Is Python >3.5 possible?

berto · October 26, 2020, 2:04pm

I am using what I believe is the lastest version of Pi-Hole:

Pi-Hole reports

python3 --version
Python 3.5.3

I'd really like to use a Python version of at least 3.6 (ideally 3.8), because 3.5 is missing some core features I use (ordered dictionaries, f-string formatting, etc). It comes up because I "borrow" the same Raspberry Pi that hosts Pi-hole to run some side scripts, and it's cumbersome to have to backport those scripts to Python 3.5 when they are all originally written in Python 3.8

So I suppose my questions are:

If I update my Pi-hole to use Python 3.8, will it break anything?
Does Pi-hole have plans to update the native Python version it's using? If so, is there an expected timeline?

Thanks!

jfb · October 26, 2020, 2:05pm

Where is Pi-hole reporting this? Pi-hole does not use Python:

github.com

pi-hole/pi-hole/blob/6b536b7428a1f57ff34ddc444ded6d3a62b00a38/automated install/basic-install.sh#L324


      
              phpSqlite="sqlite3"
          elif apt-cache show "${phpVer}-sqlite" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
              phpSqlite="sqlite"
          else
              printf "  %b Aborting installation: No SQLite PHP module was found in APT repository.\\n" "${CROSS}"
              exit 1
          fi
          # Since our install script is so large, we need several other programs to successfully get a machine provisioned
          # These programs are stored in an array so they can be looped through later
          INSTALLER_DEPS=(dhcpcd5 git "${iproute_pkg}" whiptail dnsutils)
          # Pi-hole itself has several dependencies that also need to be installed
          PIHOLE_DEPS=(cron curl iputils-ping lsof netcat psmisc sudo unzip wget idn2 sqlite3 libcap2-bin dns-root-data libcap2)
          # The Web dashboard has some that also need to be installed
          # It's useful to separate the two since our repos are also setup as "Core" code and "Web" code
          PIHOLE_WEB_DEPS=(lighttpd "${phpVer}-common" "${phpVer}-cgi" "${phpVer}-${phpSqlite}" "${phpVer}-xml" "${phpVer}-intl")
          # The Web server user,
          LIGHTTPD_USER="www-data"
          # group,
          LIGHTTPD_GROUP="www-data"
          # and config file
          LIGHTTPD_CFG="lighttpd.conf.debian"

berto · October 26, 2020, 2:36pm

Edit / aside - am I totally bungling my memory of how Pi-hole was installed? My recollection was that I installed Pi-hole in some kind of standalone OS-like version. But reading the installation instructions again, it seems like it can only be installed on top of a core OS (like Raspbian, in my case). In which case, the failing may be on my side for not upgrading the installed Raspbian version from Stretch to Buster?

Thanks for the help!

Sorry I was unclear. I meant that if I SSH into my Pi-hole device and run python3 --version, it reports Python 3.5 installed:

Knowing that Pi-hole doesn't use Python probably answers my question. I suppose the Pi-hole OS is built on top of Debian, and so it just ships with whatever version of Python is pre-installed / supported there?

It looks like Debian Stretch shipped with Python 3.5, so maybe that's the underlying version for Pi-hole?

If I'm understanding correctly, I guess my question would change to: is there a Pi-hole development roadmap giving indication of when it would be upgrading Debian versions?

DanSchaper · October 26, 2020, 4:02pm

There is no such thing. Install what ever version of Python you'd like, we have no need or influence on that.

Install what ever version you'd like, the minimum supported is Debian 9.

berto · October 26, 2020, 4:09pm

Thanks! So it is the case of my mis-remembering how this was installed. That's great, in the sense I can fix it on my end.

Forgetting the setup details is a testament to the whole project and how everything "just works"!

Sorry for the confusion and noise here. Thanks for helping me get sorted out!

system · November 2, 2020, 4:09pm

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