Lion Cipher Lab

Install Python 3 and pip — and prove they work — on Windows, macOS and Linux

• Foundations
• Beginner
• ~35 min
• Free · no account required

Why it matters

Python is the language most security tooling is written in, and pip is how that tooling gets installed. Hundreds of labs on this site — parsing logs, scoring indicators, automating threat intel, poking at AI apps — start from the assumption that `python3` and `pip` already work on your machine. This lab removes that assumption. It also teaches the one habit that prevents most "it worked on my machine" pain later: putting every project in its own virtual environment. Do this once, properly, and the rest of the catalog opens up.

What you'll learn

• installing Python 3
• using pip
• virtual environments (venv)
• the PATH and which program actually runs
• reading and fixing install errors

Steps in this lab

1. What Python and pip are, in one paragraph
2. First, check whether you already have it (every OS)
3. Windows: install from python.org and tick the one box that matters
4. Windows trap: `python` opens the Microsoft Store
5. macOS: use python.org or Homebrew — not the one Apple bundled
6. Linux: install with your distro's package manager
7. Prove Python and pip are wired together
8. Make a virtual environment — the habit every lab here relies on
9. Install one package inside it, then import it
10. The errors you'll actually hit, and their exact fixes
11. Prove it: a five-line script that tells you what you're running
12. What you just did — and why it matters

Open the full interactive lab →