python - installing Mayavi with pip - no module named vtk

Question

I want to use Mayavi.

Situation

• I use a MacBook Air, with OSX 10.7.3.
• I use Python 2.7.2
• I have virtualenv installed. But I have not used it for this installation.

I've manually installed all it's dependencies, including VTK.

For VTK, I followed its installation guide and installed the python wrapper.

Now if I open a new terminal window and open python, I can import vtk without any error.

Problem

I try to install Mayavi with the following command:

pip install mayavi

But the following error occurs:

Downloading/unpacking mayavi
  Running setup.py egg_info for package mayavi
    build_src
    building extension "tvtk.array_ext" sources
    building data_files sources
    build_src: building npy-pkg config files

    no previously-included directories found matching 'artwork'
    no previously-included directories found matching 'docs/pdf'
Requirement already satisfied (use --upgrade to upgrade): apptools in /Library/Python/2.7/site-packages (from mayavi)
Requirement already satisfied (use --upgrade to upgrade): traits in /Library/Python/2.7/site-packages (from mayavi)
Requirement already satisfied (use --upgrade to upgrade): traitsui in /Library/Python/2.7/site-packages (from mayavi)
Requirement already satisfied (use --upgrade to upgrade): configobj in /Library/Python/2.7/site-packages (from apptools->mayavi)
Requirement already satisfied (use --upgrade to upgrade): pyface in /Library/Python/2.7/site-packages (from traitsui->mayavi)
Installing collected packages: mayavi
  Running setup.py install for mayavi
    Traceback (most recent call last):
      File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
      File "/Users/Yasser/build/mayavi/setup.py", line 498, in <module>
        **config
      File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/numpy-1.6.1-py2.7-macosx-10.7-intel.egg/numpy/distutils/core.py", line 186, in setup
        return old_setup(**new_attr)
      File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/distutils/core.py", line 152, in setup
        dist.run_commands()
      File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/distutils/dist.py", line 953, in run_commands
        self.run_command(cmd)
      File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/distutils/dist.py", line 972, in run_command
        cmd_obj.run()
      File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/numpy-1.6.1-py2.7-macosx-10.7-intel.egg/numpy/distutils/command/install.py", line 57, in run
        r = self.setuptools_run()
      File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/numpy-1.6.1-py2.7-macosx-10.7-intel.egg/numpy/distutils/command/install.py", line 31, in setuptools_run
        return old_install_mod._install.run(self)
      File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/distutils/command/install.py", line 573, in run
        self.run_command('build')
      File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/distutils/cmd.py", line 326, in run_command
        self.distribution.run_command(command)
      File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/distutils/dist.py", line 972, in run_command
        cmd_obj.run()
      File "/Users/Yasser/build/mayavi/setup.py", line 303, in run
        build_tvtk_classes_zip()
      File "/Users/Yasser/build/mayavi/setup.py", line 290, in build_tvtk_classes_zip
        gen_tvtk_classes_zip()
      File "tvtk/setup.py", line 46, in gen_tvtk_classes_zip
        from code_gen import TVTKGenerator
      File "tvtk/code_gen.py", line 10, in <module>
        import vtk
    ImportError: No module named vtk
    Complete output from command /usr/bin/python -c "import setuptools;__file__='/Users/Yasser/build/mayavi/setup.py';exec(compile(open(__file__).read().replace('
', '
'), __file__, 'exec'))" install --single-version-externally-managed --record /var/folders/53/_trhc_0x0fb6kvx6bw_wrk500000gn/T/pip-Z4hpsW-record/install-record.txt:
    running install

running build

Traceback (most recent call last):

  File "<string>", line 1, in <module>

  File "/Users/Yasser/build/mayavi/setup.py", line 498, in <module>

    **config

  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/numpy-1.6.1-py2.7-macosx-10.7-intel.egg/numpy/distutils/core.py", line 186, in setup

    return old_setup(**new_attr)

  File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/distutils/core.py", line 152, in setup

    dist.run_commands()

  File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/distutils/dist.py", line 953, in run_commands

    self.run_command(cmd)

  File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/distutils/dist.py", line 972, in run_command

    cmd_obj.run()

  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/numpy-1.6.1-py2.7-macosx-10.7-intel.egg/numpy/distutils/command/install.py", line 57, in run

    r = self.setuptools_run()

  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/numpy-1.6.1-py2.7-macosx-10.7-intel.egg/numpy/distutils/command/install.py", line 31, in setuptools_run

    return old_install_mod._install.run(self)

  File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/distutils/command/install.py", line 573, in run

    self.run_command('build')

  File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/distutils/cmd.py", line 326, in run_command

    self.distribution.run_command(command)

  File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/distutils/dist.py", line 972, in run_command

    cmd_obj.run()

  File "/Users/Yasser/build/mayavi/setup.py", line 303, in run

    build_tvtk_classes_zip()

  File "/Users/Yasser/build/mayavi/setup.py", line 290, in build_tvtk_classes_zip

    gen_tvtk_classes_zip()

  File "tvtk/setup.py", line 46, in gen_tvtk_classes_zip

    from code_gen import TVTKGenerator

  File "tvtk/code_gen.py", line 10, in <module>

    import vtk

ImportError: No module named vtk

----------------------------------------
Command /usr/bin/python -c "import setuptools;__file__='/Users/Yasser/build/mayavi/setup.py';exec(compile(open(__file__).read().replace('
', '
'), __file__, 'exec'))" install --single-version-externally-managed --record /var/folders/53/_trhc_0x0fb6kvx6bw_wrk500000gn/T/pip-Z4hpsW-record/install-record.txt failed with error code 1 in /Users/Yasser/build/mayavi
Storing complete log in /Users/Yasser/Library/Logs/pip.log
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/local/bin/pip", line 8, in <module>
    load_entry_point('pip==1.1', 'console_scripts', 'pip')()
  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/pip-1.1-py2.7.egg/pip/__init__.py", line 116, in main
    return command.main(args[1:], options)
  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/pip-1.1-py2.7.egg/pip/basecommand.py", line 141, in main
    log_fp = open_logfile(log_fn, 'w')
  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/pip-1.1-py2.7.egg/pip/basecommand.py", line 168, in open_logfile
    log_fp = open(filename, mode)
IOError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/Users/Yasser/Library/Logs/pip.log'

I think the problem is with vtk.

Can anyone help me?

Other Details

Running sudo pip install mayavi does not solve the problem.

I thought this might help

? which python
/usr/local/bin/python

? python
Python 2.7.2 (default, Feb 17 2012, 13:57:55) 
[GCC 4.2.1 (Based on Apple Inc. build 5658) (LLVM build 2335.15.00)] on darwin
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import vtk
>>> vtk
<module 'vtk' from '/usr/local/Cellar/python/2.7.2/lib/python2.7/site-packages/VTK-5.10.0-py2.7.egg/vtk/__init__.pyc'>
>>> 

My PYTHONPATH is empty.

Answer 1

I'm on Debian but this should work for you as well

I was stuck with installing vtk into a virtualenv, after hours of search with no results I did the following and it worked.

1. install python-vtk from repositories systemwide

2. copy vtk folder from /usr/lib/pymodules/python2.7 to /PATH/TO/YOUR/VIRTUALENV/lib/python2.7/site-packages

In your case the system-wide python packages folder would probably be different but you can easily find it by firing up system python and entering the following:

import vtk,sys
print(sys.modules['vtk'])

After this trick mayavi was succesfully installed into my virtualenv using pip install mayavi and pip install envisage.

Edit: instead of copying it might better to just symlink the folder in step 2