No module named "backport.configparser"

Question

I have installed configparser using "pip install configparser" to get configparser-3.5.0, and is on my PYTHONPATH. But when i use it as "import configparser", i am seeing an error "No module named backports.configparser". conigparser.py use this 'backports' module and I see the 'backports' module under the python path but somehow it is unable to identify that module. Can someone give me an idea about how shall i fix this? This certainly looks to me some version problem of configparser, but I did not find any answers so far. Help will be appreciated, thanks

I can't reproduce in a fresh python2 virtualenv with `pip install configparser` — anthony sottile, Jul 26 '17 at 16:23
Hmm, interesting. I have python 2.7.6 and getting that. Do you suggest any thing to get rid of that, may be upgrade configparser? — user3339691, Jul 26 '17 at 17:42
Do you actually need the python3 features? In python2 `ConfigParser` is a stdlib module (renamed to `configparser` in python3) — anthony sottile, Jul 26 '17 at 17:44
not really i need python3 features, but i just did pip install configparser and i got configparser that what i have. I just need to use couple of functions from configparser. How can i get ConfigParser instead of configparser? — user3339691, Jul 26 '17 at 18:41
I was able to fix it by installing pip install configparser==3.3.0.post2, thanks for the input — user3339691, Jul 27 '17 at 00:46
`ConfigParser` is part of the stdlib in python2, just `import ConfigParser` where you were importing `configparser` (note that it won't have the new python3 features as the backport will) — anthony sottile, Jul 27 '17 at 15:23
@Anthony Sottile, python2 (no virtualenv, no conda) notebook ... -> `entrypoints.py`: `if sys.version_info[0] >= 3: import configparser else: from backports import configparser` — denis, Oct 29 '17 at 12:22

score 5 · Answer 1 · edited Dec 01 '17 at 09:51

5

I was able to fix it by using:

pip install configparser==3.3.0.post2

edited Dec 01 '17 at 09:51

Grimthorr

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answered Jul 27 '17 at 00:47

user3339691

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Thanks -- do you have any further information on how you arrived at this solution? – aJetHorn Jan 17 '18 at 22:58
i guess by trying minor versions from https://pypi.org/project/configparser/#history – evandrix Jan 08 '20 at 08:17

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered May 19 '18 at 00:11

If you are using anaconda, install configparser can solve the issue.

conda install -c anaconda configparser
Solving environment: done

## Package Plan ##

  environment location: /Users/kaituo/anaconda2

  added / updated specs:
    - configparser


The following packages will be downloaded:

    package                    |            build
    ---------------------------|-----------------
    conda-4.5.4                |           py27_0         1.0 MB  anaconda
    configparser-3.5.0         |   py27hc7edf1b_0          35 KB  anaconda
    certifi-2018.4.16          |           py27_0         142 KB  anaconda
    openssl-1.0.2o             |       h26aff7b_0         3.4 MB  anaconda
    ca-certificates-2018.03.07 |                0         124 KB  anaconda
    ------------------------------------------------------------
                                           Total:         4.7 MB

The following packages will be UPDATED:

    ca-certificates: 2018.03.07-0         --> 2018.03.07-0         anaconda
    certifi:         2018.4.16-py27_0     --> 2018.4.16-py27_0     anaconda
    conda:           4.5.4-py27_0         --> 4.5.4-py27_0         anaconda
    configparser:    3.5.0-py27hc7edf1b_0 --> 3.5.0-py27hc7edf1b_0 anaconda
    openssl:         1.0.2o-h26aff7b_0    --> 1.0.2o-h26aff7b_0    anaconda

Proceed ([y]/n)? y


Downloading and Extracting Packages
conda-4.5.4          |  1.0 MB | ########################################################################################################################################### | 100%
configparser-3.5.0   |   35 KB | ########################################################################################################################################### | 100%
certifi-2018.4.16    |  142 KB | ########################################################################################################################################### | 100%
openssl-1.0.2o       |  3.4 MB | ########################################################################################################################################### | 100%
ca-certificates-2018 |  124 KB | ########################################################################################################################################### | 100%
Preparing transaction: done
Verifying transaction: done
Executing transaction: done

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 16 '18 at 09:04

I had this problem as well today with python-2.7.6.

I fixed it by creating an empty __init__.py in the <install_location>/configparser/backports directory.

The pip install did not create it.

We had another version installed by setup.py in a different location which did have the __init__.py file.

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 18 '19 at 02:30

Just in case none of the solutions above work.

The easiest and probably the most reliable one would be to install backports.configparser directly from the source.

See: https://github.com/jaraco/configparser

You can do so by performing;

python setup.py install

Note that: Doing so means that you will be installing one of the latest released version. If your work demands you to use a specific version then you'll have to checkout the right version before installing.

No module named "backport.configparser"

4 Answers4