python pip on Windows - command cl exe failed

Question

I m trying to install spaCy using pip install spacy but I m getting the following error       I have VS 2015 installed  and I have the following Python install     3 5 2  Anaconda 2 5 0  64-bit    default  Jul  5 2016  11 41 13   MSC v 1900 64 bit  AMD64    I tried the following SO solutions to no avail      command cl exe failed upon pip install django compressor error  command   39 cl exe  39  failed  No such file or directory   As well as various others  This is not a unique problem to this specific library but more generally anytime I try to install Python libraries that need C to build on Windows

User · Answer

If you want it really easy and a joy to automate, check out Chocolatey.org/install and you can basically copy and paste these commands and tweak it based on what versions of VC++ you need.

This command is taken from https://chocolatey.org/install

Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))

Once you have chocolatey installed you can either close and reopen your Powershell terminal or run this command:

Import-Module "$env:ChocolateyInstall\helpers\chocolateyInstaller.psm1" ; Update-SessionEnvironment

Now you can use Chocolatey to install Python (latest version of 3.x is default).

choco install python

# This next command installs the latest VisualStudio installer that lets you get specific versions of the build
# Microsoft has replaced the 2015 and 2017 installer links with this one, and we can still use it to install the 2015 and 2017 components

choco install visualstudio2019buildtools --package-parameters "--add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.140 --passive --locale en-US --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.Windows10SDK.$($PSVersionTable.BuildVersion.Build) --no-includeRecommended" -y --timeout 0

# Usually need the "unlimited" timeout aka "0" because Visual Studio Installer takes forever

# Tool portion
# Microsoft.VisualStudio.Product.BuildTools
# Component portion(s)
# Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.140
# Win10SDK needs to match your current Win10 build version
# $($PSVersionTable.BuildVersion.Build)
# Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.Windows10SDK.$($PSVersionTable.BuildVersion.Build)

# Because VS2019 Build Tools are dumb, need to manually link a couple files between the SDK and the VC++ dirs
# You may need to tweak the version here, but it has been updated to be as dynamic as possible 
# Use an elevated Powershell or elevated cmd prompt (if using cmd.exe just use the bits after /c)
cmd /c mklink "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\VC\BIN\x86_amd64\rc.exe" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\$($PSVersionTable.BuildVersion.Major).$($PSVersionTable.BuildVersion.Minor).$($PSVersionTable.BuildVersion.Build).0\x64\rc.exe"

cmd /c mklink "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\VC\BIN\x86_amd64\rcdll.dll" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\$($PSVersionTable.BuildVersion.Major).$($PSVersionTable.BuildVersion.Minor).$($PSVersionTable.BuildVersion.Build).0\x64\rcdll.dll"

Once you have this installed, you should reboot. I've occasionally had things work without a reboot, but your pip install commands will work best if you reboot first.

Now you can pip install pipenv or pip install complex-package and should be good to go.

User · Answer

Install Microsoft visual c   14 0 build tool  Windows 7  create a virtual environment using conda  Activate the environment and use conda to install the necessary package    For example  conda install -c conda-forge spacy

User · Answer

I was facing the same problem with visual studio 2017  you can find cl exe in C  Program Files x86  Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 Community VC Tools MSVC 14 16 27023 bin Hostx86 x86  just set the environment variable as the able address and run the command in anaconda  it worked for me

User · Answer

I had come across this problem many times  There is cl exe but for some strange reason pip couldn t find it  even if we run the command from the bin folder where cl exe is present  Try using conda installer  it worked fine for me   As you can see in the following image  pip is not able to find the cl exe  Then I tried installing using conda     And to my surprise it gets installed without an error once you have the right version of vs cpp build tools installed  i e  v14 0 in the right directory

User · Answer

Refer to this link   https   www lfd uci edu  gohlke pythonlibs  cytoolz  Download the right whl package for you python version if you have trouble knowing what version of python you have  just lunch the interpreter    use pip to install the package  assuming that the file is in downloads folder and you have python 3 6 32 bit    python -m pip install C  Users  USER  Downloads cytoolz-0 9 0 1-cp36-cp36m-win32 whl  this is not valid for just this package  but for any package that cannot compile under your own windows installation

User · Answer

Just added to the answer from Kunal Mathur and an answer to  mockash  since I cannot comment due to lack of reputation    Before you type  pip install package name  you need to change the directory to the folder where pip exe is  for example      Open Visual C   2015 x86 x64 Cross Build Tools Command Prompt--    change directory cd   C  Users Test AppData Local Programs Python Python36-32 Scripts-- Type    pip install package name   But the weird thing is I can only successfully install via  Visual C   2015 x64 x86  not  x86 x64

User · Answer

In my case I need to install more tools from Visual Studio  I m using VS 2017 Community and Python 3 6 4   I installed those tools  see installer screenshot here     Desktop development with C    I included all defaulted items and the next ones    Windows XP support for C   Support for C   CLI VC   2015 3 v140 toolset   Linux development with C     Then I opened the Windows PowerShell as Administrator privilegies  Right click to open  and move folder of Visual Studio installation and find that path   cd  Visual Studio Path  VC Auxiliary Build   Then I executed this file      vcvars32 bat   After that I use pip as normal  for instance  I wanted to install Mayavi   pip install mayavi   I hope that it helps someone too

User · Answer

This is easily the simplest solution  For those who don t know how to do this    Install the C   compiler https   visualstudio microsoft com downloads  build-tools-for-visual-studio-2019 Go to the installation folder  In my case it is   C  Program Files  x86  Microsoft Visual C   Build Tools Open Visual C   2015 x86 x64 Cross Build Tools Command Prompt Type  pip install package name

User · Answer

You need to have cl exe  the Microsoft C Compiler  installed on your computer and in your PATH  PATH is an environment variable that tells Windows where to find executable files   First  ensure the C   build tools for Visual Studio are installed  You can download Build Tools for Visual Studio separately from the Visual Studio downloads page  then choose C   build tools from the installer  If you already have Visual Studio  you can also install Desktop development with C   from the Visual Studio Installer which you should have in Start Menu   Then  instead of the normal Command Prompt or PowerShell  use one of the special command prompts in the Visual Studio folder in Start Menu  For 32-bit Python  you re probably looking for x86 Native Tools Command Prompt  This sets up PATH automatically  so that cl exe can be found

[python] python pip on Windows - command 'cl.exe' failed

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