Permission denied when installing Tensorflow with pip

Question

When I try to install Tensorflow with pip install tensorflow, I get this 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 784, in install
    **kwargs
  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/pip-9.0.1-py2.7.egg/pip/req/req_install.py", line 851, in install
    self.move_wheel_files(self.source_dir, root=root, prefix=prefix)
  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/pip-9.0.1-py2.7.egg/pip/req/req_install.py", line 1064, in move_wheel_files
    isolated=self.isolated,
  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/pip-9.0.1-py2.7.egg/pip/wheel.py", line 345, in move_wheel_files
    clobber(source, lib_dir, True)
  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/pip-9.0.1-py2.7.egg/pip/wheel.py", line 323, in clobber
    shutil.copyfile(srcfile, destfile)
  File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/shutil.py", line 83, in copyfile
    with open(dst, 'wb') as fdst:
IOError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/protobuf-3.5.2-py2.7-nspkg.pth'

What does it mean? How can I install the tensorflow package?

When I use: sudo pip install tensorflow I now get this 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/n6/bfff99yn3nnc46h_gh5tc7fm0000gn/T/pip-TI9hQ_-uninstall/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/Extras/lib/python/six-1.4.1-py2.7.egg-info'

Instead of saying denied it says Operation not permitted

Answer 1

Looks like your user doesn't have the permission to install packages in your system (for all users). Here's how to fix this problem for Linux, macOS and Windows:

Linux / macOS

From your terminal, you can install the package for your user only, like this:

pip install tensorflow --user

OR

You can use su or sudo from your terminal, to install the package as root:

sudo pip install tensorflow

Windows

From the Command Prompt, you can install the package for your user only, like this:

pip install tensorflow --user

OR

You can install the package as Administrator, by following these steps:

1. Run the Command Prompt as Administrator, using the Run This Program As An Administrator option.
2. Run the command pip install tensorflow

Answer 2

It clearly seems to be a problem of permissions.

If you are using Ubuntu or Liux OS, the try using:

sudo pip install tensorflow

If you are using Windows then:

Run the Command prompt as Administrator and the run pip install tensorflow

For better getting rid of such issues in future, Using Anaconda.