Apache mod_wsgi with conda python 3 -- can't load module

Question

I recently posted this question to clear a hurdle in launching a Flask webapp on my Amazon ec2 RedHat 7 instance.

In brief, I am attempting to launch a Flask webapp via an Anaconda environment using Python 3.6. Currently, I have a simple Hello World Flask application in /var/www/html/example, following the instructions found here. I was able to run this script previously, using the pre-installed Python 2.7.5 (found at /usr/bin/python), and since have been attempting to run the same application using Python 3.6.

I have been referring to multiple posts regarding similar issues, including this, this, and this, but I am still a bit lost.

I have configured mod_wsgi via the conda environment (for 3.6).

Some relevant system information:

$ which python
~/anaconda3/envs/myenv/bin/python (abspath is /home/ec2-user/anaconda3/envs/myenv/bin/python)
$ python -V
Python 3.6.2 :: Continuum Analytics, Inc.
$ which mod_wsgi-express
~/anaconda3/envs/myenv/bin/mod_wsgi-express
$ mod_wsgi-express module-config
LoadModule wsgi_module "/home/ec2-user/anaconda3/envs/myenv/lib/python3.6/site-packages/mod_wsgi/server/mod_wsgi-py36.cpython-36m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so"
WSGIPythonHome "/home/ec2-user/anaconda3/envs/myenv"

The contents of file /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf:

DocumentRoot "/var/www/html"
WSGIDaemonProcess myenv python-path=/home/ec2-user/anaconda3/envs/myenv/lib/python3.6/site-packages
WSGIScriptAlias / /var/www/html/examples/example.wsgi process-group=myenv application-group=%{GLOBAL}
LoadModule wsgi_module "/home/ec2-user/anaconda3/envs/myenv/lib/python3.6/site-packages/mod_wsgi/server/mod_wsgi-py36.cpython-36m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so"
WSGIPythonHome /home/ec2-user/anaconda3/envs/myenv

<Directory example>
    WSGIProcessGroup myenv
    WSGIApplicationGroup %{GLOBAL}
    Order deny,allow
    Allow from all
</Directory>

Upon attempting to run sudo apachectl restart, I receive this output of systemctl status httpd.service:

httpd.service - The Apache HTTP Server
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/httpd.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled)
Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Sun 2018-04-08 21:41:38 UTC; 3min 7s ago
  Docs: man:httpd(8)
         man:apachectl(8)
  Process: 20541 ExecStop=/bin/kill -WINCH ${MAINPID} (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
  Process: 20540 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/httpd $OPTIONS -DFOREGROUND (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
 Main PID: 20540 (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)

Apr 08 21:41:38 [ip].compute.internal systemd[1]: Starting The Apache HTTP Server...
Apr 08 21:41:38 [ip].compute.internal httpd[20540]: httpd: Syntax error on line 125 of /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf: Cannot load /home/ec2-user/anaconda3/envs/myenv/lib/python3.6/site-packages/mod_wsgi/server/mod_wsgi-py36.cpython-36m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so into server: : /home/ec2-user/anaconda3/envs/myenv/lib/python3.6/site-packages/mod_wsgi/server/mod_wsgi-py36.cpython-36m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so: cannot open shared object file: Permission denied

The file in question (mod_wsgi-py36.cpython-36m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so) has executable permissions for all users.

I've also noticed that /var/log/httpd/error_log is outputting ImportError: No module named site, despite the fact that I am not attempting to import the site module in any Python file within /var/www/html/example.

Answer 1

SOLUTION: Realized that this error was being thrown because my installation of Python was in my home directory. Thus, Apache didn't have permission to access the environment.

To solve this, I did the following:

Removed my installation of anaconda3:

[ec2-user@ip] ~ $ rm -rf anaconda3/
# -- be sure to remove directories .conda/ and .anaconda_backup/ -- #
# -- these should be in the same directory as the anaconda3/ directory -- #

Re-installed anaconda3 as root in directory /usr/local (accessible by all users, works with Apache):

[ec2-user@ip] ~ $ sudo su -
[root@ip] ~ $ cd /usr/local
[root@ip] ~ $ wget https://repo.continuum.io/archive/Anaconda3-5.1.0-Linux-x86_64.sh 
                  # ^ whichever version you want. Go to https://repo.continuum.io/archive/
[root@ip] ~ $ bash Anaconda3-5.1.0-Linux-x86_64.sh
    # specify your path when prompted --> /usr/local/anaconda3
    # note that directory /usr/local/anaconda3 cannot exist prior to running the command

Add the line export PATH='/usr/local/anaconda3/bin:$PATH' to the end of your /root/.bashrc file AS THE ROOT USER! (edit the old anaconda3 path if it already exists at the end of this file)

[root@ip] ~ $ vi /root/.bashrc # -- add/edit the line here -- #
[root@ip] ~ $ source /root/.bashrc

Verify that the root user is using the right version of Python:

[root@ip] ~ $ which python
/usr/local/anaconda3/bin/python

Exit as root user:

[root@ip] ~ $ exit

Verify that the right version of Python works as default user:

[ec2-user@ip] ~ $ which python
/usr/local/anaconda3/bin/python

If this prints /usr/bin/python or something other than /usr/local/anaconda3/bin/python, make sure you add the PATH I specified above to your user's ~/.bashrc file (just like you did as the root user)

NOTE: all new installations/environment configurations must now be done as ROOT. I.e.:

[ec2-user@ip] ~ $ sudo su -
[root@ip] ~ $ conda install flask
...
[root@ip] ~ $ exit
# -- open Python to verify that your installation worked -- #
[ec2-user@ip] ~ $ python
Python 3.6.4 |Anaconda, Inc.| (default, Jan 16 2018, 18:10:19)
[GCC 7.2.0] on linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import flask
# -- shouldn't throw an ImportError -- #
>>> exit()

If anyone stumbles upon this in the future, COMMENT! I'd love to be able to offer some help.

Good luck!