Pipx package in Ubuntu 24.04 is obsolete, how to properly upgrade to 1.6.0

[FredM67]

Pipx is in version 1.4.3 in Ubuntu 24-04.

How to upgrade to the 1.6.0 properly ? (without breaking anything ! )

[huxuan]

I personally recommend install pipx with pipx!

pipx install pipx
# And optional remove the obsolete apt pipx!
sudo apt purge --autoremove pipx

You may need to restart the shell or run command hash -r to make pipx command work.

Reference: #1341 #1449

[smanleyjr-alg]

On ubuntu 24.04
this puts pipx in ~/.local/bin instead of /usr/local/bin

sudo apt install pipx               # installs pipx version 1.4.3 to /usr/local/bin  recall --global is busted
pipx ensurepath                     # adds ~/.local/bin to path
pipx install pipx                   # installs latest pipx to ~/.local/bin 
sudo apt purge --autoremove pipx    # remove pipx 1.4.3 via apt,  and all extra files including autocomplete from /usr/local/bin

restart shell then try pipx from sudo
results in this failing:

sudo pipx ensurepath --global       # <-- fails, pipx command not found

To Fix I continued with:

sudo ~/.local/bin/pipx install pipx --global   #installs latest pipx version to /usr/local/bin because --global works.
pipx uninstall pipx                            # remove the local version

restart the shell

pipx ensurepath                                # make sure the ~/.local/bin is added to $PATH
sudo pipx ensurepath --global                  # make sure that /usr/local/bin is set to global install 

It all works far as I can tell. No issues with using pipx or upgrading it. Net effect is a way of installing/updating without editing a environment var, path, or rc file by hand...

[zinc75]

Hi everyone,

I’ve created a backported version of pipx 1.6.0 for Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble), addressing this issue and thos like [#1524](#1524) where sudo pipx ensurepath --global fails.

You can find the backport (from official Ubuntu 24.10 sources) along with the compiled .deb package and build instructions in my repository:

https://github.com/zinc75/pipx-1.6.0-backport-ubuntu-2404-lts

What’s included:

• Precompiled .deb package for Ubuntu 24.04.
• Source files, build scripts, and method to compile using sources from Ubuntu 24.10.

Installation is straightforward with the .deb package I built.

If you fear I might have modified anything from sources (I've not), I've also put the recipe to compile it yourself in the README from the official Ubuntu sources.

✨ 🌟 ✨ Enjoy ! ✨ 🌟 ✨

Here’s some additional information about my environment and installation:

$ uname -a
Linux proteus 6.8.0-51-generic #52-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Thu Dec  5 13:09:44 UTC 2024 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Package details :

$ apt-cache show pipx
Package: pipx
Status: install ok installed
Priority: optional
Section: python
Installed-Size: 3442
Maintainer: Debian Python Team <[email protected]>
Architecture: all
Source: python-pipx
Version: 1.6.0-1
Depends: python3-venv, python3-argcomplete, python3-packaging, python3-platformdirs (>= 2.1), python3-tomli | python3-supported-min (>= 3.11), python3-userpath, python3:any
Description: execute binaries from Python packages in isolated environments
 pipx allows you to...
 .
  * Run the latest version of a CLI application from a package
    in a temporary virtual environment,
    leaving your system untouched after it finishes.
  * Install packages to isolated virtual environments,
    while globally exposing their CLI applications
    so you can run them from anywhere.
  * Easily list, upgrade, and uninstall packages
    that were installed with pipx.
 .
 pipx runs with regular user permissions,
 never calling "sudo pip install".
Description-md5:
Homepage: https://github.com/pypa/pipx

Verification :

$ pipx --version
1.6.0

Test on --global option :

$ sudo pipx ensurepath --global
[sudo] password for zinc:
/usr/local/bin is already in PATH.

⚠️  All pipx binary directories have been added to PATH. If you are sure you want to proceed, try again with the '--force' flag.

Otherwise pipx is ready to go! ✨ 🌟 ✨

Global install for cowsay :

$ sudo pipx install --global cowsay
  installed package cowsay 6.1, installed using Python 3.12.3
  These apps are now globally available
    - cowsay
done! ✨ 🌟 ✨

Everything seems fine.

Hope this helps !

[sofigio]

In my case I just want to install glances, I'm not a python developer, and I'm looking for a solution as simple as possible, to replicate it on all my new machines. (For ubuntu <24 I just did apt install python3-pip; pip3 install glances)

I don't like pipx ensurepath because adding /root/.local/bin to the path seems wrong...

This is the best solution I found so far (all done as root):

apt install pipx # Install 1.4
pipx install pipx # Install 1.7 in ~/.local/bin/
apt purge --autoremove pipx # Remove 1.4
~/.local/bin/pipx install --global pipx # Install 1.7 in /usr/local/bin/pipx
# logout and login again, then:
pipx uninstall pipx # Remove 1.7 from ~/.local/

ll ~/.local/bin/ # Make sure it's empty
whereis pipx # will give pipx: /usr/local/bin/pipx

Now pipx will be available for all users.
For example you can
sudo pipx install --global glances

[zinc75]

Hi @sofigio,

I completely agree that getting the .deb package is the easiest way, which is exactly why I created a release in my GitHub repository with the .deb file! (pipx_1.6.0-1_all.deb)

Installing it is straightforward: just download the file and run the following command:

sudo dpkg -i pipx_1.6.0-1_all.deb  

The main purpose of hosting it in a repository is twofold:

1. To allow users to verify that I haven't made any modifications to the source (for obvious security reasons).
2. To document the process of backporting a .deb package for reproducibility.

This aligns perfectly with the principles of open source, doesn't it?

Regarding your suggested solution, where pipx is installed using pipx (twice), the official documentation (https://github.com/pypa/pipx#install-pipx) explicitly states:

Warning

It is not recommended to install pipx via pipx. If you'd like to do this anyway, take a look at the
pipx-in-pipx project and read about the limitations there.

For this reason, I chose to backport the Ubuntu 24.10 version of pipx. Providing choice is key, and the repository exists to serve both advanced users and end-users. Of course, there's no obligation to use it—it's entirely up to you!

Best regards,

[zinc75]

@sofigio :

This is the best solution I found so far (all done as root):

Doing anything as root is, as far as I know, not the way to go with Ubuntu ...

I don't like pipx ensurepath because adding /root/.local/bin to the path seems wrong...

This does not (when not doing it as root !)

pipx ensurepath makes sure the ~/.local/bin is added to $PATH, and sudo pipx ensurepath --global makes sure that /usr/local/bin is set to global install.

Best regards,