ModuleNotFoundError: No module named '_sysconfigdata __darwin _darwin'

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1

Note: I had to inject spaces into “_sysconfig__darwin_darwin” to be allowed to post this.

I am trying to build Python 3.11.4 from source on a Mac. It fails with the following error:

build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:46	b - INFO - ./python.exe -E -S -m sysconfig --generate-posix-vars ;\
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:46	b - INFO - 	if test $? -ne 0 ; then \
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:46	b - INFO - 		echo "generate-posix-vars failed" ; \
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:46	b - INFO - 		rm -f ./pybuilddir.txt ; \
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:46	b - INFO - 		exit 1 ; \
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:46	b - INFO - 	fi
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO - Traceback (most recent call last):
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -   File "<frozen runpy>", line 198, in _run_module_as_main
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -   File "<frozen runpy>", line 88, in _run_code
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -   File "/Users/devel/nshield/python/deps/Python-3.11.4/Lib/sysconfig.py", line 851, in <module>
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -     _main()
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -   File "/Users/devel/nshield/python/deps/Python-3.11.4/Lib/sysconfig.py", line 839, in _main
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -     _generate_posix_vars()
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -   File "/Users/devel//nshield/python/deps/Python-3.11.4/Lib/sysconfig.py", line 469, in _generate_posix_vars
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -     makefile = get_makefile_filename()
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -   File "/Users/devel/nshield/python/deps/Python-3.11.4/Lib/sysconfig.py", line 453, in get_makefile_filename
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -     return os.path.join(get_path('stdlib'), config_dir_name, 'Makefile')
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -                         ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -   File "/Users/devel//nshield/python/deps/Python-3.11.4/Lib/sysconfig.py", line 626, in get_path
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -     return get_paths(scheme, vars, expand)[name]
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -   File "/Users/devel/nshield/python/deps/Python-3.11.4/Lib/sysconfig.py", line 616, in get_paths
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -     return _expand_vars(scheme, vars)
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -   File "/Users/devel/nshield/python/deps/Python-3.11.4/Lib/sysconfig.py", line 265, in _expand_vars
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -     _extend_dict(vars, get_config_vars())
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -   File "/Users/devel/nshield/python/deps/Python-3.11.4/Lib/sysconfig.py", line 670, in get_config_vars
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -     _init_posix(_CONFIG_VARS)
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -   File "/Users/devel/nshield/python/deps/Python-3.11.4/Lib/sysconfig.py", line 531, in _init_posix
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -     _temp = __import__(name, globals(), locals(), ['build_time_vars'], 0)
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO -             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
build	09-Aug-2023 14:58:47	b - INFO - ModuleNotFoundError: No module named '_sysconfigdata__darwin_darwin'

Earlier on, I get:

build	09-Aug-2023 14:56:46	b - INFO - checking for C compiler vendor... clang
build	09-Aug-2023 14:56:46	b - INFO - 
build	09-Aug-2023 14:56:46	b - INFO - ********************************************************
build	09-Aug-2023 14:56:46	b - INFO - * WARNING: Don't know the best CFLAGS for this system  *
build	09-Aug-2023 14:56:46	b - INFO - * Use ./configure CFLAGS=... to specify your own flags *
build	09-Aug-2023 14:56:46	b - INFO - * (otherwise, a default of CFLAGS=-O3 will be used)    *
build	09-Aug-2023 14:56:46	b - INFO - ********************************************************
build	09-Aug-2023 14:56:46	b - INFO -

Which is a bit of a worry.

The machine is on macOS Monterey.

2

When you run python like that does it know where to look for its stdlib?
Do you need to set PYTHONPATH?

You could try:

./python.exe
import sys
sys.path

Why is it python.exe on a macOS system?

3

Why is it python.exe on a macOS system?

That’s a very good question. I have no idea.

You could try:

The problem is that this occurs in the middle of building python. Specifically, after I have done Configure, I invoke make and get this error.

4

Probably because it’s on a case-insensitive file system. On my (Linux ext4) system, there’s python the binary and Python the source directory; if those would be indistinguishable, the executable is renamed python.exe.

5

Because macOS has a case sensitive file system and the source tree contains a “Python” subdirectory. Therefore the executable is created as “python.exe” in in the build tree, and renamed to the correct name during installation.

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