learn how to install pip3 / pip2 on Rocky/ RHEL/Ubuntu/Debian/CentOS Linux Operating System. After installation method, you will get some pip command examples. It will help you to kickstart on pip command.

In this post we have covered both pip3 and pip2 installation method.

We have been maintaining this post since pip 2.x version. Please find the right Operating System where you want to install pip by using Index as given below.

Introduction: pip (Python Package Installer)

PIP is the alternate python package installer. pip is famous for easily managing the python based packages. As well as, with the help of pip you can also install the package of particular version. Most importantly pip has a feature to manage full lists of packages and corresponding version numbers, possible through a “requirements” file.

Very important to note that when we want to install particular python based package for example python 3 based package then for installing these package we need specific pip version. In such case, the pip version starts with same number which python has.

In other words, Python 3.x based package need pip3.x, Python 2.x based package need pip 2.x . We hope upto this you are clear.

It performs the same basic job as easy_install tool do but with some extra features. It can work with version control repositories (currently only Git, Mercurial, and Bazaar repositories), logs output extensively, and prevents partial installs by downloading all requirements before starting installation.

It has some disadvantages when compared to easy_install. It does not use egg files, although it does preserve egg metadata. Some setuptools features are not yet supported, and some custom setup.py features won´t work.

How To Determine Which pip Version Should We Install ?

It is very simple rule to follow, When you have Python version 3.x installed then you should use the pip 3.x version.

Similarly, if you have Python 2.x version then use pip 2.x version.

Basically pip is package manager for python so as per the Python version you must have same version of pip.

Steps To Install pip on CentOS / RHEL / Rocky Linux

In this section we will learn how to install the pip. I would like to recommend here to read the post completely because through this you know about some history of pip installation method.

Install pip In RHEL 9.x And Rocky Linux 9.x

In RHEL 9.x and Rocky Linux 9.x , the Python 3.x is shipped by default in the Operating System. Hence, the pip3 can be installed directly. There is no change in the command.

sudo dnf install -y python3-pip

Note: In CentOS Stream 9, you can install the pip with the same command but CentOS Stream is not meant for Production Server hence we are not encouraging the CentOS in our post.

Install pip In RHEL 8.x And CentOS 8.x

In CentOS 8 and RHEL 8, it is user choice to install the python version. As we know the Python 2.x has end of life in 2020.
Basically we need pip for managing the python packages. In CentOS 8/RHEL when you install the Python 3.x by dnf command , it also install pip 3 as a dependency.
So this command is for installing Python 3.x and pip3 as well.

sudo dnf install -y python3

If you do not have pip 3.x in your CentOS 8 / RHEL 8 system then only use the given below command.

sudo dnf install -y python3-pip

After installing pip 3 on CentOS 8 / RHEL 8, use pip3 command to manage the python packages. To check the help for pip3 command, use the given below command.

pip3 --help

Install pip in RHEL 7.x and CentOS 7.x (x86_64)

For installing pip in RHEL 7.x and CentOS 7.x . We have to take two action

1. Install EPEL Repo as per the supporting Operating System Architecture.
2. Install pip With Yum Command

Install EPEL Repo In RHEL 7.x and CentOS 7.x (x86_64)

First install the EPEL repo as per your Operating system version and architecture.
For detail study, you can read our previous post on EPEL.

We have already written post on “Install EPEL repo on CentOS 7 / RHEL 7” with more details. Below given command will install EPEL repo on CentOS 7 / RHEL 7.

yum install epel-release

Install pip with yum command in RHEL 7.x And CentOS 7.x

After installing the EPEL repo . Now install the pip . This will fetch the pip package from the EPEL yum repository.

yum install -y python-pip

Install pip In RHEL 6.x And CentOS 6.x

By using arch command first check if your Operating System has x86_64(64 bit) or i386(32 bit) arch. Then accordingly we will install the EPEL package.

Install EPEL Repo Supporting x86_64 Package in RHEL 6.x And CentOS 6.x

rpm -ivh http://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/6/x86_64/epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm

Install EPEL Repo Supporting i386 Package RHEL 6.x And CentOS 6.x

rpm -ivh http://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/6/i386/epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm

Install pip With Yum Command In RHEL 6.x And CentOS 6.x

Now install pip with yum command

yum install -y python-pip

The pip rpm will be installed. You can confirm it by using following command.
See below given reference :

[root@localhost ~]# which pip
/usr/bin/pip
[root@localhost ~]# 
[root@localhost ~]# rpm -qa|grep pip
python-pip-1.3.1-4.el6.noarch
[root@localhost ~]#

Steps To Install pip on Debian / Ubuntu

In this section, we will learn how to install pip in Debian and Ubuntu. This method is applicable to all the Debian based Operating System.

