In this tutorial, we will show you how to install and configure Python 3 on CentOS 7. Python, a versatile and powerful programming language, has become an essential tool for developers across various domains. From web development to data analysis and artificial intelligence, Python’s popularity continues to soar. For system administrators and developers working with CentOS 7, a robust and widely-used Linux distribution, installing Python 3 is a crucial step in setting up a modern development environment.
This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you the step-by-step installation of Python on a CentOS 7 server.
Prerequisites
- A server running one of the following operating systems: CentOS 7.
- It’s recommended that you use a fresh OS install to prevent any potential issues.
- SSH access to the server (or just open Terminal if you’re on a desktop).
- A
non-root sudo useror access to theroot user. We recommend acting as anon-root sudo user, however, as you can harm your system if you’re not careful when acting as the root.
Install Python 3 on CentOS 7
Step 1. Update the System.
Before installing any new software, it’s always a good practice to update your system. This ensures that you have the latest security patches and package information. Open your terminal and run the following command:
yum -y update yum groupinstall "Development tools"
Step 2. Enable EPEL Repository.
CentOS 7’s base repository may not include Python 3. In this case, you’ll need to enable the EPEL (Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux) repository. EPEL is a Fedora Special Interest Group that provides high-quality additional packages for Enterprise Linux distributions like CentOS. To enable the EPEL repository, run:
sudo yum install epel-release
This command installs the EPEL repository configuration package, giving you access to a wider range of software packages, including Python 3.
Step 3. Installing required packages and dependencies.
Before compiling Python from the source code, you need to install some required packages and dependencies. Run the following command:
sudo yum install gcc openssl-devel bzip2-devel libffi-devel
Step 4. Installing Python on CentOS 7.
- Method One: Build and Install Python3 from the Source
The first thing to do is to go to Python’s download page and download the latest stable version of Python, At the moment of writing this article it is version 3.9.9:
wget https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.9.9/Python-3.9.9.tgz
Extract source archive and build:
tar xzf Python-3.9.9.tgz cd Python-3.9.9
Next, we are going to configure the installation directory on /usr/local, We can change the path:
./configure --prefix=/usr/local
Building and installing Python through the below make altinstall command, this command will replace the python, which is used by the server:
make altinstall
You now should be all set to use your newly compiled Python version:
# python3.9 –V Python 3.9.9
- Method Two: Install Python3 from EPEL Repository
First, you need to enable the EPEL repository on your system:
yum install epel-release
Then install Python 3.9 and its libraries using yum:
yum install python39
- Method Three: Install Python3 from Software Collections (SCL)
The first step is to install the utilities needed to manage collections:
yum -y install scl-utils
Once you enable the SCL repository, go ahead and install python3 as follows:
yum -y install python39
Python 3.3 will become accessible by launching a new shell instance using the Software Collection scl command:
scl enable python39 bash
Additional Python libraries and tools, such as pip, can now be installed:
easy_install pip
Remember to keep your Python installation up-to-date by regularly checking for new releases and applying security patches. Additionally, consider exploring the vast ecosystem of Python libraries and frameworks to enhance your development experience and tackle various tasks more efficiently.
Congratulations! You have successfully installed Python. Thanks for using this tutorial for installing Python 3 on CentOS 7 system. For additional help or useful information, we recommend you check the official Python website.
