How to change pip3 command to be pip?

Rather than manually creating your own alias in bash and hoping this doesn't conflict with anything, most package managers should allow you to register the version you wish to use whilst maintaining dependencies.

For instance on Linux:

sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/pip pip /usr/bin/pip3 1 

Or on Mac (MacPorts):

port select --set pip pip3 

Solution 1

Check which version pip is pointing to

pip --version pip 18.0 from /usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/pip (python 2.7) 

If your pip is pointing to pip2, locate where is the pip "binary".

which pip /usr/bin/pip 

This is a simple python script:

cat /usr/bin/pip #!/usr/bin/python2 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*- import re import sys from pip._internal import main if __name__ == '__main__': sys.argv[0] = re.sub(r'(-script\.pyw?|\.exe)?$', '', sys.argv[0]) sys.exit(main()) 

So just change the shebang from #!/usr/bin/python2 to #!/usr/bin/python3.

Now pip is pointing to pip3.

pip --version pip 18.0 from /usr/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pip (python 3.6) 

Solution 2

Remove /usr/bin/pip make make a symbolic link from the wanted pip version to it instead.

sudo rm /usr/bin/pip sudo ln -s /usr/bin/pip3.6 /usr/bin/pip 

You can install pip after install pip3 by the below command:

pip3 install --upgrade pip 

after that:

~ pip --version pip 20.0.2 from /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/pip (python 3.8) 

Since you uninstalled pip, this solution assumes you're only going to use pip3.

1. Open your terminal.

2. Create a simple link. To do that type:

   sudo ln -s /usr/bin/pip3 /usr/bin/pip

Now when you type pip, it will invoke pip3.

Check that it worked by typing pip --version

pip --version pip 9.0.1 from /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages (python 3.6) 

You're all set!

You can write pip for pip3 after changing bashrc file in the home directory.

In mac -

Open bashrc file -

vim ~/.bashrc 

Add this line at the end of the file -

alias pip="pip3" 

Close the file. Don't forget to source this file in the terminal by

source ~/.bashrc 

You are good to go. Now, whenever you will use pip in any command. it will be interpreted as pip3

You can check it by running the command -

pip --version 

Pip is installed in /usr/bin/. If you don't have pip at all, I would suggest to install pip3 only. Make sure you don't need older version.

You can check available pip versions using following command.

ls /usr/bin/pip*

If you have multiple pip you need to prioritize your pip versions. I had only pip3 so I add it to the first priority. You can use following command and it is done.

sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/pip pip /usr/bin/pip3 1

You will get output as :

update-alternatives: using /usr/bin/pip3 to provide /usr/bin/pip (pip) in auto mode

Test now:

pip --version

You will get: pip 18.1 from /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/pip (python 3.7)

If you have other version for python2.7, you can use same update command and change last digit 1 to 2. This will make it second priority.

I believe one shouldn't do such a thing. Actually I would argue it's even better to not use the pip, pip3, etc. scripts ever. Instead one should always prefer the more explicit and surefire way of using pip's executable module for one specific Python interpreter:

path/to/pythonX.Y -m pip somecommand 

References:

• https://snarky.ca/why-you-should-use-python-m-pip/
• https://snarky.ca/a-quick-and-dirty-guide-on-how-to-install-packages-for-python/

It depends on how you manage your python versions (system, brew, pyenv, ...) and which python installation you are currently using.

For example if you use brew then creating a simlink is a good option:

ln -s -f /usr/local/bin/pip3 /usr/local/bin/pip 

validate that pip uses the correct version:

which pip 

will give you

/usr/local/bin/pip 

This can be done by simply creating an alias for the command. To create an alias just type

$alias new_command="existing_command"
In your case,
$alias pip="pip3"

Although this isn't permanent. OT make it permanent edit your bashrc file
$ vim ~/.bashrc
an to the end of it append the line. $alias pip="pip3"

Open the shell configuration file (such as .bashrc or .bash_profile) in a text editor. For example open it with nano sudo nano .bash_profile or with vim vim .bash_profile.

Add this function, which checks if pip3 exists and pass all the arguments received by the pip function to pip3:

function pip { if [[ $(which pip3) ]]; then pip3 "$@" else echo "pip3 command not found. Make sure Python 3 and pip3 are installed." fi } 

If pip3 is not found (i.e., it doesn't exist on your system), it displays an error message indicating that pip3 is not available.

To ensure pip runs pip3 in your terminal, add an alias to your shell configuration file. You can do this with a single command that automatically detects your shell:

echo "alias pip='pip3'" >> ~/.${SHELL##*/}rc && source ~/.${SHELL##*/}rc 

Explanation:

• ${SHELL##*/} extracts your current shell name (e.g., bash or zsh).

• This command appends alias pip='pip3' to the correct profile file (~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc).

• The source command reloads the configuration, so changes take effect immediately.

To verify, run:

which pip 

It should return:

pip: aliased to pip3 

This ensures your system consistently defaults to pip3 whenever you type pip.