Cannot install under Ubuntu 18.04, breaks pip ("ImportError: cannot import name main")

I want to install pipenv under Ubuntu 18.04. When I do so, it breaks pip / pip3.

Expected result

Installed and working version of pipenv.

Actual result

pip / pip3 are broken, depending on whether I wanted to install pipenv though pip or pip3.

➜ pip
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/pip", line 9, in <module>
    from pip import main
ImportError: cannot import name main

Steps to replicate

1. Set up Ubuntu 18.04
2. Run pip install pipenv or pip3 install pipenv
3. Run pip or pip3 – the error is printed, and pip / pip3 do not work anymore.

In order to fix the issue I have to run:

sudo python -m pip uninstall pip && sudo apt install python-pip --reinstall
sudo python3 -m pip uninstall pip && sudo apt install python3-pip --reinstall

But I cannot install pipenv using pip. Installation through apt does not work because there is no PPA available…

---

Solution

See the solution below; you need to have

export PATH="${HOME}/.local/bin:$PATH"

in your shell configuration. If the path is not there, it won’t work.

[slhck]

Ah, I see now what the problem is, thanks. Never thought that the path could influence this, which is why it didn’t occur to me to include it in the issue description. Sorry about that, and thanks for your help.

What fixed it for me was adding

export PATH="${HOME}/.local/bin:$PATH"

to the profile.

Edit: Make sure you run hash -r or enter a new shell for this change to take effect.

I don’t think there is much we can do to independently tackle it

Perhaps there could be some more detailed installation instructions or caveats? I’m not too experienced with how pip works, but I might have read a note about path issues. But I guess that the ecosystem of different package managers and distributions is too complex for a simple rule…

[ConorSheehan1]

edit: @slhck 's solution solved it. Need to have ~/.local/bin in your path

Getting the same problem on ubuntu 16.04.

$ sudo apt install python3-pip
$ pip3 --version
pip 8.1.1 from /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages (python 3.5)
$ python3 -m pip install --user pipenv
$ pip3 --version
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/pip3", line 9, in <module>
    from pip import main
ImportError: cannot import name 'main'

# revert back and fix pip
$ sudo python3 -m pip uninstall pip && sudo apt install python3-pip --reinstall