Some older Linux distributions may be missing some of the Python packages listed above (or may use ``pyserial`` version 2.x which is not supported by ESP-IDF). It is possible to install these packages via ``pip`` instead - as described in section :ref:`get-started-get-packages`.
To use it, you will need to update your ``PATH`` environment variable in ``~/.profile`` file. To make ``xtensa-esp32-elf`` available for all terminal sessions, add the following line to your ``~/.profile`` file::
Alternatively, you may create an alias for the above command. This way you can get the toolchain only when you need it. To do this, add different line to your ``~/.profile`` file::
If you have ``/bin/bash`` set as login shell, and both ``.bash_profile`` and ``.profile`` exist, then update ``.bash_profile`` instead. In CentOS, ``alias`` should set in ``.bashrc``.
With some Linux distributions you may get the ``Failed to open port /dev/ttyUSB0`` error message when flashing the ESP32. :ref:`This can be solved by adding the current user to the dialout group<linux-dialout-group>`.
Before installing these packages you might need to add the author's public key to your keyring as described in the "Comments" section at the links above.
CentOS 7 and older is providing Python 2.7 as the default interpreter.
Python 3 is recommended instead and can be installed in old distributions as follows, or please consult the documentation of your operating system for other recommended ways to achieve this::
Ubuntu (version 18.04 and older) and Debian (version 9 and older) are still providing Python 2.7 as the default interpreter.
Python 3 is recommended instead and can be installed in old distributions as follows, or please consult the documentation of your operating system for other recommended ways to achieve this::
Python 2 reached its `end of life <https://www.python.org/doc/sunset-python-2/>`_ and support for it in ESP-IDF will be removed soon. Please install Python 3.6 or higher. Instructions for popular Linux distributions are listed above.
