upgrade from 22.2 to 22.2.1. fails with ImportError for name '_distutils'

[marcelmore]

Description

When trying to upgrade from 22.2 to 22.2.1, the install fails because of an ImportError.
The setuptools version is 63.2.0.

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/Users/mm/Library/Python/3.9/lib/python/site-packages/pip/_internal/cli/base_command.py", line 167, in exc_logging_wrapper
    status = run_func(*args)
  File "/Users/mm/Library/Python/3.9/lib/python/site-packages/pip/_internal/cli/req_command.py", line 247, in wrapper
    return func(self, options, args)
  File "/Users/mm/Library/Python/3.9/lib/python/site-packages/pip/_internal/commands/install.py", line 461, in run
    installed = install_given_reqs(
  File "/Users/mm/Library/Python/3.9/lib/python/site-packages/pip/_internal/req/__init__.py", line 73, in install_given_reqs
    requirement.install(
  File "/Users/mm/Library/Python/3.9/lib/python/site-packages/pip/_internal/req/req_install.py", line 752, in install
    scheme = get_scheme(
  File "/Users/mm/Library/Python/3.9/lib/python/site-packages/pip/_internal/locations/__init__.py", line 244, in get_scheme
    from . import _distutils
ImportError: cannot import name '_distutils' from 'pip._internal.locations' (/Users/mm/Library/Python/3.9/lib/python/site-packages/pip/_internal/locations/__init__.py)

Expected behavior

Pip should be upgraded from 22.2 to 22.2.1

pip version

22.2

Python version

3.9.13

OS

macOS 10.15.7

How to Reproduce

With version 22.2 user-installed:

python3 -m pip install --user --upgrade pip

Output

% python3 -m pip install --user --upgrade pip    
Requirement already satisfied: pip in ./Library/Python/3.9/lib/python/site-packages (22.2)
Collecting pip
  Using cached pip-22.2.1-py3-none-any.whl (2.0 MB)
Installing collected packages: pip
  Attempting uninstall: pip
    Found existing installation: pip 22.2
    Uninstalling pip-22.2:
      Successfully uninstalled pip-22.2
  Rolling back uninstall of pip
  Moving to /Users/mm/Library/Python/3.9/bin/pip
   from /private/var/folders/v_/3yqdc_t15jjb82bnmh1366ym0000gn/T/pip-uninstall-7x3mha7f/pip
  Moving to /Users/mm/Library/Python/3.9/bin/pip3
   from /private/var/folders/v_/3yqdc_t15jjb82bnmh1366ym0000gn/T/pip-uninstall-7x3mha7f/pip3
  Moving to /Users/mm/Library/Python/3.9/bin/pip3.9
   from /private/var/folders/v_/3yqdc_t15jjb82bnmh1366ym0000gn/T/pip-uninstall-7x3mha7f/pip3.9
  Moving to /Users/mm/Library/Python/3.9/lib/python/site-packages/pip-22.2.dist-info/
   from /Users/mm/Library/Python/3.9/lib/python/site-packages/~ip-22.2.dist-info
  Moving to /Users/mm/Library/Python/3.9/lib/python/site-packages/pip/
   from /Users/mm/Library/Python/3.9/lib/python/site-packages/~ip
ERROR: Exception:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/Users/mm/Library/Python/3.9/lib/python/site-packages/pip/_internal/cli/base_command.py", line 167, in exc_logging_wrapper
    status = run_func(*args)
  File "/Users/mm/Library/Python/3.9/lib/python/site-packages/pip/_internal/cli/req_command.py", line 247, in wrapper
    return func(self, options, args)
  File "/Users/mm/Library/Python/3.9/lib/python/site-packages/pip/_internal/commands/install.py", line 461, in run
    installed = install_given_reqs(
  File "/Users/mm/Library/Python/3.9/lib/python/site-packages/pip/_internal/req/__init__.py", line 73, in install_given_reqs
    requirement.install(
  File "/Users/mm/Library/Python/3.9/lib/python/site-packages/pip/_internal/req/req_install.py", line 752, in install
    scheme = get_scheme(
  File "/Users/mm/Library/Python/3.9/lib/python/site-packages/pip/_internal/locations/__init__.py", line 244, in get_scheme
    from . import _distutils
ImportError: cannot import name '_distutils' from 'pip._internal.locations' (/Users/mm/Library/Python/3.9/lib/python/site-packages/pip/_internal/locations/__init__.py)

Code of Conduct

• I agree to follow the PSF Code of Conduct.

