setup.py install for dlib: finished with status 'error'

I'm having problems installing Adam Geitgey's face_recognition library on my Windows PC.

I followed this tutorial for installing dlib with Python bindings on windows and I've successfully installed the requirements listed there.

However, trying to install dlib with pip throws the error

setup.py install for dlib: finished with status 'error'

How can I go about resolving this?

Solution

In order for dlib (with its Python bindings) to work well for you on Windows, you need to use a Python installation whose version is 3.6 or lower.

I understand you're using the latest version of Python. If I'm correct in my assumption that you're working with Python 3.8, then you'll have to follow these steps:

Install Python 3.6 on your PC — take note of the installation path as you'll need this for creating the appropriate virtual environment.
Create a Python 3.6 virtual environment — this will serve to isolate the dependencies of your current project. Assuming your Python 3.6 was installed to C:\Users\Mfonism\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36 (like it was on my PC :)), you'll create your virtual environment thusly (from your project directory):
```
c:\> C:\Users\Mfonism\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36\python.exe -m venv env36
```
- venv is the Python virtual environment module.
- env36 is the name of the virtual environment you're creating.
Activate the so-created virtual environment.
```
c:\>  env36\Scripts\activate
```
The name of the virtual environment (env36) should now appear in the terminal.

UPDATE: IGNORE THIS BLOCK

Install your project dependencies with pip.
```
pip install face_recognition
```
If this fails, use the --no-cache-dir option to circumvent cached versions of the dependencies.
```
pip install face_recognition --no-cache-dir
```

UPDATE: DO THIS INSTEAD

You will need to install specific versions of dlib and face_recognition. And you will need to install dlib first, or face_recognition will try to install the latest version of it, and this will fail.

So:

Install dlib 19.8.1
```
pip install dlib==19.8.1
```
Then install face_recognition 1.2.2
```
pip install face_recognition==1.2.2
```