PyEnv BUILD FAILED installing Python on MacOS

Question

While trying to install Python 3.6.6 (for Airflow) using PyEnv on MacOS, I am encountering build failure with following stack-trace

File
"/private/var/folders/6y/kf699bqj2sgcgjshb20fr5zh0000gn/T/python-build.20180721180716.86347/Python-3.6.6/Lib/xmlrpc/client.py",
line 138, in <module>
    from xml.parsers import expat   File "/private/var/folders/6y/kf699bqj2sgcgjshb20fr5zh0000gn/T/python-build.20180721180716.86347/Python-3.6.6/Lib/xml/parsers/expat.py",
line 4, in <module>
    from pyexpat import * ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pyexpat' make: *** [install] Error 1

BUILD FAILED (OS X 10.13.6 using python-build 20180424)

Inspect or clean up the working tree at
/var/folders/6y/kf699bqj2sgcgjshb20fr5zh0000gn/T/python-build.20180721180716.86347
Results logged to /var/folders/6y/kf699bqj2sgcgjsh

I've followed the steps mentioned in the docs for setting-up PyEnv on Mac via Homebrew.

Environment / Framework versions

MacOS High Sierra 10.13.6
Homebrew 1.7.1
PyEnv 1.2.6
Existing Python distributions
- Python 2.7.15 [GCC 4.2.1 Compatible Apple LLVM 9.0.0 (clang-900.0.39.2)] on darwin
- Python 3.7.0 [Clang 9.0.0 (clang-900.0.39.2)] on darwin

Same issue, just had to open a new terminal window. Had some bad environment variables from when I ran pyenv uninstall in the same session. — william_grisaitis
– william_grisaitis, Commented Jul 17, 2022 at 19:04
Looking into this further and providing more clarification, I'm running this env: ``` Homebrew 4.4.19 arch: arm64 pyenv 2.5.1 macOS 15.2 ``` I've gotten into the headers for gettext which seem to be the culpit and the C externs exist in /usr/local/include/libintl.h ``` /* Set the current default message catalog to DOMAINNAME. If DOMAINNAME is null, return the current default. If DOMAINNAME is "", reset to the default of "messages". */ #ifdef _INTL_REDIRECT_INLINE extern char *libintl_textdomain (const char *__domainname); # ifndef __cplusplus static # endif ``` — user2743583
– user2743583, Commented Feb 3 at 5:04

Henrique Bastos · Accepted Answer · 2019-06-23 01:15:47Z

45

I had this problem with Mojave and Python 3.7.3.

This worked for me:

SDKROOT=/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.14.sdk MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=10.14 pyenv install 3.7.3

answered Jun 23, 2019 at 1:15

Henrique Bastos

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10 Comments

Kjell Hedström Over a year ago

Worked great on Mojave 10.14.5. The other answers did not work.

Tachikoma Over a year ago

Worked great on macOS Mojave 10.14.6

Srikanth Over a year ago

Worked for me on macOS Catalina (10.15.3) with Python 3.7.3

Bendemann Over a year ago

Anybody cares to explain what this does to newbies :)?

Marcel Wilson Over a year ago

Is there some way to setup the environment so we dont have to include SDKROOT and MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET every time?

|

Ricardo · Accepted Answer · 2024-07-19 16:25:18Z

40

I'm posting my solution for those who are trying to resolve this issue in 2021. I am using macOS Big Sur Version 11.5.1. For me, this worked:

Uninstall the old tools

$ sudo rm -rf /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools
Reinstall Xcode Command line tools

$ xcode-select --install
Install python using pyenv

$ pyenv install 3.9.5

edited Jul 19, 2024 at 16:25

Ricardo

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answered Aug 9, 2021 at 7:14

Hailey Yoon

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6 Comments

HamiltonPharmD Over a year ago

I can confirm this worked for me in MacOS Big Sur Ver 11.5.2. I uninstalled pyenv prior to performing the above steps to be safe then reinstalled after step 2 above with: curl https://pyenv.run | bash

StatsNoob Over a year ago

This works on Big Sur 11.6.4 as well

ScottWelker Over a year ago

This worked for me, Monterey 12.3.1 with pyenv 3.9.6. I did not uninstall pyenv first.

