DistributionNotFound error after upgrading pip - runtime-error

Question

In reading about virtualenv here I realized I didn't have pip 1.3+, so I ran pip install --upgrade pip and now when I run pip --version i get the following:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/local/bin/pip", line 5, in <module>
from pkg_resources import load_entry_point
File "/usr/local/Cellar/python/2.7.3/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/site-packages/distribute-0.6.34-py2.7.egg/pkg_resources.py", line 2807, in <module>
parse_requirements(__requires__), Environment()
File "/usr/local/Cellar/python/2.7.3/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/site-packages/distribute-0.6.34-py2.7.egg/pkg_resources.py", line 594, in resolve
raise DistributionNotFound(req)
pkg_resources.DistributionNotFound: pip==1.2.1
If it helps, or is at all relevant, my $PATH looks like this:
/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/share/python:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/git/bin
Also, which pip gives me /usr/local/bin/pip.
Not sure what to do about the error. Thanks.

Answer 1

The brutal way:
Assuming you are using homebrew for Mac (because I see /usr/local/Cellar), I suggest to
remove (or backup) /usr/local/lib/python2.7, and
brew rm python && brew install python.
This will definitely install pip 1.3.3 alongside of python. Your distribute will also be 0.6.35.
The soft way:
From /usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages just remove:
easy-install.pth
pip-1.2.1-py2.7.egg or other versions of pip you have.
distribute-0.6.34-py2.7.egg or other versions
Then, brew rm python && brew install python. This will leave all your other bindings from brew and installed stuff intact. Python, pip and distribute will be replaced with up-to-date versions.
additionally:
Please check that you don't have a distribute or setuptools or pip located in /Library/Python/2.7/site-packages. That dir is re-used by all python 2.7 versions (brewed or from OS X) and will interferre with the pip/distribute already installed by Homebrew.

Answer 2

I happened to get to a similar state after upgrading from OS X Lion to Mountain Lion today.
The other proposed solutions either do not work, or replace the Apple version of Python with the brew version, which I'm not sure is what saclark asked for.
What I did to get it fixed is install distribute manually, thus getting easy_install back to work, and then install pip with it.
The commands are:
$ curl -O http://pypi.python.org/packages/source/d/distribute/distribute-0.6.45.tar.gz
$ tar -xzvf distribute-0.6.45.tar.gz
$ cd distribute-0.6.45
$ sudo python setup.py install
$ sudo easy_install pip
If the link does not work, you can alway find newer versions of distribute here.

Answer 3

I got similar problem today. After some research, I solved it by reinstalling pip using this:-
python -m pip install --upgrade --force-reinstall pip
Hope somebody would find it helpful.

Answer 4

As an aside, there's an easier way to do it (I just encountered this).
Edit /usr/local/bin/pip and change the references to version number (so below you'd want to change '1.5.6' to whatever version number you're using):
#!/usr/local/opt/python/bin/python2.7
# EASY-INSTALL-ENTRY-SCRIPT: 'pip==1.5.6','console_scripts','pip'
__requires__ = 'pip==1.5.6'
import sys
from pkg_resources import load_entry_point
if __name__ == '__main__':
sys.exit(
load_entry_point('pip==1.5.6', 'console_scripts', 'pip')()
)
then you may be completely good at that point.

Answer 5

I wanna find out at where pip 1.2.1 is required, but I don't have so much time... so I just downgrade pip to 1.2.1. It can't be helped for a while, till pip or distribute package is modified.
How to do this? just type this in console(I hope your distribute package is well):
easy_install pip==1.2.1

Answer 6

There is no need to uninstall python and install it back. Get the latest distribute package installed and then update pip with it should do the trick.
wget https://bitbucket.org/pypa/setuptools/raw/bootstrap/ez_setup.py
sudo python ez_setup.py
sudo easy_install -U pip

Answer 7

The correct way to fix modern version (6.x) of pip in 2 steps
Delete the pip package in Python's site-package. For Homebrew Python 2.7, do this:
rm -r /usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/pip
Follow the instructions on the official pip documentation site to reinstall it. For short:
curl -O https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py
python get-pip.py
For pip 6.x, there's no need to install the legacy distribute package. Just setuptools, which will be installed by default via the get-pip.py script mentioned above.

Answer 8

Hm.. puzzling. Wonder where that 1.2.1 comes from. Just out of curiosity, could you post the contents of /usr/local/bin/pip? Should only be a couple of lines.
You could try updating pip (again) with distribute, and maybe also distribute itself..
easy_install --upgrade distribute
easy_install --upgrade pip