How to Fix E: Unable to Locate Package Pip in Ubuntu

Open the Terminal

Begin by opening a terminal window. You can do this by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard or by searching for "Terminal" in the Ubuntu application menu.

Update the Repositories

In the terminal, enter the following command:

sudo apt update

This command instructs apt to refresh its local package lists from the repositories. It’s important to note that you will need administrative privileges to perform this operation, hence the sudo command.

Enter Your Password

After executing the sudo apt update command, you’ll be prompted to enter your user password. Type it in and press Enter.

Note that when entering your password, no characters will be displayed on the screen for security reasons. Simply type it and press Enter.

Wait for the Update to Complete

apt will now contact the repositories and update its package lists. This process may take a few moments, depending on your internet connection speed and the number of repositories you have configured.

Check for the pip Package

Once the update is complete, you can now attempt to install pip again using the following command:

sudo apt install python3-pip

This command installs the Python package manager pip for Python 3. If you’re using Python 2, the package name would be python-pip.

Check if pip is Installed

To check if python3-pip is installed on your Ubuntu system, you can use the following command in the terminal:

pip3 --version

If python3-pip is installed, this command will display the version information of pip3. If it is not installed, you will receive an error message indicating that the command pip3 is not found.

Additionally, you can use the following command to check if python3-pip is installed through the apt package manager:

apt list --installed | grep python3-pip

If python3-pip is installed, this command will return information about the package. If it is not installed, there will be no output.

Keep in mind that if you’re using Python 2, you should check for the package python-pip instead. Use the commands mentioned above with pip instead of pip3.

Open the Terminal

Begin by opening a terminal window. You can do this by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard or by searching for "Terminal" in the Ubuntu application menu.

Check Python Version (Optional)

If you’re unsure which version of Python you’re using, you can check it using the following command:

python3 --version

This command will display the version number of Python 3. If you’re using Python 2, replace python3 with python.

Install python3-pip (Python 3) or python-pip (Python 2)

If you’re using Python 3, use the following command to install python3-pip:

sudo apt install python3-pip

If you’re using Python 2, use the following command to install python-pip:

sudo apt install python-pip

Check if pip is Installed

To check if python3-pip is installed on your Ubuntu system, you can use the following command in the terminal:

pip3 --version

If python3-pip is installed, this command will display the version information of pip3. If it is not installed, you will receive an error message indicating that the command pip3 is not found.

Additionally, you can use the following command to check if python3-pip is installed through the apt package manager:

apt list --installed | grep python3-pip

If python3-pip is installed, this command will return information about the package. If it is not installed, there will be no output.

Note that if you’re using Python 2, you should check for the package python-pip instead. Use the commands mentioned above with pip instead of pip3.

Open the Terminal

Begin by opening a terminal window. You can do this by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard or by searching for "Terminal" in the Ubuntu application menu.

Install Package for Managing Repositories

sudo apt install software-properties-common

This command installs the software-properties-common package, which provides the common infrastructure for managing software repositories in Ubuntu.

Enable the universe Repository

In the terminal, enter the following command:

sudo add-apt-repository universe

This command adds the universe repository to your list of repositories. You will need administrative privileges to perform this operation, hence the sudo command.

Update the Repositories

After adding the universe repository, it’s important to update the package lists to include the newly added repository. Use the following command:

sudo apt update

This command refreshes the local package lists from the repositories.

Check for the pip Package

Now that you’ve added the universe repository and updated the package lists, you can attempt to install pip using the following command:

sudo apt install python3-pip

This command installs the Python package manager pip for Python 3. If you’re using Python 2, the package name would be python-pip.

Check if pip is Installed

After completing the installation, you can run the pip -V command. This command shows the version of pip installed in the system.

pip -V

Output:

pip 22.0.2 from /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/pip (python 3.10)

Open a Terminal

Begin by opening a terminal window on your Ubuntu system. You can do this by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard or by searching for "Terminal" in the Ubuntu application menu.

Download the get-pip.py Script

In the terminal, use the curl command to download the get-pip.py script from the official PyPA website:

curl https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py -o get-pip.py

This command uses curl to retrieve the script and save it as get-pip.py in your current directory.

If curl is not installed on your system, you can use the wget command (as an alternative) to download the get-pip.py script and save it with the same name as the source file.

wget https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py

wget is a widely-used utility and is typically pre-installed on many Unix-like systems.

Run the get-pip.py Script

Next, execute the get-pip.py script using the Python interpreter. Since get-pip.py is a Python script, you can run it using the Python interpreter directly:

sudo python3 get-pip.py

This command uses sudo to ensure administrative privileges are granted for the installation process. The script will install pip for Python 3.

Enter Your Password

After running the command, you’ll be prompted to enter your user password. Type it in and press Enter. Remember that when entering your password, no characters will be displayed on the screen for security reasons. Simply type it and press Enter.

Wait for the Installation to Complete

The get-pip.py script will now fetch the necessary files and install pip on your system. This process may take a few moments, depending on your internet connection speed and system performance.

Verify the Installation

Once the installation is complete, you can verify that pip is installed by running the following command:

pip3 --version

This command should display the version information of pip3, confirming that it has been successfully installed.