Steve Vermeulen Over a year ago

In addition to these steps, I also had to run brew install openssl

bool.dev Over a year ago

Worked for me on Monterey 12.5.1, for python 3.10.6

|

Srinivas Gowda · Accepted Answer · 2024-01-15 09:42:47Z

35

The only way I could get it working is through the below prefixes before installing

CFLAGS="-I$(brew --prefix readline)/include -I$(brew --prefix openssl)/include 
-I$(xcrun --show-sdk-path)/usr/include" \
LDFLAGS="-L$(brew --prefix readline)/lib -L$(brew --prefix openssl)/lib" \
PYTHON_CONFIGURE_OPTS=--enable-unicode=ucs2 \
pyenv install -v 3.7.1

Here's a breakdown of what each part of the command does:

CFLAGS: This is an environment variable that specifies additional flags to be used by the C compiler when compiling Python.

-I$(brew --prefix readline)/include -I$(brew --prefix openssl)/include -I$(xcrun --show-sdk-path)/usr/include: These flags tell the compiler where to find the header files for readline, openssl, and the SDK (Software Development Kit) provided by Xcode.

The -I option adds directories to the list of directories to be searched for header files.

LDFLAGS: This is another environment variable that specifies additional flags for the linker.
-L$(brew --prefix readline)/lib -L$(brew --prefix openssl)/lib: These flags tell the linker where to find the libraries for readline and openssl. The -L option adds directories to the list of directories to be searched for libraries.
PYTHON_CONFIGURE_OPTS: This environment variable is used to pass additional options to the configure script when building Python.

--enable-unicode=ucs2: This option configures Python to use UCS-2 (2-byte Unicode) as the internal representation for Unicode characters. This can be important for compatibility with certain Python packages or systems.

pyenv install -v 3.7.1: This is the actual command to install Python 3.7.1 using pyenv.

pyenv is a tool that allows you to easily install and manage multiple versions of Python.

-v is an option for verbose logging, which provides more detailed output during the installation process.

edited Jan 15, 2024 at 9:42

answered Jan 11, 2019 at 7:59

Srinivas Gowda

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3 Comments

Nasir Over a year ago

If you're copy-pasting the snippet above, make sure to remove the new line at the end of the first line which can break the compilation

mattsmith5 Over a year ago

what does this actually do?

Srinivas Gowda Over a year ago

@mattsmith5 Updated the answer with breakdown of each command

y2k-shubham · Accepted Answer · 2018-07-27 06:05:20Z

15

I was able to get away with above error by referring to Common build problems

brew install readline xz
xcode-select --install
brew install openssl

After this, I installed and initialized pyenv

brew install pyenv
pyenv init (inside your project directory)

Finally install and activate required python version

pyenv install 3.6.6
pyenv local 3.6.6 (inside your project directory)

Here's the link to original thread #1188 on GitHub by @Harry Moreno

edited Jul 27, 2018 at 6:05

answered Jul 27, 2018 at 5:59

y2k-shubham

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5 Comments

Vadim Over a year ago

in my case it doesn't work, the error remains the same

R Claven Over a year ago

This works if you have the LATEST version of XCode AND if you have "agreed" to the new license!

psuzzi Over a year ago

Also in my case did not work, but Srinivas Gowda solution did. Anyway, the link to the thread is useful.

Noble Polygon Over a year ago

This worked to help me get the AWS ebs cli installed if you get this on Mac OS catalina

Jim Over a year ago

What am I even doing anymore.. I need to install readline so that I can install pyenv so that i can install a python version so I can install a node version so that i can run a test.

Callum M · Accepted Answer · 2019-01-24 10:26:49Z

12

The accepted answer didn't work for me (Mojave) but this did:

sudo installer -pkg /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/Packages/macOS_SDK_headers_for_macOS_10.14.pkg -target /

Credit to http://www.blog.howechen.com/macos-mojave-pyenv-install-multi-version-build-failed-solution/

answered Jan 24, 2019 at 10:26

Callum M

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3 Comments

wjwwood Over a year ago

I suppose that might work, but is that a good idea? Doesn't this prevent you from using different SDK versions at different times? Presumably Apple changed this for a reason...

osprey Over a year ago

Works. Hopefully it doesn't break other things.

NeilG Over a year ago

This is a known requirement for Mojave as described here github.com/pyenv/pyenv/wiki/Common-build-problems which I routinely completed during initial installation but still got the same error

tomkat-cr · Accepted Answer · 2023-06-24 19:18:26Z

10

UPDATE FOR 2023

Python 3.6.X don't seem to support Apple Silicon. According to release note, python support Apple Silicon from 3.9.1.

