Pip

This article will show you how to install your own version of Pip, to a virtual environment. Pip is used to install Python packages and is therefore useful for any software which is written in Python.

This guide exists because sometimes there are issues using the server instance of Pip to install packages, even at user level. Installing Pip to a virtual environment should allow you to upgrade python packages with ease.

You'll need to execute some commands via SSH to use this software. There is a separate guide on how to connect to your slot via SSH. Commands are kept as simple as possible and in most cases will simply need to be copied and pasted into the terminal window (then executed by pressing the Enter key).

Table of contents

Installing Pip

To install Pip you just need to create a virtual environment. You can do that by copying and pasting the following:

pip install --user virtualenv
~/.local/bin/virtualenv ~/pip --system-site-packages

This will install python and pip into the directory ~/pip/bin where they can be used to run software and upgrade/install packages.

Using Pip

You can then run your own version of Pip to install or upgrade packages. To install new ones, use the following command (replacing package with the actual package name):

~/pip/bin/pip install package

To upgrade a package, simply use the following command (again, replace package with the actual package name!):

~/pip/bin/pip install --upgrade package

You can also see which packages are outdated with the following command:

~/pip/bin/pip list --outdated