Custom Python installation for Django on Dreamhost
Now that my MBA class is finally done for the summer, I can focus on more important things… like upgrading my Python installation on Dreamhost for my Django application. Seeing as how Dreamhost is still behind the Python times, with Python 2.4 hidden in Dreamhost obscurity, I figured I’d blog about updating your Dreamhost Python installation (and subsequent MySQLdb libraries) to Python 2.5.
The very first thing I did was search Google. You know, I really don’t know how people lived pre-Googs. In any case, I found this blog posting describing exactly what I wanted to do. Thanks Ben! Since I’m not a big fan of running one large batch script people create in their blogs, I’ll break it down for the non-*nix fans out there.
Before I begin, I’m assuming that you already have Django running on Dreamhost. If you’re having a “wtf” moment, make sure to stop by Jeff’s blog and read “Setting up Django on Dreamhost“. (This is how I set mine up). To follow my short tutorial, you’ll need shell access to your Dreamhost account.
After ssh’ing into your Dreamhost account, you should be in your home directory (/home/username). According to the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard, the /opt dir “is reserved for the installation of add-on application software packages.” With that said, issue the following commands:
$ mkdir opt $ mkdir downloads $ cd downloads $ wget http://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.5.1/Python-2.5.1.tgz $ tar xvzf Python-2.5.1.tgz
First, create a directory named opt. Next, create a directory named downloads for all your files. Change into the downloads directory, then download the latest Python from http://www.python.org. Finally, unzip and untar the package into the download directory. Everything will extract into a directory named Python-2.5.1.
$ cd Python-2.5.1 $ ./configure --prefix=$HOME/opt/ --enable-unicode=ucs4 $ make $ make install
Change into the Python-2.5.1 directory and type in the following configure command. Basically, configure prepares your installation for compilation. The –prefix flag will install machine-independent data files in subdirectories of the specified directory. The default is to install in /usr/local, but it’s overwritten with the opt directory created earlier. Finally, run make and make install which will install your custom Python installation.
$ cd .. $ rm -rf Python-2.5.1
Finally, delete the Python-2.5.1 directory. Before you can use this Python installation, you have to add the /opt/bin directory to your path. To do this, add /opt/bin to your .bash_profile file in your home directory. To do so, you’ll have to add the following to your .bash_profile.
export PATH=$HOME/opt/bin/:$PATH
Basically, this allows you to type ‘python’ in your shell and reach the custom Python 2.5.1 installation instead of the Dreamhost one. To make sure that our Python installation is working, type the following in your home directory (cd ~):
$ source .bash_profile $ python --version
After the last command, you should see the following: Python 2.5.1. If that displays, your upgrade was successful! After upgrading your Python installation, you’re not done yet. Since Dreamhost uses an old MySQL-Python installation, we’ll upgrade that as well. Type the following in your home directory:
$ cd downloads $ wget http://internap.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/mysql-python/MySQL-python-1.2.2.tar.gz $ tar xvzf MySQL-python-1.2.2.tar.gz $ cd MySQL-python-1.2.2 $ python setup.py install
First, change into the downloads directory and issue the wget command to download the latest MySQL-Python files from Sourceforge. Once you’ve received the files, unzip and untar the package. All the files will extract into a directory called MySQL-python-1.2.2. Change into this directory and install the files by typing python setup.py install. If you followed the custom Python installation, the files should build and extract into the ~/opt/lib/python2.5/site-packages/ directory as an egg file.
You now have a custom Python installation and a MySQL-Python upgrade!
Voila!
Update: Just so you don’t get caught up in the same mistake that I made, to be sure that your Django fcgi installation is using your custom Python installation, make sure the dispatch.fcgi file reads as such:
#!/home/USERNAME_GOES_HERE/opt/bin/python import sys sys.path += ['WHATEVER_PATHS_YOU_NEED'] from fcgi import WSGIServer from django.core.handlers.wsgi import WSGIHandler import os os.environ['DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE'] = 'wegoeat.settings' WSGIServer(WSGIHandler()).run()
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