SOLVED with the help of arch command:

arch -x86_64 pyenv install 3.8.12

Related to this issue: https://github.com/pyenv/pyenv/issues/1876

answered Jun 24, 2023 at 19:18

tomkat-cr

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Comments

mark kats · Accepted Answer · 2022-06-11 16:34:40Z

9

install Xcode:

xcode-select --install

install Brew:

/usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

OR

update brew:

brew upgrade

install packages:

brew install libxml2
brew install libxslt
brew link libxml2 --force
brew link libxslt --force
brew install openssl

Install Pyenv

curl https://pyenv.run | bash

Insert the following lines to .bashrc/.zshrc config file:

export PATH="$HOME/.pyenv/bin:$PATH"
eval "$(pyenv init -)"
eval "$(pyenv virtualenv-init -)"

restart the terminal and execute:

pyenv install 3.6.5

If still doesn't work: (just change the python version to the desired one - in my case i've installed python 3.6.5 to pyenv)

CFLAGS="-I$(brew --prefix openssl)/include -I$(brew --prefix bzip2)/include -I$(brew --prefix readline)/include -I$(xcrun --show-sdk-path)/usr/include" LDFLAGS="-L$(brew --prefix openssl)/lib -L$(brew --prefix readline)/lib -L$(brew --prefix zlib)/lib -L$(brew --prefix bzip2)/lib" pyenv install --patch 3.6.5 < <(curl -sSL https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/8ea6353.patch\?full_index\=1)

edited Jun 11, 2022 at 16:34

answered Apr 11, 2021 at 12:58

mark kats

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2 Comments

Moshe Over a year ago

The --patch is the only thing that worked for me. Thanks.

Pim Tegelaar Over a year ago

Thanks, this part did the trick for me: brew install libxml2 brew install libxslt brew link libxml2 --force brew link libxslt --force

Gian Pio Domiziani · Accepted Answer · 2019-09-24 11:56:38Z

3

short answer:

$ brew upgrade

now you can try to install python through pyenv

$ pyenv install 3.7.4

then, you have to set the python path

pyenv global 3.7.4

now, close and open a new terminal and write the command

echo -e 'if command -v pyenv 1>/dev/null 2>&1; then\n  eval "$(pyenv init -)"\nfi' >> ~/.bash_profile

That's all. For me it was fine.

answered Sep 24, 2019 at 11:56

Gian Pio Domiziani

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1 Comment

Tony M Over a year ago

I tried this and it didn't work. The brew upgrade part worked fine (took a while) but then pyenv install 3.7.4 gave BUILD FAILED (OS X 11.1 using python-build 20180424) Inspect or clean up the working tree at /var/folders/m8...

Vadim Tikanov · Accepted Answer · 2019-11-05 15:12:59Z

2

In my case this was caused by migration of data from old to new Mac. Both Xcode Command Line Tools and Homebrew migrated, but something broke. Reinstalling them from scratch worked for me.

Reinstall CLI tools:

$ sudo rm -rf /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools

$ xcode-select --install

Reinstall and update Homebrew:

ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/uninstall)"

ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

brew update

Istall pyenv + packages and python 3:

brew install pyenv
brew install openssl readline sqlite3 xz zlib
pyenv install 3.7.5

edited Nov 5, 2019 at 15:12

answered Nov 5, 2019 at 13:39

Vadim Tikanov

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1 Comment

miniMarkov Over a year ago

I was in the same situation of migrating and this was the only working solution.

Peter Bean · Accepted Answer · 2022-10-26 04:00:48Z

2

The cause is a change in Apple Clang 13.0.0+ that made it incompatible with existing Python versions. Upgrade to the aforementioned newest Python versions to fix the issue.

