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 picamera for Python 3 you would use:

sudo apt-get install python3-picamera

Uninstalling packages installed via APT can be accomplished as follows:

sudo apt-get remove python3-picamera

or completely remove with purge:

sudo apt-get purge python3-picamera

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Not all Python packages are available in the Raspbian archives, and those that are can sometimes be out of date.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 (PyPI). To do so, use the pip tool.

pip is installed by default in Raspbian Jessie (but not Raspbian Wheezy or Jessie Lite). You can install it with apt:

sudo apt-get install python3-pip

or the Python 2 version:

sudo apt-get install python-pip

pip3 installs modules for Python 3 and pip installs modules for Python 2.

For example, the following command installs the Unicirn HAT library for Python 3:

pip3 install unicornhat

and the following command installs the Unicorn HAT library for Python 2:

pip install unicornhat

Note: In Raspbian Wheezy, the command for managing Python 3 packages was pip-3.2 not pip3.

Uninstall Python modules with pip3 uninstall or pip uninstall.

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