I’m having trouble setting up psycopg2 w/pip & virtual env so I can launch

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Editorial Team

Asked: June 17, 20262026-06-17T11:27:51+00:00 2026-06-17T11:27:51+00:00

I’m having trouble setting up psycopg2 w/pip & virtual env so I can launch

0

I’m having trouble setting up psycopg2 w/pip & virtual env so I can launch django apps on heroku.

I’m currently trying to follow this SO solution to solve my issue (below) but I’m stuck at trying to run this command,

sudo apt-get build-dep python-psycopg2

I get this error

ahmad@ubuntu:~$ sudo apt-get build-dep psycopg2
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to find a source package for psycopg2
ahmad@ubuntu:~$

… not sure what to do about this? How can I help it find the source package for psycopg2…

I’ve tried running this

apt-get install libpq-dev python-dev

and i get

0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 26 not upgraded.

The reason I’m trying to get that installed is so I can run pip install psycopg2 without getting all these gcc errors (see sample run below)

(venv)ahmad@ubuntu:~/workspace/dogood$ pip install Django psycopg2 dj-database-url
Downloading/unpacking Django
  Downloading Django-1.4.3.tar.gz (7.7Mb): 7.7Mb downloaded
  Running setup.py egg_info for package Django

Downloading/unpacking psycopg2
  Downloading psycopg2-2.4.6.tar.gz (667Kb): 667Kb downloaded
  Running setup.py egg_info for package psycopg2

    no previously-included directories found matching 'doc/src/_build'
Downloading/unpacking dj-database-url
  Downloading dj-database-url-0.2.1.tar.gz
  Running setup.py egg_info for package dj-database-url

Installing collected packages: Django, psycopg2, dj-database-url
  Running setup.py install for Django
    changing mode of build/scripts-2.7/django-admin.py from 664 to 775

