Error: invalid command 'bdist_wheel' in Python [Solved]

# Error: invalid command 'bdist_wheel' in Python

The Python "error: invalid command 'bdist_wheel'" occurs when the wheel package is not installed in the environment.

To solve the error, install the prerequisites and run the pip install wheel command.

shell

Copied!
usage: setup.py [global_opts] cmd1 [cmd1_opts] [cmd2 [cmd2_opts] ...]
   or: setup.py --help [cmd1 cmd2 ...]
   or: setup.py --help-commands
   or: setup.py cmd --help
error: invalid command 'bdist_wheel'

Collecting <package>
  Using cached <package>-X.Y.Z.tar.gz (567 kB)
  Preparing metadata (setup.py): started
  Preparing metadata (setup.py): finished with status 'done'
Using legacy 'setup.py install' for <package>, since package 'wheel' is not installed.
Installing collected packages: <package>

# Install the prerequisites on Debian (Ubuntu)

First, If you are on Debian (Ubuntu), install the prerequisites.

shell

Copied!
# 👇️ Only needed if on Debian (Ubuntu)
sudo apt-get install gcc libpq-dev build-essential -y
sudo apt-get install python-dev  python-pip -y
sudo apt-get install python3-dev python3-pip python3-venv python3-wheel -y
pip3 install wheel

install prerequisites debian ubuntu

These are meta-packages and header files that are necessary for compiling software.

# Install the `wheel` package

Run one of the following commands to install wheel.

shell

Copied!
pip install wheel
pip3 install wheel

# 👇️ If you don't have pip in PATH
python -m pip install wheel
python3 -m pip install wheel

# 👇️ On Windows
py -m pip install wheel

# Upgrading your version of `pip`

You should also upgrade your version of pip.

Here are the commands for upgrading pip on all operating systems.

Which command works depends on your operating system and your version of Python.

shell

Copied!
# 👇️ If you have pip already installed
pip install --upgrade pip

# 👇️ If your pip is aliased as pip3 (Python 3)
pip3 install --upgrade pip

# 👇️ If you don't have pip in your PATH environment variable
python -m pip install --upgrade pip

# 👇️ If you don't have pip in your PATH environment variable
python3 -m pip install --upgrade pip

# 👇️ If you have easy_install
easy_install --upgrade pip

# 👇️ If you get a permissions error
sudo easy_install --upgrade pip

# 👇️ If you get a permissions error when upgrading `pip`
pip install --upgrade pip --user

# 👇️ Upgrade pip scoped to the current user (if you get a permissions error)
python -m pip install --user --upgrade pip
python3 -m pip install --user --upgrade pip

# 👇️ Installing directly from get-pip.py (MacOS and Linux)
curl https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py | python

# 👇️ If you get permissions issues
curl https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py | sudo python

# 👇️ Alternative for Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get update && apt-get upgrade python-pip

# 👇️ Alternative for Red Hat / CentOS / Fedora
sudo yum install epel-release
sudo yum install python-pip
sudo yum update python-pip

After you upgrade pip, upgrade setuptools by running one of the following commands.

shell

Copied!
pip install --upgrade setuptools
pip3 install --upgrade setuptools

# 👇️ If you don't have pip in PATH
python -m pip install --upgrade setuptools
python3 -m pip install --upgrade setuptools
py -m pip install --upgrade setuptools

# Download the `wheel` package from the `pypi` page of `wheel`

If the error is not resolved, download the wheel package from the pypi page of wheel by clicking on the .whl file under "Built Distribution".

Once you download the file, open your terminal in the folder where the .whl file is located and install it.

shell

Copied!
pip install wheel-0.37.1-py2.py3-none-any.whl
pip3 install wheel-0.37.1-py2.py3-none-any.whl

python -m pip install wheel-0.37.1-py2.py3-none-any.whl
python3 -m pip install wheel-0.37.1-py2.py3-none-any.whl

pip install wheel

Make sure to specify the correct name of the .whl file as your version will likely be different.

If the error is not resolved, try installing the cmake package.

shell

Copied!
pip install cmake
pip3 install cmake

python -m pip install cmake
python3 -m pip install cmake
py -m pip install cmake

install cmake

The cmake package is used to control the software compilation process.

# Importing `setuptools` in your `setup.py` file

If the error persists and you have a setup.py file in the root directory of your project, add the following line to it.

setup.py

Copied!
setup(
    # rest,
    setup_requires=['wheel']
)

If the error is not resolved, try adding the following lines at the top of your setup.py file

setup.py

Copied!
import setuptools
from setuptools import setup

# rest of your imports below

The setup.py file should be in the root directory of your Python project and is used to store metadata about the program.

# Create a virtual environment

If that didn't help, try creating a virtual environment.

Create a virtual environment.
Activate the virtual environment.
Run the pip install command with the virtual environment active.

shell

Copied!
# 👇️ Use the correct version of Python when creating VENV
python3 -m venv venv

# 👇️ Activate on Unix or MacOS
source venv/bin/activate

# 👇️ Activate on Windows (cmd.exe)
venv\Scripts\activate.bat

# 👇️ Activate on Windows (PowerShell)
venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

# 👇️ Upgrade pip
pip install --upgrade pip

# 👇️ Install the specific package in the virtual environment
pip install requests

Make sure to use the correct command to activate your virtual environment depending on your operating system and your shell.

Your virtual environment will use the version of Python that was used to create it.

If that didn't help, try installing the latest version of Python.

# Install the latest version of Python

You can check your Python version with the python --version command.

shell

Copied!
python --version

python3 --version

get python version

You can download the latest version from the official python.org website.

Make sure to tick the following options if you get prompted:

Install launcher for all users (recommended)
Add Python to PATH (this adds Python to your PATH environment variable)

I wrote a book in which I share everything I know about how to become a better, more efficient programmer.

You can use the search field on my Home Page to filter through all of my articles.

Error: invalid command 'bdist_wheel' in Python [Solved]