When install opencv-python in mac, OSError: [Errno 1] Operation not permitted

Question

When install opencv-python on my mac I get an error message:

OSError: [Errno 1] Operation not permitted

$ pip install opencv-python

Collecting opencv-python
  Using cached opencv_python-3.2.0.7-cp27-cp27m-macosx_10_6_intel.macosx_10_9_intel.macosx_10_9_x86_64.macosx_10_10_intel.macosx_10_10_x86_64.whl
Collecting numpy>=1.11.1 (from opencv-python)
  Using cached numpy-1.13.1-cp27-cp27m-macosx_10_6_intel.macosx_10_9_intel.macosx_10_9_x86_64.macosx_10_10_intel.macosx_10_10_x86_64.whl
Installing collected packages: numpy, opencv-python
  Found existing installation: numpy 1.8.0rc1
    DEPRECATION: Uninstalling a distutils installed project (numpy) has been deprecated and will be removed in a future version. This is due to the fact that uninstalling a distutils project will only partially uninstall the project.
    Uninstalling numpy-1.8.0rc1:
Exception:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/pip-9.0.1-py2.7.egg/pip/basecommand.py", line 215, in main
    status = self.run(options, args)
  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/pip-9.0.1-py2.7.egg/pip/commands/install.py", line 342, in run
    prefix=options.prefix_path,
  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/pip-9.0.1-py2.7.egg/pip/req/req_set.py", line 778, in install
    requirement.uninstall(auto_confirm=True)
  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/pip-9.0.1-py2.7.egg/pip/req/req_install.py", line 754, in uninstall
    paths_to_remove.remove(auto_confirm)
  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/pip-9.0.1-py2.7.egg/pip/req/req_uninstall.py", line 115, in remove
    renames(path, new_path)
  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/pip-9.0.1-py2.7.egg/pip/utils/__init__.py", line 267, in renames
    shutil.move(old, new)
  File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/shutil.py", line 302, in move
    copy2(src, real_dst)
  File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/shutil.py", line 131, in copy2
    copystat(src, dst)
  File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/shutil.py", line 103, in copystat
    os.chflags(dst, st.st_flags)
**OSError: [Errno 1] Operation not permitted: '/var/folders/dd/70hgtbs50hl5sr13h93gzzm80000gn/T/pip-BDWfhx-uninstall/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/Extras/lib/python/numpy-1.8.0rc1-py2.7.egg-info'**

And when I tried with sudo:

OSError: [Errno 1] Operation not permitted: '/tmp/pip-JhNitO-uninstall/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/Extras/lib/python/numpy-1.8.0rc1-py2.7.egg-info'

I tried to uninstall numpy.
But still permission error occurs:

OSError: [Errno 1] Operation not permitted: '/var/folders/dd/70hgtbs50hl5sr13h93gzzm80000gn/T/pip-yKfQhH-uninstall/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/Extras/lib/python/numpy-1.8.0rc1-py2.7.egg-info'

with sudo:

OSError: [Errno 1] Operation not permitted: '/tmp/pip-sIVZu9-uninstall/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/Extras/lib/python/numpy-1.8.0rc1-py2.7.egg-info' The directory '/Users/jack/Library/Caches/pip/http' or its parent directory is not owned by the current user and the cache has been disabled. Please check the permissions and owner of that directory. If executing pip with sudo, you may want sudo's -H flag.

Lastly, I tried to uninstall python by pip uninstall python,
but there is:

OSError: [Errno 1] Operation not permitted: '/var/folders/dd/70hgtbs50hl5sr13h93gzzm80000gn/T/pip-7ByYw9-uninstall/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/lib-dynload/Python-2.7.10-py2.7.egg-info'

and with sudo:

OSError: [Errno 1] Operation not permitted: '/tmp/pip-1UeP4t-uninstall/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/lib-dynload/Python-2.7.10-py2.7.egg-info'
The directory '/Users/jack/Library/Caches/pip/http' or its parent directory is not owned by the current user and the cache has been disabled. Please check the permissions and owner of that directory. If executing pip with sudo, you may want sudo's -H flag.

So.. I also removed the directory recursively:

sudo rm -rf /tmp/pip-1UeP4t-uninstall/

but those kind of directories reproduce right away.

Cary Shindell Cary Shindell · Accepted Answer · 2017-07-18T15:20:57

Use the sudo -H flag and/or use the ignore-installed flag: sudo -H pip install --ignore-installed opencv-python

When install opencv-python in mac, OSError: [Errno 1] Operation not permitted

3 Answers