Update to New Python in Amarel

Date: April 3, 2025 4:06 PM — Table of Contents

  1. Update to New Python in Amarel

Since we don’t have sudo privileges, this is how to update Python or install a specific version in your local user space on Amarel:

  1. Install a new Python version using Conda: Once Conda is installed, you can create a new environment with the desired Python version. For example, to create an environment with Python 3.9:

     conda create --name myenv python=3.9

  2. Activate the environment: Activate the new environment:

     conda activate myenv

  3. Verify the Python version: Check the active Python version:

     python --version

    This should show Python 3.9 (or whichever version you specified).

Step 2: Update python3 to Point to the Correct Version

Of seems like pip3 is pointing to the correct version of Python, but python3 is still pointing to an incorrect version, you’ll need to update your shell.

1. Check Python Binaries

First, verify the location of the Python binary that your shell is using:

which python3

This should return the path to your current python3 binary. It may still point to the older version (e.g., /usr/bin/python3).

2. Update python3 to Point to the Correct Version

You can set python3 to point to your newly installed Python (3.12.8 in this case). If the newly installed Python version is located in /home/kj537/python3.12.8/bin/python3, you can create a symbolic link:

ln -sf /home/kj537/python3.12.8/bin/python3 /usr/bin/python3

However, this requires root (sudo) privileges to modify /usr/bin/. Since you don’t have sudo privileges, you can create the symlink in your home directory:

ln -sf /home/kj537/python3.12.8/bin/python3 /home/kj537/bin/python3

Then, add /home/kj537/bin to your PATH in ~/.bashrc (or the appropriate shell config file):

echo 'export PATH="/home/kj537/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc

Afterward, source your .bashrc file:

source ~/.bashrc

Now, python3 should point to the correct version. Check it by running:

python3 --version

It should now show Python 3.12.8.

3. Verify the Setup

Finally, verify both Python and pip are updated:

python3 --version
pip3 --version

Both should point to the correct version.