Install Python 2.7 on web sharing host

Summary

Bluehost uses the preinstalled version of Python that ships with CentOS. Because of this it is often not the latest release. This article will explain how to install an updated version of python locally.

Download Python
Install Python
Modify the .bashrc

Download Python

Enter the following commands to download and extract Python 2.7 to your hosting
account.

mkdir ~/python
        
        cd ~/python
        
        wget http://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.7.2/Python-2.7.2.tgz         
        tar zxfv Python-2.7.2.tgz
        
        find ~/python -type d | xargs chmod 0755
        
        cd Python-2.7.2

Install Python

Once extracted you can use the following commands to configure and install Python.

./configure --prefix=$HOME/python
        
        make
        
        make install

Modify the .bashrc

For your local version of python to load you will need to add it to the .bashrc
file.

vim ~/.bashrc

Press i

Enter:

export PATH=$HOME/python/Python-2.7.2/:$PATH

Write the changes (press

ESC

)
and close vim:

:wq

Press Enter

source ~/.bashrc

Note: You
may need to logout for the environment to update.

Enter python
-V to check the version of python installed.