how to install python distutils

I know this is an old question, but I just come across the same issue using Python 3.6 in Ubuntu, and I am able to solve it using the following command:

sudo apt-get install python3-distutils

If you are unable to install with either of these:

sudo apt-get install python-distutils
sudo apt-get install python3-distutils

Try this instead:

sudo apt-get install python-distutils-extra

Ref: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/beagleboard/RDlTq8sMxro

you can use sudo apt-get install python3-distutils by root permission.

i believe it worked here

You can install the python-distutils package. sudo apt-get install python-distutils should suffice.

I ran across this error on a Beaglebone Black using the standard Angstrom distribution. It is currently running Python 2.7.3, but does not include distutils. The solution for me was to install distutils. (It required su privileges.)

    su
    opkg install python-distutils

After that installation, the previously erroring command ran fine.

    python setup.py build