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Installing Python Imaging Library (PIL) under virtualenv or buildout

Posted on November 19, 2009  by Mikko Ohtamaa
Filed Under plone, python, technology
Tags: , , , , ,

I have greatly struggled to have PIL library support in isolated Python environments like virtualenv –no-site-packages.

For example, when installing Satchmo shop under virtualenv:

../bin/clonesatchmo.pyhe Python Imaging Library is not installed. Install from your distribution binaries.


../bin/clonesatchmo.py
The Python Imaging Library is not installed. Install from your distribution binaries.

Though it clearly is there, installed by easy_install PIL command:

ls ../lib/python2.5/site-packages/PIL-1.1.7-py2.5-linux-x86_64.egg
ArgImagePlugin.py	 ExifTags.py		  GimpGradientFile.pyc...

Does anyone know if this problem is with PIL itself, eggified PIL or something else?

In any case, there is an easy workaround: use system-wide PIL (sudo apt-get install python-imaging) and symlink PIL from your site-wide installation under the isolated Python environment:

(satchmo-py25)mulli% pwd
/srv/plone/mmaspecial/satchmo-py25/lib/python2.5/site-packages
(satchmo-py25)mulli% ln -s /usr/lib/python2.4/PIL .
That works for now, but I’d like to learn how to make virtualenv and buildout install PIL egg bullet-proof way.
 

Other posts by Mikko Ohtamaa

 

Comments

5 Responses to “Installing Python Imaging Library (PIL) under virtualenv or buildout”

  1. Godefroid Chapelle on November 20th, 2009 1:25 am
    Gravatar

    I have had same time of problem recently which I solved under Mac OSX by easy installing PILwoTk. This makes me believe the standard egg has an issue…

     
  2. Russell on November 20th, 2009 2:11 am
    Gravatar

    I followed the advice from this blog http://davidjb.com/blog/2009/06/virtualenv-plone-and-ubuntu-904-jaunty

    the important part was to run these commands in the virtualenv
    easy_install –find-links http://www.pythonware.com/products/pil/ Imaging
    easy_install –find-links http://download.zope.org/distribution PILwoTK

    Haven’t had time to investigate why it works, but it does.

     
  3. Matthew Wilkes on November 20th, 2009 3:47 pm
    Gravatar

    There are a few options, symlinking a different python’s egg of it isn’t a good idea.

    I do:

    easy_install http://dist.repoze.org/PIL-1.1.6.tar.gz

    which is a repackaging that works with setuptools. Alternatively, download the source distribution and run its install manually:

    $ curl -O http://effbot.org/media/downloads/Imaging-1.1.7.tar.gz
    $ tar zxvf Imaging-1.1.7.tar.gz
    $ cd Imaging-1.1.7
    $ python setup.py install

    Matt

     
  4. Encolpe on November 20th, 2009 6:55 pm
    Gravatar

    It seems that setuptools doesn’t find PIL egg. The solution I found is simplier :

    $ cd /srv/plone/mmaspecial/satchmo-py25/lib/python2.5/site-packages
    $ ln -s PIL-1.1.7-py2.5-linux-x86_64.egg PIL

    This is enough to get it works with your egg and works with all eggs. Why it doesn’t work with this egg… may be ‘x86_64′ that add an underscore where setuptools doesn’t expect to find one.

     
  5. Ian Bicking on November 20th, 2009 8:16 pm
    Gravatar

    Try this repackaged version of PIL: http://dist.repoze.org/PIL-1.1.6.tar.gz

     

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