Manual pip install
The ensurepip package is great if you are using Python 3.4 or above. Below that, however, you need to install pip manually. Actually, this is surprisingly easy. It involves just two steps:
- Download the get-pip.py file: https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py.
Execute the get-pip.py file: python get-pip.py.
If the ensurepip command fails due to permission errors, it can be useful to supply the --user argument. This allows you to install pip inside the user specific site packages directory, so root/admin access is not required.