Ben Emson
How to Install Python on Dreamhost Shared Hosting
This article describes how to install and set up Python and VirtualEnv on Dreamhost web site hosting.
Some of these notes are based on this article:
URL: http://blog.localkinegrinds.com/2007/08/20/custom-python-installation-for-django-on-dreamhost/
Set up
Log into your shared server and do the following:
$ mkdir -p opt/python261
$ mkdir downloads
$ cd downloads
$ wget http://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.6.1/Python-2.6.1.tgz
$ tar xvzf Python-2.6.1.tgz
Note that: According to the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard, the /opt dir "is reserved for the installation of add-on application software packages."
Now configure where your new Python instance will be installed:
$ cd Python-2.6.1
$ ./configure --prefix=$HOME/opt/python261
$ make
$ make install > install.txt
NB: The install.txt file is useful to locate files if you wish to uninstall Python later. NB: you might wish to use:
$ ./configure --prefix=$HOME/opt/python261 --enable-unicode=ucs4
But Dreamhost does uses ucs2 by default (Python's default to), and there can be issues if you try to load packages that are compiled using a different Unicode setting.
Now edit your ~/.bash_profile file to specify the new Python install located in: ~/opt/
export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/opt/python261/bin
You might also want to add an alias so that instead of typing python2.6 to access the python shell, you can just type python in the command line.
alias python='python2.6'
Don't forget to tell bash to load this file after you have made your changes:
$ source ~/.bash_profile
$ python -V # will display your new version 2.6.1
Installing VirtualEnv
$ cd downloads/
$ curl -O http://pypi.python.org/packages/source/v/virtualenv/virtualenv-1.4.5.tar.gz
$ tar -xvzf virtualenv-1.4.5.tar.gz
$ python virtualenv-1.4.5/virtualenv.py $HOME/virtual --no-site-packages
NB: This binds your new install with virtualenv and creates a virtual directory in your user home directory. You will need to use the --no-site-packages option so that virtualenv doesn't use any of the original Dreamhost Python install packages.
Update your ~/.bash_profile file so that it puts the virtualenv packages onto the Python path, and activate(s) your virtual environment:
export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/opt/python261/bin:$HOME/virtual/bin"
source $HOME/virtual/bin/activate
Check that the packages directory is in your new virtual site_packages directory:
$ python -c "from distutils.sysconfig import get_python_lib; print get_python_lib()"
Now activate your virtual environment, by executing the .bash_profile file:
$ source ~/.bash_profile
Or manually activate it by:
$ . ~/virtual/bin activate
Installing MySQL Python Bindings
(virtual)$ cd downloads
(virtual)$ wget http://internap.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/mysql-python/MySQL-python-1.2.3c1.tar.gz
(virtual)$ tar xvzf MySQL-python-1.2.3c1.tar.gz
(virtual)$ cd MySQL-python-1.2.3c1
(virtual)$ python setup.py install
Check that you can import the database correctly (NB: do this from a different directory from the one where MySQL-python was installed, as you will get Module already imported warnings):
(virtual)$ cd ~
(virtual)$ python
>>> import MySQLdb
If you don't get an error all succeeded OK.
Install Django
(virtual)$ pip install Django
