For RPM based systems, simply install the supplied package in the usual manner. If you download the tar archive, the process is:
1 Unzip/untar the ipython-XXX.tar.gz file wherever you want (XXX is the version number). It will make a directory called ipython-XXX. Change into that directory where you will find the files README and setup.py. Once you’ve completed the installation, you can safely remove this directory.
2 If you are installing over a previous installation of version 0.2.0 or earlier, first remove your $HOME/.ipython directory, since the configuration file format has changed somewhat (the ‘=’ were removed from all option specifications). Or you can call ipython with the -upgrade option and it will do this automatically for you.
3 IPython uses distutils, so you can install it by simply typing at the system prompt (don’t type the $)
$ sudo python setup.py install Note that this assumes you have root access to your machine. If you don’t have root access or don’t want IPython to go in the default python directories, you’ll need to use the -home option (or -prefix). For example: $ python setup.py install -home $HOME/local will install1 IPython into $HOME/local and its subdirectories (creating them if necessary). You can type $ python setup.py -help for more details. Note that if you change the default location for -home at installation, IPython may end up installed at a location which is not part of your $PYTHONPATH environment variable. In this case, you’ll need to configure this variable to include the actual directory where the IPython/ directory ended (typically the value you give to -home plus /lib/python).