Search code examples
pythonzlibeasy-install

No module 'zlib' for Python 2.6


When I start Python 2.7, I can import zlib without a problem. Unfortunately, I need Python 2.6 for a specific project.

I tried installing it with this script I wrote:

apt-get install zlib1g-dev
mkdir /tmp/shell_scripts
cd /tmp/shell_scripts
wget http://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.6.9/Python-2.6.9.tgz
tar -xvzf Python-2.6.9.tgz
rm Python-2.6.9.tgz
cd Python-2.6.9
./configure --with-zlib
make
make install
./python setup.py install
cd /tmp
rm -r shell_scripts

When I type import zlib, I get an import error. I need zlib to install easy_install. Have you an idea what could be wrong?


Solution

  • I found the solution in a blog: I had to build a symbolic link and set an environment variable. This is my working code:

    apt-get install zlib1g-dev
    cd /lib
    sudo ln -s i386-linux-gnu/libz.so.1 libz.so
    
    mkdir /tmp/shell_scripts
    cd /tmp/shell_scripts
    wget http://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.6.9/Python-2.6.9.tgz
    tar -xvzf Python-2.6.9.tgz
    rm Python-2.6.9.tgz
    cd Python-2.6.9
    make distclean
    export LDFLAGS="-L/usr/lib/$(dpkg-architecture -qDEB_HOST_MULTIARCH)"
    ./configure
    make
    make install
    ./python setup.py install
    unset LDFLAGS
    cd /tmp
    rm -r shell_scripts
    

    Now, import zlib no longer throws an error.