Please try the following suggestion https://github.com/pyenv/pyenv/issues/2112#issuecomment-1096478446

edited Oct 26, 2022 at 4:00

answered Oct 26, 2022 at 3:59

Peter Bean

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Comments

Matteo Mazza · Accepted Answer · 2021-11-03 15:52:00Z

1

same issue solved following a comment on pyenv issue tracking system suggesting to apply this patch: https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/8ea6353.patch

# original comment
pyenv install --patch 3.8.3 < <(curl -sSL https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/8ea6353.patch)

it did work for 3.6.9 and 3.7.4 versions as well e.g.

pyenv install --patch 3.6.9 < <(curl -sSL https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/8ea6353.patch)

source: https://github.com/pyenv/pyenv/issues/1738#issuecomment-880517959

answered Nov 3, 2021 at 15:52

Matteo Mazza

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Fernando Freitas Alves · Accepted Answer · 2022-06-22 02:39:42Z

1

I tried xcode install, brew upgrade etc, nothing worked. In the end , this patch worked (for MacOS Monterey)

pyenv install --patch 3.8.5 <<(curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/formula-patches/113aa84/python/3.8.3.patch\?full_index\=1)

edited Jun 22, 2022 at 2:39

Fernando Freitas Alves

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answered May 13, 2022 at 18:32

Himani Sharma

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1 Comment

Markus Over a year ago

Welcome to stackoverflow! In oder to make your answer useful for others please format code as code with backtick-markups. Btw the link in your script seems to be broken.

jlooooo · Accepted Answer · 2022-09-27 07:14:51Z

1

I just had outdated prerequisites on MacOS 12.6

brew install openssl readline sqlite3 xz zlib tcl-tk

https://github.com/pyenv/pyenv/wiki#suggested-build-environment

edited Sep 27, 2022 at 7:14

answered Sep 26, 2022 at 12:19

jlooooo

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Kamrul Hasan · Accepted Answer · 2023-06-08 03:19:52Z

1

Following these 3 steps also solved my problem of installing pyenv 3.10.6 for macOS Monterey 12.6.5

Uninstall the old tools

$ sudo rm -rf /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools
Reinstall Xcode Command line tools

$ xcode-select --install
Install python using pyenv

$ pyenv install 3.10.6

answered Jun 8, 2023 at 3:19

Kamrul Hasan

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janw · Accepted Answer · 2024-03-11 10:13:16Z

1

I had to uninstall and reinstall Home Brew before it returned to work. It concerned the change from Mac Intel to Mac M1 (Silicon). See the article below from Josh Alletto to find out why.

HomeBrew on Mac M1/M2

edited Mar 11, 2024 at 10:13

janw

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answered Jul 10, 2023 at 2:50

John Araujo

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Musili Alfred M. · Accepted Answer · 2021-03-29 13:17:54Z

0

After upgrading to Big Sur you need to reinstall X Code tools. Even if you had done it previously

xcode-select --install

This worked for me

If that doesn't work, force it to reset

sudo xcode-select --reset

More details can be found here: https://dev.to/o9uzdev/macos-xcrun-error-invalid-active-developer-path-missing-xcrun-411a

answered Mar 29, 2021 at 13:17

Musili Alfred M.

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8c6b5df0d16ade6c · Accepted Answer · 2021-07-06 06:49:54Z

Try any of these:

❯ xcode-select --install
❯ xcode-select --reset
❯ export SDKROOT="macosx"

Maybe you don't have command line tools installed.
Or maybe you messed up the $DEVELOPER_DIR environment
variable path.
Or maybe your compiling with command line tools meant
for iPhone development or WatchOS !?!

❯ brew update && brew upgrade pyenv

Maybe your command versions aren't up to date ?
Double check you've properly followed the installation
steps for your version, OS and shell.

❯ brew install make cmake;
❯ export PATH="/usr/local/opt/make/libexec/gnubin:$PATH"

Maybe you don't have `make` and `cmake` build/compilation commands.
Or maybe they can't be found.

❯ brew install openssl readline tcl-tk sqlite3 xz zlib bzip2;
❯ export PATH="/usr/local/opt/bzip2/bin:$PATH";
export CPPFLAGS="\
    -I$(xcrun --show-sdk-path)/usr/include \
    -I$(brew --prefix openssl)/include \
    -I$(brew --prefix readline)/include \
    -I$(brew --prefix zlib)/include \
    -I$(brew --prefix bzip2)/include";
export LDFLAGS="\
    -L$(xcrun --show-sdk-path)/usr/lib \
    -L$(brew --prefix openssl)/lib \
    -L$(brew --prefix readline)/lib \
    -L$(brew --prefix zlib)/lib \
    -L$(brew --prefix bzip2)/lib";

Maybe you're missing some suggested `pyenv` build,
tools or what not. Or maybe they can't be found during
compilation.
https://github.com/pyenv/pyenv/wiki#suggested-build-environment

❯ unset LIBRARY

Maybe you've set/defined a LIBRARY environment variable
(either in your shell initialization/startup files,
e.g. .bashrc, .zshrc, etc; or shell session).
This can be bad because it could be used in the build/compilation
process and may crash it.

