Compatibility of Python 3.12 with (py)torch,

1

I’m trying to install PyTorch on Ubuntu 24 (running in the Windows Subsystem for Linux), under Python 3.12.3, but I can’t get it to work. I posted to thread 110436 “Pytorch for Python 3.12 not available”, and it was suggested I start “a new issue with more details on your environment, how you’re trying to install torch and the error you’re seeing.” (See also my thread at a Ubuntu forum, since I initially assumed it was a Ubuntu problem.) So here are the things I’ve tried, with the results:

  1. apt install pytorch: “Unable to locate package pytorch”
  2. apt install torch: “Unable to locate package torch”
  3. apt install python-pytorch: “Unable to locate package python-pytorch”
  4. apt install python-torch: “Unable to locate package python-torch”
  5. Variants of the above using pip3, like pip3 install python-pytorch: “error:
    externally managed-environment… try apt install python3-xyz, where xyz is
    the package you are trying to install.”
  6. Downloaded torch-2.6.0-cp312-cp312-manylinux1_x86_64.whl and tried
    to install it using
    pip3: pip3 install --use-wheel --find-links-<path to downloaded whl file>
    “error: externally managed-environment” again.
  7. I was able to use pipx to install it from the above .whl file, but pipx is for
    executables, not libraries, so the files wind up in the wrong place. Possibly
    I could move them to the right place manually, but I have not tried that.

If pytorch has been released for Python 3.12, I guess the absence of the pytorch library files when I use aptis an Ubuntu problem.
I used to install library files with pip3, but this appears no longer to be possible, at least under Ubuntu. Am I doing something wrong with pip3 to cause the “externally managed-environment” error? I suppose the solution is to set up a separate Python virtual environment, but that seems a complication…

2

You need to install PyTorch wheels with a Python package manager instead of apt.
Create a working Python environment in your WSL environment and install the PyTorch wheel via pip install torch for the latest stable version with CUDA support or select a desired version from our install matrix.

3

I guess you’re saying I need to set up a virtual environment, which will allow me to use pip. Sigh, I really don’t see the point of virtual environments on a machine that only I use, but I guess I’m stuck with it. Thank you for the response.

4

You don’t need to create virtual environments but would still need to install Python properly at least. If you are stuck, creating virtual environments e.g. via conda might be a good approach as it’s usually easy.

5

Not sure what “install Python properly” means–it is running (v12.3). In any case, I tried the virtual environment route, and it worked. Looks like I have to install all the other packages I had previously installed, since apparently the venv doesn’t inherit those. But that’s a minor issue.
Thanks for the help!