Error with 'lsb_release -a' in Ubuntu 16.04 Xenial

Question

I am getting an error when i try to pip install Django or anything, say..

pip install Django throws an error:

Traceback (most recent call last):   File "/usr/local/bin/pip", line
11, in <module>
    sys.exit(main())   File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/pip/__init__.py", line 233, in
main
    return command.main(cmd_args)   File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/pip/basecommand.py", line 251,
in main
    timeout=min(5, options.timeout)) as session:   File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/pip/basecommand.py", line 72,
in _build_session
    insecure_hosts=options.trusted_hosts,   File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/pip/download.py", line 329, in
__init__
    self.headers["User-Agent"] = user_agent()   File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/pip/download.py", line 93, in
user_agent
    from pip._vendor import distro   File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/pip/_vendor/distro.py", line
1050, in <module>
    _distro = LinuxDistribution()   File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/pip/_vendor/distro.py", line
594, in __init__
    if include_lsb else {}   File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/pip/_vendor/distro.py", line
933, in _get_lsb_release_info
    raise subprocess.CalledProcessError(code, cmd, stdout) subprocess.CalledProcessError: Command 'lsb_release -a' returned
non-zero exit status 1 

Then I checked lsb_release -a in my system. it is also corrupted, throwwing an error:

  File "/usr/bin/lsb_release", line 64
    print("No LSB modules are available.", file=sys.stderr)
                                               ^ SyntaxError: invalid syntax 

Where could be the problem and how can I solve this?

Solution 1

I am having the same issue as you, but I was able to solve the problem after looking at the file /usr/bin/lsb_release.

The beginning of the file is #!/usr/bin/python3 -Es, meaning that it is using the python interpreter in /usr/bin/python3.

In my system, that file was a symlink to python2.7.

I fixed the issue by removing the symlink /usr/bin/python3, and then replacing it with the correct symlink to python3.5:

sudo ln -s /usr/bin/python3.5 /usr/bin/python3

Solution 2

Sorry to reply this 'old' post.

I also encountered this 'lsb_release -a' error these days in Ubuntu 17.10. I finally solved this issue by

sudo rm -rf /usr/bin/lsb_release

If I keep this file in computer, even if I specify a correct python directory in it, it gives me the errors: subprocess.CalledProcessError: Command 'lsb_release -a' returned non-zero exit status 1.

So, I deleted it in my computer and it works.

Comments

[NINJA]

which python -> Python 2.7.12 | which pip -> pip 9.0.1 from /usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages (python 2.7)

[Rahul]

Change line 64 as; print "No LSB modules are available.", file=sys.stderr

[Chai T. Rex]

Install debsums (sudo apt install debsums), then check the integrity of system files with sudo debsums -s. Are there any bad files?

[NINJA]

No sudo debsums -s not showing anything. Just empty.

[NINJA]

@Rahul python3 /usr/bin/lsb_release -a also throws the same error.

[Rahul]

python3 /usr/bin/lsb_release -a works for me but python2 /usr/bin/lsb_release -a gives error, are you sure you have installed python 3 not 2 beacause print can not be use like that in python 2.

[NINJA]

@Rahul Both versions are present. | which python3 /usr/bin/python3 || lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 Aug 27 11:52 python3 -> python3.5

[Rahul]

post output of python3 -V and python -V.

[NINJA]

python -V >> Python 2.7.12 || python3 -V Python 3.5.1

[Gabriel Fair]

I'm not an expert but this seems dangerous to me. Isn't this a required file?

[Fang]

No. lsb_release is part of a software package called the LSB core, which is not necessarily installed on your system by default. In case you need it again after removing it, just install it by 'sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install lsb-core' (for ubuntu).

[Fang]

Not at all. I am happy with it.

[cag51]

The above answers didn't solve my problem on python3.7 and this one did. Thanks!

[Fang]

You're so welcome!