❯ pyenv install --verbose --patch 3.8.11 \
    < <(curl -sSL https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/8ea6353.patch\?full_index\=1)

Maybe you haven't heard of the magical patch yet ?
which fixes issue with build process not taking into
account certain MacOS versions.
Also using the `--verbose` option, might give you
better hints as to what's going wrong.

❯ pyenv global 3.8.11 && eval "$(pyenv init -)"
OR  
❯ pyenv global 3.8.11 && exec $SHELL --login

Also, don't forget to set your preferred global
python interpreter version and reinitialize `pyenv`
or restart your [login] shell altogether.

It may still not work, in that case just keep looking and post your answer when you've found it. Best Wishes.

Here are some of the resources I've consulted:

Anas Ali · Accepted Answer · 2021-07-19 14:28:00Z

0

CFLAGS="-I$(brew --prefix openssl)/include -I$(brew --prefix 
bzip2)/include -I$(brew --prefix readline)/include -I$(xcrun --show-sdk- 
path)/usr/include" LDFLAGS="-L$(brew --prefix openssl)/lib -L$(brew -- 
prefix readline)/lib -L$(brew --prefix zlib)/lib -L$(brew --prefix 
bzip2)/lib" pyenv install --patch 3.6.12 < <(curl -sSL 
https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/8ea6353.patch\?full_index\=1)

change the version you want

answered Jul 19, 2021 at 14:28

Anas Ali

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Yusuf · Accepted Answer · 2021-11-19 11:12:30Z

0

I had the same error and this command worked for me, note that you need to change python version to your desired one to install, after --patch

CFLAGS="-I$(brew --prefix openssl)/include -I$(brew --prefix bzip2)/include -I$(brew --prefix readline)/include -I$(xcrun --show-sdk-path)/usr/include" LDFLAGS="-L$(brew --prefix openssl)/lib -L$(brew --prefix readline)/lib -L$(brew --prefix zlib)/lib -L$(brew --prefix bzip2)/lib" \
pyenv install --patch 3.8.0 < <(curl -sSL https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/8ea6353.patch\?full_index\=1)

answered Nov 19, 2021 at 11:12

Yusuf

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chardy · Accepted Answer · 2023-06-01 17:01:22Z

0

On Ventura 13.3.1 with XCode 14.1 I was able to get it resolved by:

Open XCode -> Settings -> Locations
Select the latest Command Line Tools
Open new terminal and pyenv install 3.10.6

answered Jun 1, 2023 at 17:01

chardy

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sudosudo · Accepted Answer · 2025-01-30 04:11:52Z

0

This drove me absolutely crazy. For me the answer was that I accidentally had an older version of clang/llvm installed with homebrew.

brew unlink llvm

answered Jan 30 at 4:11

sudosudo

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Yusuf · Accepted Answer · 2021-11-19 10:40:59Z

-1

for the recent googler, if you are using Big Sur, you should run the command

xcode-select --install

answered Nov 19, 2021 at 10:40

Yusuf

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1 Comment

Eric Aya Over a year ago

This has already been mentioned in many other answers. When answering older questions that already have answers, please make sure you provide either a novel solution or a significantly better explanation than existing answers.

Vaghinak · Accepted Answer · 2022-11-26 19:04:08Z

-1

This steps helped me solving BUILD FAILED (OS X 13.0.1 using python-build 20180424)

First step run xcode-select --install
Second step brew install openssl@3
Finally brew install llvm and follow instructions for setting appropriate environment variables (in the output of the brew install command).

answered Nov 26, 2022 at 19:04

Vaghinak

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Tomer · Accepted Answer · 2018-11-07 11:52:00Z

-3

This worked for me:

remove CommandLineTools folder under /Library/Developer
run in terminal: xcode-select --install
sudo mv /usr/local/include /usr/local/include_old

answered Nov 7, 2018 at 11:52

Tomer

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3 Comments

brandonscript Over a year ago

Might work, but that's super destructive, and probably cause you even more problems in the end...

vlasterx Over a year ago

This is the only option that worked for me, but be cautious - after you perform this step, you need to recreate include dir and then reinstall everything from start with brew. Thanks @Tomer, this saved me from complete OS reinstall!

Brian Garr Over a year ago

further, I don't have a Packages folder under CommandLineTools

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