No module 'zlib' for Python 2.6

Question

When I start Python 2.7, I can import zlib without a problem. Unfortunately, I need Python 2.6 for a specific project.

I tried installing it with this script I wrote:

apt-get install zlib1g-dev
mkdir /tmp/shell_scripts
cd /tmp/shell_scripts
wget http://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.6.9/Python-2.6.9.tgz
tar -xvzf Python-2.6.9.tgz
rm Python-2.6.9.tgz
cd Python-2.6.9
./configure --with-zlib
make
make install
./python setup.py install
cd /tmp
rm -r shell_scripts

When I type import zlib, I get an import error. I need zlib to install easy_install. Have you an idea what could be wrong?

Answer 1

I found the solution in a blog: I had to build a symbolic link and set an environment variable. This is my working code:

apt-get install zlib1g-dev
cd /lib
sudo ln -s i386-linux-gnu/libz.so.1 libz.so

mkdir /tmp/shell_scripts
cd /tmp/shell_scripts
wget http://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.6.9/Python-2.6.9.tgz
tar -xvzf Python-2.6.9.tgz
rm Python-2.6.9.tgz
cd Python-2.6.9
make distclean
export LDFLAGS="-L/usr/lib/$(dpkg-architecture -qDEB_HOST_MULTIARCH)"
./configure
make
make install
./python setup.py install
unset LDFLAGS
cd /tmp
rm -r shell_scripts

Now, import zlib no longer throws an error.