Chilkat Python Module for Linux Install Instructions

Python Examples: Chilkat Python Examples

1. Download

Download the binary distribution and unpack to any directory. One download works with every Python version from 3.7 onward (the module targets the CPython stable ABI), so there is one download per processor architecture: x86_64, aarch64 (arm64) and armv7l (32-bit ARM, e.g. Raspberry Pi), for glibc Linux and for Alpine Linux. If you prefer pip: pip3 install chilkat installs the same module.

The download contains the following files:

_chilkat.so
chilkat.py
license.pdf
pcre2-license.pdf
quickjs-license.pdf
THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.txt
chilkat.cdx.json (software bill of materials)
installChilkat.py
installChilkat_virtEnv.py
testChilkat.py
Linux (This is an empty file. The download is for this operating system.)
x86_64 (or aarch64, or arm: an empty file.  The download is for this processor architecture.)
abi3 (This is an empty file. The download works with Python 3.7 and later.)

To unpack use "tar xzf". For example:

 tar xzf chilkat-python-x86_64-linux.tar.gz

2. Install to Local Site-Packages

Run the installChilkat.py script with the Python you want to install into. It copies the _chilkat.so and chilkat.py files to that Python's user site-packages directory and checks that the download matches the operating system, processor architecture and Python version (3.7 or later).

 python3 installChilkat.py
 # or, to install into a specific Python:
 python3.12 installChilkat.py

Did you get this error? AttributeError: module 'site' has no attribute 'getusersitepackages'

This can happen in a virtualenv because site.py does not have getusersitepackages().
Use the installChilkat_virtEnv.py script included in the download instead:

 python3 installChilkat_virtEnv.py

Contact support@chilkatsoft.com if this virtualenv install script does not work.

3. Alternatively Install to Global Site-Packages

Alternatively, to install to the global site-packages, use the -g option:

 sudo python3 installChilkat.py -g

Did you get this error? AttributeError: module 'site' has no attribute 'getsitepackages'

This can happen in a virtualenv because site.py does not have getsitepackages().
Use the installChilkat_virtEnv.py script included in the download instead:

 sudo python3 installChilkat_virtEnv.py -g

Contact support@chilkatsoft.com if this virtualenv install script does not work.

4. Test

Run the testChilkat.py script to verify. Run it from a different directory than the one holding the download, so that the installed module is the one imported.

 python3 testChilkat.py

The testChilkat.py contains the following Python code. It instantiates a few Chilkat objects and prints the Chilkat version.

import chilkat

# Create some Chilkat objects and print the versions

zip = chilkat.CkZip()
print("Zip: " + zip.version())

imap = chilkat.CkImap()
print("IMAP: " + imap.version())

ftp = chilkat.CkFtp2()
print("FTP: " + ftp.version())

mailman = chilkat.CkMailMan()
print("POP3/SMTP: " + mailman.version())

ssh = chilkat.CkSsh()
print("SSH: " + ssh.version())

sftp = chilkat.CkSFtp()
print("SFTP: " + sftp.version())

rsa = chilkat.CkRsa()
print("RSA: " + rsa.version())

http = chilkat.CkHttp()
print("RSA: " + http.version())

crypt = chilkat.CkCrypt2()
print("Crypt: " + crypt.version())

xml = chilkat.CkXml()
print("XML: " + xml.version())

sock = chilkat.CkSocket()
print("Socket/SSL/TLS: " + sock.version())

tar = chilkat.CkTar()
print("TAR: " + tar.version())