Install pip in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

When you install the Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, you will get the python 3 version by default . So we will go straight for installing the pip on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS Operating System.

You will notice that because we have python 3 version in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, the pip package name is also python3-pip.

sudo apt-get -y update
sudo apt install python3-pip

After installing the pip3 you can directly start using the command. To know more about the pip available options, use the command

pip --help

Install pip in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

As we know, the python 2.x is on sunset. In Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, it is shipped with Python 3.6. Hence, we will install the pip3 version.

Install the pip 3 by using apt-get command

sudo apt-get -y update
sudo apt install python3-pip

To manage the python 3.x packages, use the pip3 command.
You check its help.

pip3 --help

Install pip on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and 18.04 LTS

In Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and 18.04 LTS install the pip by using apt command. In both the operating system, method is same.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install python-pip

How To Confirm pip Package Installation In Debian / Ubuntu

To confirm the package installation.Given below is the reference from my system

sharad@ubuntu:~$ sudo dpkg -l|grep pip
[sudo] password for sharad: 
ii  libpipeline1:amd64                  1.3.0-1                             amd64        pipeline manipulation library
ii  python-pip                          1.5.4-1                             all          alternative Python package installer
sharad@ubuntu:~$ 
sharad@ubuntu:~$ which pip
/usr/bin/pip
sharad@ubuntu:~$

How to use pip command

After installing python-pip package, the pip command will be available on system.
There are multiple options available with pip command.

Most commonly used are install and uninstall of python package.

Installing Package With pip Command

Use given below syntax to install the package.

sudo pip install python-package-name

Let’s see one example. Here, we will install the boto3 module.

[root@localhost ~]# pip install boto3
Collecting boto3
  Downloading boto3-1.26.96-py3-none-any.whl (135 kB)
     |████████████████████████████████| 135 kB 2.2 MB/s
Collecting botocore<1.30.0,>=1.29.96
  Downloading botocore-1.29.96-py3-none-any.whl (10.5 MB)
     |████████████████████████████████| 10.5 MB 7.8 MB/s
Collecting jmespath<2.0.0,>=0.7.1
  Downloading jmespath-1.0.1-py3-none-any.whl (20 kB)
Collecting s3transfer<0.7.0,>=0.6.0
  Downloading s3transfer-0.6.0-py3-none-any.whl (79 kB)
     |████████████████████████████████| 79 kB 6.3 MB/s
Requirement already satisfied: python-dateutil<3.0.0,>=2.1 in /usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages (from botocore<1.30.0,>=1.29.96->boto3) (2.8.1)
Collecting urllib3<1.27,>=1.25.4
  Downloading urllib3-1.26.15-py2.py3-none-any.whl (140 kB)
     |████████████████████████████████| 140 kB 7.6 MB/s
Requirement already satisfied: six>=1.5 in /usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages (from python-dateutil<3.0.0,>=2.1->botocore<1.30.0,>=1.29.96->boto3) (1.15.0)
Installing collected packages: urllib3, jmespath, botocore, s3transfer, boto3
Successfully installed boto3-1.26.96 botocore-1.29.96 jmespath-1.0.1 s3transfer-0.6.0 urllib3-1.26.15
WARNING: Running pip as the 'root' user can result in broken permissions and conflicting behaviour with the system package manager. It is recommended to use a virtual environment instead: https://pip.pypa.io/warnings/venv
[root@localhost ~]#

Uninstall Package With pip Command

Use given below command to uninstall the package.

sudo pip uninstall python-package-name

[root@localhost ~]# pip uninstall boto3
Found existing installation: boto3 1.26.96
Uninstalling boto3-1.26.96:
  Would remove:
    /usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/boto3-1.26.96.dist-info/*
    /usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/boto3/*
Proceed (Y/n)? y
  Successfully uninstalled boto3-1.26.96
WARNING: Running pip as the 'root' user can result in broken permissions and conflicting behaviour with the system package manager. It is recommended to use a virtual environment instead: https://pip.pypa.io/warnings/venv
[root@localhost ~]# 

List Installed Python Modules/Packages

By using pip list command, you will get the list of installed python modules.

[root@localhost ~]# pip list
Package         Version
--------------- --------
boto3           1.26.96
botocore        1.29.96
dbus-python     1.2.18
gpg             1.15.1
jmespath        1.0.1
libcomps        0.1.18
nftables        0.1
pip             21.2.3
PyGObject       3.40.1
python-dateutil 2.8.1
rpm             4.16.1.3
s3transfer      0.6.0
selinux         3.4
setuptools      53.0.0
six             1.15.0
urllib3         1.26.15
[root@localhost ~]#

The pip Help Section

Use –help switch along with pip command, to get more options. Read the below options, it is quite easy to use.