    changing mode of /home/ahmad/workspace/dogood/venv/bin/django-admin.py to 775
  Running setup.py install for psycopg2
    building 'psycopg2._psycopg' extension
    gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -DPSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME=1 -DPSYCOPG_VERSION="2.4.6 (dt dec pq3 ext)" -DPG_VERSION_HEX=0x090107 -DPSYCOPG_EXTENSIONS=1 -DPSYCOPG_NEW_BOOLEAN=1 -DHAVE_PQFREEMEM=1 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -I. -I/usr/include/postgresql -I/usr/include/postgresql/9.1/server -c psycopg/psycopgmodule.c -o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/psycopgmodule.o -Wdeclaration-after-statement
    gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -DPSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME=1 -DPSYCOPG_VERSION="2.4.6 (dt dec pq3 ext)" -DPG_VERSION_HEX=0x090107 -DPSYCOPG_EXTENSIONS=1 -DPSYCOPG_NEW_BOOLEAN=1 -DHAVE_PQFREEMEM=1 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -I. -I/usr/include/postgresql -I/usr/include/postgresql/9.1/server -c psycopg/green.c -o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/green.o -Wdeclaration-after-statement
    gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -DPSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME=1 -DPSYCOPG_VERSION="2.4.6 (dt dec pq3 ext)" -DPG_VERSION_HEX=0x090107 -DPSYCOPG_EXTENSIONS=1 -DPSYCOPG_NEW_BOOLEAN=1 -DHAVE_PQFREEMEM=1 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -I. -I/usr/include/postgresql -I/usr/include/postgresql/9.1/server -c psycopg/pqpath.c -o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/pqpath.o -Wdeclaration-after-statement
    gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -DPSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME=1 -DPSYCOPG_VERSION="2.4.6 (dt dec pq3 ext)" -DPG_VERSION_HEX=0x090107 -DPSYCOPG_EXTENSIONS=1 -DPSYCOPG_NEW_BOOLEAN=1 -DHAVE_PQFREEMEM=1 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -I. -I/usr/include/postgresql -I/usr/include/postgresql/9.1/server -c psycopg/utils.c -o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/utils.o -Wdeclaration-after-statement
    gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -DPSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME=1 -DPSYCOPG_VERSION="2.4.6 (dt dec pq3 ext)" -DPG_VERSION_HEX=0x090107 -DPSYCOPG_EXTENSIONS=1 -DPSYCOPG_NEW_BOOLEAN=1 -DHAVE_PQFREEMEM=1 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -I. -I/usr/include/postgresql -I/usr/include/postgresql/9.1/server -c psycopg/bytes_format.c -o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/bytes_format.o -Wdeclaration-after-statement
    gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -DPSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME=1 -DPSYCOPG_VERSION="2.4.6 (dt dec pq3 ext)" -DPG_VERSION_HEX=0x090107 -DPSYCOPG_EXTENSIONS=1 -DPSYCOPG_NEW_BOOLEAN=1 -DHAVE_PQFREEMEM=1 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -I. -I/usr/include/postgresql -I/usr/include/postgresql/9.1/server -c psycopg/connection_int.c -o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/connection_int.o -Wdeclaration-after-statement
    gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -DPSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME=1 -DPSYCOPG_VERSION="2.4.6 (dt dec pq3 ext)" -DPG_VERSION_HEX=0x090107 -DPSYCOPG_EXTENSIONS=1 -DPSYCOPG_NEW_BOOLEAN=1 -DHAVE_PQFREEMEM=1 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -I. -I/usr/include/postgresql -I/usr/include/postgresql/9.1/server -c psycopg/connection_type.c -o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/connection_type.o -Wdeclaration-after-statement
    gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -DPSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME=1 -DPSYCOPG_VERSION="2.4.6 (dt dec pq3 ext)" -DPG_VERSION_HEX=0x090107 -DPSYCOPG_EXTENSIONS=1 -DPSYCOPG_NEW_BOOLEAN=1 -DHAVE_PQFREEMEM=1 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -I. -I/usr/include/postgresql -I/usr/include/postgresql/9.1/server -c psycopg/cursor_int.c -o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/cursor_int.o -Wdeclaration-after-statement
    gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -DPSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME=1 -DPSYCOPG_VERSION="2.4.6 (dt dec pq3 ext)" -DPG_VERSION_HEX=0x090107 -DPSYCOPG_EXTENSIONS=1 -DPSYCOPG_NEW_BOOLEAN=1 -DHAVE_PQFREEMEM=1 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -I. -I/usr/include/postgresql -I/usr/include/postgresql/9.1/server -c psycopg/cursor_type.c -o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/cursor_type.o -Wdeclaration-after-statement
    gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -DPSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME=1 -DPSYCOPG_VERSION="2.4.6 (dt dec pq3 ext)" -DPG_VERSION_HEX=0x090107 -DPSYCOPG_EXTENSIONS=1 -DPSYCOPG_NEW_BOOLEAN=1 -DHAVE_PQFREEMEM=1 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -I. -I/usr/include/postgresql -I/usr/include/postgresql/9.1/server -c psycopg/lobject_int.c -o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/lobject_int.o -Wdeclaration-after-statement
    gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -DPSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME=1 -DPSYCOPG_VERSION="2.4.6 (dt dec pq3 ext)" -DPG_VERSION_HEX=0x090107 -DPSYCOPG_EXTENSIONS=1 -DPSYCOPG_NEW_BOOLEAN=1 -DHAVE_PQFREEMEM=1 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -I. -I/usr/include/postgresql -I/usr/include/postgresql/9.1/server -c psycopg/lobject_type.c -o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/lobject_type.o -Wdeclaration-after-statement
    gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -DPSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME=1 -DPSYCOPG_VERSION="2.4.6 (dt dec pq3 ext)" -DPG_VERSION_HEX=0x090107 -DPSYCOPG_EXTENSIONS=1 -DPSYCOPG_NEW_BOOLEAN=1 -DHAVE_PQFREEMEM=1 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -I. -I/usr/include/postgresql -I/usr/include/postgresql/9.1/server -c psycopg/notify_type.c -o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/notify_type.o -Wdeclaration-after-statement
    gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -DPSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME=1 -DPSYCOPG_VERSION="2.4.6 (dt dec pq3 ext)" -DPG_VERSION_HEX=0x090107 -DPSYCOPG_EXTENSIONS=1 -DPSYCOPG_NEW_BOOLEAN=1 -DHAVE_PQFREEMEM=1 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -I. -I/usr/include/postgresql -I/usr/include/postgresql/9.1/server -c psycopg/xid_type.c -o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/xid_type.o -Wdeclaration-after-statement
    gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -DPSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME=1 -DPSYCOPG_VERSION="2.4.6 (dt dec pq3 ext)" -DPG_VERSION_HEX=0x090107 -DPSYCOPG_EXTENSIONS=1 -DPSYCOPG_NEW_BOOLEAN=1 -DHAVE_PQFREEMEM=1 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -I. -I/usr/include/postgresql -I/usr/include/postgresql/9.1/server -c psycopg/adapter_asis.c -o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/adapter_asis.o -Wdeclaration-after-statement
    gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -DPSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME=1 -DPSYCOPG_VERSION="2.4.6 (dt dec pq3 ext)" -DPG_VERSION_HEX=0x090107 -DPSYCOPG_EXTENSIONS=1 -DPSYCOPG_NEW_BOOLEAN=1 -DHAVE_PQFREEMEM=1 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -I. -I/usr/include/postgresql -I/usr/include/postgresql/9.1/server -c psycopg/adapter_binary.c -o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/adapter_binary.o -Wdeclaration-after-statement
    gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -DPSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME=1 -DPSYCOPG_VERSION="2.4.6 (dt dec pq3 ext)" -DPG_VERSION_HEX=0x090107 -DPSYCOPG_EXTENSIONS=1 -DPSYCOPG_NEW_BOOLEAN=1 -DHAVE_PQFREEMEM=1 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -I. -I/usr/include/postgresql -I/usr/include/postgresql/9.1/server -c psycopg/adapter_datetime.c -o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/adapter_datetime.o -Wdeclaration-after-statement
    gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -DPSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME=1 -DPSYCOPG_VERSION="2.4.6 (dt dec pq3 ext)" -DPG_VERSION_HEX=0x090107 -DPSYCOPG_EXTENSIONS=1 -DPSYCOPG_NEW_BOOLEAN=1 -DHAVE_PQFREEMEM=1 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -I. -I/usr/include/postgresql -I/usr/include/postgresql/9.1/server -c psycopg/adapter_list.c -o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/adapter_list.o -Wdeclaration-after-statement
    gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -DPSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME=1 -DPSYCOPG_VERSION="2.4.6 (dt dec pq3 ext)" -DPG_VERSION_HEX=0x090107 -DPSYCOPG_EXTENSIONS=1 -DPSYCOPG_NEW_BOOLEAN=1 -DHAVE_PQFREEMEM=1 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -I. -I/usr/include/postgresql -I/usr/include/postgresql/9.1/server -c psycopg/adapter_pboolean.c -o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/adapter_pboolean.o -Wdeclaration-after-statement
    gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -DPSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME=1 -DPSYCOPG_VERSION="2.4.6 (dt dec pq3 ext)" -DPG_VERSION_HEX=0x090107 -DPSYCOPG_EXTENSIONS=1 -DPSYCOPG_NEW_BOOLEAN=1 -DHAVE_PQFREEMEM=1 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -I. -I/usr/include/postgresql -I/usr/include/postgresql/9.1/server -c psycopg/adapter_pdecimal.c -o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/adapter_pdecimal.o -Wdeclaration-after-statement
    gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -DPSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME=1 -DPSYCOPG_VERSION="2.4.6 (dt dec pq3 ext)" -DPG_VERSION_HEX=0x090107 -DPSYCOPG_EXTENSIONS=1 -DPSYCOPG_NEW_BOOLEAN=1 -DHAVE_PQFREEMEM=1 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -I. -I/usr/include/postgresql -I/usr/include/postgresql/9.1/server -c psycopg/adapter_pint.c -o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/adapter_pint.o -Wdeclaration-after-statement
    gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -DPSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME=1 -DPSYCOPG_VERSION="2.4.6 (dt dec pq3 ext)" -DPG_VERSION_HEX=0x090107 -DPSYCOPG_EXTENSIONS=1 -DPSYCOPG_NEW_BOOLEAN=1 -DHAVE_PQFREEMEM=1 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -I. -I/usr/include/postgresql -I/usr/include/postgresql/9.1/server -c psycopg/adapter_pfloat.c -o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/adapter_pfloat.o -Wdeclaration-after-statement
    gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -DPSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME=1 -DPSYCOPG_VERSION="2.4.6 (dt dec pq3 ext)" -DPG_VERSION_HEX=0x090107 -DPSYCOPG_EXTENSIONS=1 -DPSYCOPG_NEW_BOOLEAN=1 -DHAVE_PQFREEMEM=1 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -I. -I/usr/include/postgresql -I/usr/include/postgresql/9.1/server -c psycopg/adapter_qstring.c -o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/adapter_qstring.o -Wdeclaration-after-statement
    gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -DPSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME=1 -DPSYCOPG_VERSION="2.4.6 (dt dec pq3 ext)" -DPG_VERSION_HEX=0x090107 -DPSYCOPG_EXTENSIONS=1 -DPSYCOPG_NEW_BOOLEAN=1 -DHAVE_PQFREEMEM=1 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -I. -I/usr/include/postgresql -I/usr/include/postgresql/9.1/server -c psycopg/microprotocols.c -o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/microprotocols.o -Wdeclaration-after-statement
    gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -DPSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME=1 -DPSYCOPG_VERSION="2.4.6 (dt dec pq3 ext)" -DPG_VERSION_HEX=0x090107 -DPSYCOPG_EXTENSIONS=1 -DPSYCOPG_NEW_BOOLEAN=1 -DHAVE_PQFREEMEM=1 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -I. -I/usr/include/postgresql -I/usr/include/postgresql/9.1/server -c psycopg/microprotocols_proto.c -o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/microprotocols_proto.o -Wdeclaration-after-statement
    gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -DPSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME=1 -DPSYCOPG_VERSION="2.4.6 (dt dec pq3 ext)" -DPG_VERSION_HEX=0x090107 -DPSYCOPG_EXTENSIONS=1 -DPSYCOPG_NEW_BOOLEAN=1 -DHAVE_PQFREEMEM=1 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -I. -I/usr/include/postgresql -I/usr/include/postgresql/9.1/server -c psycopg/typecast.c -o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/typecast.o -Wdeclaration-after-statement
    gcc -pthread -shared -Wl,-O1 -Wl,-Bsymbolic-functions -Wl,-Bsymbolic-functions -Wl,-z,relro build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/psycopgmodule.o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/green.o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/pqpath.o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/utils.o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/bytes_format.o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/connection_int.o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/connection_type.o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/cursor_int.o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/cursor_type.o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/lobject_int.o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/lobject_type.o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/notify_type.o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/xid_type.o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/adapter_asis.o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/adapter_binary.o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/adapter_datetime.o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/adapter_list.o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/adapter_pboolean.o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/adapter_pdecimal.o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/adapter_pint.o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/adapter_pfloat.o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/adapter_qstring.o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/microprotocols.o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/microprotocols_proto.o build/temp.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg/typecast.o -lpq -o build/lib.linux-x86_64-2.7/psycopg2/_psycopg.so

    no previously-included directories found matching 'doc/src/_build'
  Running setup.py install for dj-database-url

Successfully installed Django psycopg2 dj-database-url
Cleaning up...

Thanks a ton for any help!!

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1 Answer

Editorial Team · Answer 1 · 2026-06-17T11:27:52+00:00

Edit your sources.list file (normally found in /etc/apt/sources.list) and add a deb-src entry for each corresponding deb line.

deb http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise main restricted

deb-src http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise main restricted #Add this line

deb http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-updates main restricted

deb-src http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-updates main restricted #Add this line

The difference between the two:

deb: These repositories contain binaries or precompiled packages.
These repositories are required for most users.
deb-src: These repositories contain the source code of the
packages. Useful for developers.

Now try:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get build-dep psycopg2

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