Homebrew , python installing

Question

i got an error while trying to install python throught homebrew. brew says what it failed to link python , here is output:

Linking /usr/local/Cellar/python/2.7.3... Warning: Could not link python. Unlinking...
Error: Could not symlink file: /usr/local/Cellar/python/2.7.3/bin/smtpd2.py
/usr/local/bin/smtpd2.py may already exist.
/usr/local/bin may not be writable.

ls -la on /usr/bin and bin rights :

The drwxrwxrwx  26 root             admin  884 26 Oct 16:03 bin

And smtpd2.py is exists.. How can i fix it? Delete smtpd2.py ?

You /could/ `sudo rm -rf smtpd2`. But here's a bigger question: why are you using homebrew to install python? Why not just download from the [python downloads page](http://python.org/download/) directly? — inspectorG4dget, Oct 26 '12 at 14:42
I will install not only python through homebrew. Just want to use homebrew instead of macports as main package-manager. — Andrey Baryshnikov, Oct 26 '12 at 14:45
`brew install python --universal --framework`, I installed it use this command. — iMom0, Oct 26 '12 at 14:45
yes, i installed it as you say, but at end of installation i got an error. — Andrey Baryshnikov, Oct 26 '12 at 14:47

TomFuertes · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-03T18:17:25.007

84

Sounds like a permissions issue with /usr/local.

### Makes you owner of /usr/local 
$ sudo chown -R `whoami` /usr/local

### Force uninstalls failed python
$ brew uninstall -f python

### Clear the brew cache
$ rm -rf `brew --cache`

### Recreate the brew cache
$ mkdir `brew --cache`

### Cleanup - cleans up old homebrew files
$ brew cleanup

### Prune - removes dead symlinks in homebrew
$ brew prune

### Doctor - runs homebrew checks for common error causing issues
$ brew doctor

########
### Google and follow steps to fix what `brew doctor` came back with
########

### Reinstall python
$ brew install python

edited Jul 03 '16 at 18:17

answered Oct 26 '12 at 14:47

TomFuertes

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Thank you, this helped to install python through homebrew:) – Andrey Baryshnikov Oct 26 '12 at 14:53
Im at brew doctor and getting this - can you help? Warning: python is symlinked to python – tbarbe Dec 22 '12 at 17:00
try following the above, but running `rm -rf /usr/local/Cellar/python` between the uninstall and cache clear lines – TomFuertes Dec 27 '12 at 17:36
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If it is a permissions issue, after fixing `/usr/local` you can also simply run `brew link python` or `brew link --overwrite python`. Using `brew link --dry-run --overwrite python` will tell you what things will change without doing it. – smessing Apr 04 '13 at 18:15
Thanks, `brew prune` fixed my issues! – vaughan Jun 12 '13 at 03:57
This worked. Additionally, I had to remove /usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages – Dipankar Oct 25 '17 at 07:49

score 21 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:10

21

Did you try brew link --overwrite python? This worked for me without having to uninstall python - see this question for more details.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:10

Community

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answered Mar 04 '13 at 06:15

Ryan Walton

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I had to chown /usr/local as in accepted answer, then this command worked well. – RichVel Sep 23 '13 at 20:24
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New command is `brew linkapps python` to symlink to Applications – mateor May 08 '16 at 03:30

Homebrew , python installing

2 Answers2

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