I can't execute any pip commands on my mac

Question

Collecting coremltools
  Using cached coremltools-0.6.3-cp27-none-macosx_10_13_intel.whl
Requirement already satisfied: numpy>=1.6.2 in /System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/Extras/lib/python (from coremltools)
Collecting protobuf>=3.1.0 (from coremltools)
  Using cached protobuf-3.4.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl
Collecting six==1.10.0 (from coremltools)
  Using cached six-1.10.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl
Requirement already satisfied: setuptools in /System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/Extras/lib/python (from protobuf>=3.1.0->coremltools)
Installing collected packages: six, protobuf, coremltools
  Found existing installation: six 1.4.1
    DEPRECATION: Uninstalling a distutils installed project (six) has been deprecated and will be removed in a future version. This is due to the fact that uninstalling a distutils project will only partially uninstall the project.
    Uninstalling six-1.4.1:
Exception:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/pip-9.0.1-py2.7.egg/pip/basecommand.py", line 215, in main
    status = self.run(options, args)
  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/pip-9.0.1-py2.7.egg/pip/commands/install.py", line 342, in run
    prefix=options.prefix_path,
  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/pip-9.0.1-py2.7.egg/pip/req/req_set.py", line 778, in install
    requirement.uninstall(auto_confirm=True)
  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/pip-9.0.1-py2.7.egg/pip/req/req_install.py", line 754, in uninstall
    paths_to_remove.remove(auto_confirm)
  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/pip-9.0.1-py2.7.egg/pip/req/req_uninstall.py", line 115, in remove
    renames(path, new_path)
  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/pip-9.0.1-py2.7.egg/pip/utils/__init__.py", line 267, in renames
    shutil.move(old, new)
  File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/shutil.py", line 302, in move
    copy2(src, real_dst)
  File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/shutil.py", line 131, in copy2
    copystat(src, dst)
  File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/shutil.py", line 103, in copystat
    os.chflags(dst, st.st_flags)
OSError: [Errno 1] Operation not permitted: '/var/folders/5z/jqsns4n92y51f42_dbxv07vh0000gn/T/pip-7YtWLb-uninstall/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/Extras/lib/python/six-1.4.1-py2.7.egg-info'

This is the error I'm getting. I've tried various commands and this is the general error I'm getting. This is the complete response to when I enter

pip install coremltools

on my terminal window

P.S. I'm using macOS High Sierra.

@phd this is not a duplicate. sudo is not working in my case. — Sarthak Kapoor, Oct 10 '17 at 07:42

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 09 '17 at 22:35

Because you use pip from the system Python. Writing to the system folders, incl. system's Python, requires the root privileges. They can be achieved by using sudo:

sudo pip install coremltools

However, keep in mind, that installing the libraries into the system is not the best idea. It will be difficult to clean it up, remove the libraries. This can also break the behaviour of the system (since it depends on Python and its specific libs, and their specific versions).

Instead, creates your virtualenv, and work on your project there:

which pip

virtualenv myenv
source myenv/bin/activate

which pip

pip install coremltools

python
>>> import coremltools

This is the recommended official way of isolating your projects from the system (and the system from your projects). For more info, read the docs: https://virtualenv.pypa.io/

Thank You Sergey, it worked. Now how do I run my programs which use this module? — Sarthak Kapoor, Oct 10 '17 at 15:17
`myenv/bin/python myprogram.py` or `source myenv/bin/activate; python myprogram.py`. Just make sure that you use the proper `python` binary, e.g. by `which python`. — Sergey Vasilyev, Oct 10 '17 at 15:24

I can't execute any pip commands on my mac

1 Answers1