[uranusjr]

Does installing anything else (not pip) work?

[marcelmore]

Yes. A test install of numpy, pandas, seaborn works.

[uranusjr]

Interesting. I wonder if for all our effort to make the distutils import lazy, we actually made it too lazy that it’s not imported in time, before the file is moved out of place.

[zhihaoy]

Same problem on Windows:

ERROR: Exception:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\[...]\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.9_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python39\site-packages\pip\_internal\cli\base_command.py", line 167, in exc_logging_wrapper
    status = run_func(*args)
  File "C:\Users\[...]\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.9_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python39\site-packages\pip\_internal\cli\req_command.py", line 247, in wrapper
    return func(self, options, args)
  File "C:\Users\[...]\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.9_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python39\site-packages\pip\_internal\commands\install.py", line 461, in run
    installed = install_given_reqs(
  File "C:\Users\[...]\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.9_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python39\site-packages\pip\_internal\req\__init__.py", line 73, in install_given_reqs
    requirement.install(
  File "C:\Users\[...]\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.9_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python39\site-packages\pip\_internal\req\req_install.py", line 752, in install
    scheme = get_scheme(
  File "C:\Users\[...]\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.9_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python39\site-packages\pip\_internal\locations\__init__.py", line 244, in get_scheme
    from . import _distutils
ImportError: cannot import name '_distutils' from 'pip._internal.locations' (C:\Users\[...]\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.9_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python39\site-packages\pip\_internal\locations\__init__.py)

[sbidoul]

Can someone provide a reproducer for this ?

[gurnec]

@sbidoul:

1. Spin up an instance of Ubuntu 20.04 on your favorite VPS provider, or see below.

2. The VPS provider I chose does an immediate update/upgrade, I don't know if this is necessary, but to keep things consistent:

    apt update
    apt upgrade
    reboot
   

3. Run:

    pip3 install --upgrade --user pip==22.2
    ~/.local/bin/pip3 install --upgrade --user pip
   

Here's a VPS you can test with, just skip straight to step 3 on it:

IP: 144.202.6.36
username: pip

Please give me an SSH pubkey for the account above, or email me for a password.

[sbidoul]

@gurnec thanks, I could reproduce now with your procedure.

[gurnec]

@sbidoul You may have already figured this out, but upgrading pip from 22.1.2 to 22.2.1 works fine, it's only 22.2 → 22.2.1 which generates an ImportError.

[sbidoul]

As @uranusjr suspected above, the error is due to _distutils.py being imported lazily after it was removed by the uninstall step.
#11324 should fix this.

@gurnec your reproducer was helpful, thanks a lot. It would be fantastic if you could test the proposed fix.

[fossum]

A reinstall fixed it for me.

python -m pip uninstall -y pip
python -m pip install --user --upgrade pip

[gurnec]

@sbidoul It mostly worked for me (22.2.1a is the patched version):

1. 22.2    → 22.2.1  from pypi:   failed
2. 22.2    → 22.2    from pypi:   failed
3. 22.2    → 22.2.1  from source: unexpectedly worked
4. 22.2.1  → 22.2    from pypi:   failed
5. 22.2.1  → 22.2.1  from pypi:   failed
6. 22.2.1  → 22.2.1  from source: unexpectedly worked
7. 22.2.1  → 22.2.1a from source: worked
8. 22.2.1a → 22.2.1  from pypi:   worked
9. 22.2.1a → 22.2    from pypi:   worked
A. 22.2.1a → 22.2.1a from source: worked

In particular, 8 & 9 worked, which I assumes means that this is fixed. 7 & A also worked, but it's not a good test because 3 & 6 didn't fail for me—something about installing from source causes the bug to not manifest for me.

[sbidoul]

Reinstalling from source works because the metadata preparation steps imports _distutils before the uninstall step, so it is in memory when reinstalling.

So a workaround for people affected by this is to reinstall pip from source:

python -m pip install --user --upgrade https://github.com/pypa/pip/archive/refs/tags/22.2.1.zip

[sbidoul]

Thanks for the report, reproducer and tests!