How can I install a 32bit python on 64 bit Ubuntu

Solution 1:

To run 32 bit applications on a 64 bit Ubuntu system, you will need ia32-libs. From a terminal, validate if you have this using

dpkg -l ia32-libs

If you've installed it, the output should looks like:

ii   ia32-libs ...

If it looks like un ia32-libs, you need to install it using:

sudo apt-get install ia32-libs

Solution 2:

I finally got this to work by installing a 32-bit schroot'ed environment. Follow the directions here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DebootstrapChroot

I used the following configuration file for my schroot (/etc/schroot/chroot.d/natty32.conf):

[natty32]
description=Ubuntu 11 for i386
directory=/srv/chroot/natty32
personality=linux32
root-users=myloginname
type=directory
users=myloginname

Once installed, start the schroot session:

schroot -c natty32 -u root

Then install python2.6 with apt-get, install pip using it ( http://guide.python-distribute.org/installation.html ), then pip install psyco, numpy, &c.