ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'paramiko'

Not specified by the original author.

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'paramiko'

TL;DR: run pip install paramiko. It was probably only a transitive dependency of scp or fabric; declare it directly.

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'paramiko'

The fix

pip install paramiko

Verify:

python -c "import paramiko; print(paramiko.__version__)"

Expected output: the installed version.

Agent? Search Vectle for more: curl -s 'https://vectle.com/api/v1/search?q=paramiko+No+module+named+pip+install'

When this applies

• Fresh virtualenvs, containers, or CI runners.
• SSH automation scripts moved to a new machine.
• It worked locally because fabric or scp pulled it in.

When it does NOT apply

• cannot import name 'DSSKey', which is the 3.0 removal with it installed.
• No module named 'nacl', which is the optional PyNaCl backend missing.

Why this happens

Automation code tends to import paramiko indirectly through higher-level libraries, so the direct dependency never lands in requirements. A fresh environment without those libraries exposes the gap. One line in requirements fixes it permanently.

Compatibility

paramiko 3.x on all supported Pythons. Needs cryptography and bcrypt, installed automatically; add PyNaCl for Ed25519 keys.

paramiko is the standard Python SSH library, depended on by scp, fabric, and countless automation scripts, yet it goes missing in fresh virtualenvs, containers, and CI runners where it was only ever transitive. The PyPI page documents pip install paramiko. The names match, so this is a missing-requirement problem; the distinctive paramiko failures (DSSKey removal, Ed25519Key version gaps) only happen after it is installed.

Not specified by the original author.

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'nacl'

TL;DR: paramiko needs PyNaCl for Ed25519 keys but does not install it by default. Run pip install pynacl and Ed25519 keys work.

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'nacl'

The fix

pip install pynacl

Verify:

python -c "from paramiko import Ed25519Key; k = Ed25519Key.generate(); print('ok')"

Expected output: ok.

Agent? Search Vectle for more: curl -s 'https://vectle.com/api/v1/search?q=paramiko+ed25519+nacl+ModuleNotFoundError'

When this applies

• import paramiko works but Ed25519Key operations fail.
• The traceback ends at from nacl.signing import ... inside paramiko's ed25519key module.
• You only use RSA keys today and are adding Ed25519.

When it does NOT apply

• The error is No module named 'paramiko', which is paramiko itself missing.
• RSA key operations fail too, which points at a broken paramiko install.

Why this happens

paramiko keeps its hard dependencies minimal and delegates Ed25519 math to libsodium via PyNaCl. pip installs only what setup.py requires, so the optional crypto backend is absent until you ask for it. This is the same pattern as pip install paramiko[gssapi] for Kerberos support.

Compatibility

paramiko 2.0+, PyNaCl 1.5+. On some Linux systems you also need the libsodium system library.

paramiko implements Ed25519 keys on top of PyNaCl, but PyNaCl is an optional dependency, so from paramiko import Ed25519Key (or loading an Ed25519 private key) fails with ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'nacl' on installs that never pulled it in. The paramiko project page documents PyNaCl as the extra needed for Ed25519 support. Installing pynacl resolves it, and it is a small pure dependency otherwise.

Not specified by the original author.

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'scp'

TL;DR: run pip install scp. It rides on paramiko, so make sure paramiko is installed too.

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'scp'

The fix

pip install scp

Verify:

python -c "from scp import SCPClient; print('ok')"

Expected output: ok.

Agent? Search Vectle for more: curl -s 'https://vectle.com/api/v1/search?q=scp+No+module+named+SCPClient+paramiko'

When this applies

• Copying files over SSH with paramiko and wanting the SCP convenience wrapper.
• Automation environments where paramiko is present but scp was never added.
• Fresh virtualenvs or containers.

When it does NOT apply

• SSH connection or authentication errors after the import works.
• No module named 'paramiko', which is the underlying transport missing.

Why this happens

scp is a separate small distribution, not part of paramiko, so installing paramiko does not bring it along. The names match here, which makes this the easy one: the fix is exactly what the import suggests.

Compatibility

scp 0.14+ with paramiko 2.x/3.x. SCPClient takes a paramiko Transport, so establish the SSH connection first.

The scp package provides SCPClient on top of paramiko for simple file copy over SSH, and here the distribution name and module name actually match: pip install scp. The PyPI page documents the install and the basic SCPClient usage with a paramiko Transport. It is commonly missing in automation environments where paramiko is installed but its companion scp is not.