In this section we will see the available options in pip2.x and pip3.x . If you are working on Python or Pip you must be aware of the change in version could impact your script/work.

We are keeping this section in our record so that fellow programmers could get the benefit of this.

The pip3.x Help Section

The pip3.x help section looks like this. You can easily find the differences in available options compare to pip2.x (It is shown the bottom of this article)

[root@localhost ~]# pip --version
pip 21.2.3 from /usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pip (python 3.9)
[root@localhost ~]# pip --help

Usage:
  pip <command> [options]

Commands:
  install                     Install packages.
  download                    Download packages.
  uninstall                   Uninstall packages.
  freeze                      Output installed packages in requirements format.
  list                        List installed packages.
  show                        Show information about installed packages.
  check                       Verify installed packages have compatible dependencies.
  config                      Manage local and global configuration.
  search                      Search PyPI for packages.
  cache                       Inspect and manage pip's wheel cache.
  index                       Inspect information available from package indexes.
  wheel                       Build wheels from your requirements.
  hash                        Compute hashes of package archives.
  completion                  A helper command used for command completion.
  debug                       Show information useful for debugging.
  help                        Show help for commands.

General Options:
  -h, --help                  Show help.
  --isolated                  Run pip in an isolated mode, ignoring environment variables and user configuration.
  -v, --verbose               Give more output. Option is additive, and can be used up to 3 times.
  -V, --version               Show version and exit.
  -q, --quiet                 Give less output. Option is additive, and can be used up to 3 times (corresponding to WARNING, ERROR, and CRITICAL logging levels).
  --log <path>                Path to a verbose appending log.
  --no-input                  Disable prompting for input.
  --proxy <proxy>             Specify a proxy in the form [user:passwd@]proxy.server:port.
  --retries <retries>         Maximum number of retries each connection should attempt (default 5 times).
  --timeout <sec>             Set the socket timeout (default 15 seconds).
  --exists-action <action>    Default action when a path already exists: (s)witch, (i)gnore, (w)ipe, (b)ackup, (a)bort.
  --trusted-host <hostname>   Mark this host or host:port pair as trusted, even though it does not have valid or any HTTPS.
  --cert <path>               Path to PEM-encoded CA certificate bundle. If provided, overrides the default. See 'SSL Certificate Verification' in pip documentation for more information.
  --client-cert <path>        Path to SSL client certificate, a single file containing the private key and the certificate in PEM format.
  --cache-dir <dir>           Store the cache data in <dir>.
  --no-cache-dir              Disable the cache.
  --disable-pip-version-check
                              Don't periodically check PyPI to determine whether a new version of pip is available for download. Implied with --no-index.
  --no-color                  Suppress colored output.
  --no-python-version-warning
                              Silence deprecation warnings for upcoming unsupported Pythons.
  --use-feature <feature>     Enable new functionality, that may be backward incompatible.
  --use-deprecated <feature>  Enable deprecated functionality, that will be removed in the future.
[root@localhost ~]#

The pip2.x Help Section

sharad@ubuntu:~$ pip --help

Usage:   
  pip  [options]

Commands:
  install                     Install packages.
  uninstall                   Uninstall packages.
  freeze                      Output installed packages in requirements format.
  list                        List installed packages.
  show                        Show information about installed packages.
  search                      Search PyPI for packages.
  wheel                       Build wheels from your requirements.
  zip                         DEPRECATED. Zip individual packages.
  unzip                       DEPRECATED. Unzip individual packages.
  bundle                      DEPRECATED. Create pybundles.
  help                        Show help for commands.

General Options:
  -h, --help                  Show help.
  -v, --verbose               Give more output. Option is additive, and can be used up to 3 times.
  -V, --version               Show version and exit.
  -q, --quiet                 Give less output.
  --log-file            Path to a verbose non-appending log, that only logs failures. This
                              log is active by default at /home/sharad/.pip/pip.log.
  --log                 Path to a verbose appending log. This log is inactive by default.
  --proxy              Specify a proxy in the form [user:passwd@]proxy.server:port.
  --timeout              Set the socket timeout (default 15 seconds).
  --exists-action     Default action when a path already exists: (s)witch, (i)gnore,
                              (w)ipe, (b)ackup.
  --cert                Path to alternate CA bundle.
sharad@ubuntu:~$ 

Conclusion

In this article, we have learned how to install pip command in Red Hat / Rocky Linux/ Debian/ Ubuntu/ CentOS.

We have also learned to manage the packages with pip command like install,uninstall,list the modules or python packages.

At the end, we have read about the Help section in pip2.x and pip3.x version. Both version has differences in some arguments. This is because of major changes happened in Python 3.x