Fix issue related to the installation of Python

.github/coverage/cpp.develop.coverage_report.txt

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ Directory: ..
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 File                                       Lines    Exec  Cover   Missing
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-client/cpp/CSVParserUtil.cpp                 345     291    84%   37-45,48,50,239,241,264-265,269-270,286,292,304,313-314,317,323,331-332,335,345,351,363,368,373,379-387,389,425,435-437,474-476,478,503-506
+client/cpp/CSVParserUtil.cpp                 345     290    84%   37-45,48,50,239,241,264-265,269-270,286,292,304,313-314,317,323,331-332,335,345,351,363,368,373,379-387,389,425,435-437,450,474-476,478,503-506
 client/cpp/VDMSClient.cc                      20      20   100%
 src/AutoDeleteNode.cc                          9       8    88%   40
 src/BackendNeo4j.cc                          121       0     0%   4,6-17,20,24,29-41,46-47,52,55-58,61-62,64-70,73,78,82-83,85-86,89,92,95-96,98,102,104,106-109,111,114-116,118,122,131-132,138,140,142-144,147,150-152,155-159,161-175,178,182,184,186,195,197-200,204-205,207-208,211-215,220,224-226,228
@@ -57,5 +57,5 @@ utils/src/comm/Exception.cc                    6       0     0%   35-40
 utils/src/stats/SystemStats.cc               250     249    99%   453
 utils/src/timers/TimerMap.cc                  82      75    91%   126,151,153,155-158
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-TOTAL                                      10238    6537    63%
+TOTAL                                      10238    6536    63%
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

.github/coverage/cpp.develop.coverage_value.txt

@@ -1 +1 @@
-63.8504
+63.8406

.github/scripts/Dockerfile.checkin

@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ RUN git clone https://github.com/opencv/opencv.git /dependencies/opencv && \
 
 # VALIJSON
 # hadolint ignore=DL3003
-RUN python -m pip install --no-cache-dir "numpy>=${NUMPY_MIN_VERSION},<2.0.0" && \
+RUN python3 -m pip install --no-cache-dir "numpy>=${NUMPY_MIN_VERSION},<2.0.0" && \
     git clone --branch ${VALIJSON_VERSION} https://github.com/tristanpenman/valijson.git /dependencies/valijson && \
         cd /dependencies/valijson && cp -r include/* /usr/local/include/ && \
         mkdir -p /opt/dist/usr/local/include/ && cp -r include/* /opt/dist/usr/local/include/
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ RUN python -m pip install --no-cache-dir "numpy>=${NUMPY_MIN_VERSION},<2.0.0" &&
 # hadolint ignore=DL3003,SC2086
 RUN git clone --branch ${FAISS_VERSION} https://github.com/facebookresearch/faiss.git /dependencies/faiss && \
         cd /dependencies/faiss && mkdir build && cd build && \
-            cmake -DFAISS_ENABLE_GPU=OFF -DPython_EXECUTABLE=$(which python) \
+            cmake -DFAISS_ENABLE_GPU=OFF -DPython_EXECUTABLE=$(which python3) \
             -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release .. && \
             make ${BUILD_THREADS} && make install DESTDIR=/opt/dist && make install && \
     git clone https://github.com/tonyzhang617/FLINNG.git /dependencies/FLINNG && \

.github/scripts/run_coverage_py.sh

@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ cd /vdms/tests/python
 
 ./run_python_tests.sh
 ./run_python_aws_tests.sh -u ${AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID} -p ${AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY}
-python -m coverage report -m 2>&1 | tee /vdms/tests/coverage_report/python.new.coverage_report.txt
-python -m coverage xml -o /vdms/tests/coverage_report/python.new.coverage_report.xml
+python3 -m coverage report -m 2>&1 | tee /vdms/tests/coverage_report/python.new.coverage_report.txt
+python3 -m coverage xml -o /vdms/tests/coverage_report/python.new.coverage_report.xml
 
 echo "DONE"
 

.github/scripts/setup_vdms.sh

@@ -136,8 +136,9 @@ fi
 
 
 # SETUP PYTHON VERSION
-version_exists=$(echo "$(python${PYTHON_BASE} --version | cut -d ' ' -f 2)" || echo false)
-if [ "${version_exists}" != "${PYTHON_VERSION}" ]
+version_exists=$(echo "$(python3 --version | cut -d ' ' -f 2)" || echo false)
+# Compare the current version of Python with the $PYTHON_VERSION
+if $(dpkg --compare-versions "${version_exists}" "lt" "${PYTHON_VERSION}")
 then
     echo "Installing python ${PYTHON_VERSION}..."
     apt update -y
@@ -147,10 +148,22 @@ then
     tar -xzf Python-${PYTHON_VERSION}.tgz
     cd Python-${PYTHON_VERSION}
     ./configure --enable-optimizations && make -j && make altinstall
+
+    # Update the path to where the new Python version is installed
+
+    # if the new version of Python is installed in /usr/local/bin
+    if [ -f "/usr/local/bin/python${PYTHON_BASE}" ]; then
+        # and there is already a symbolic link pointing to /usr/bin/python3
+        if [ -f "/usr/bin/python3" ]; then
+            # Remove that outdated path to Python3
+            rm /usr/bin/python3
+            # and update the new path to Python3
+            ln -s /usr/local/bin/python${PYTHON_BASE} /usr/bin/python3
+        fi
+    fi
 else
     echo "python ${PYTHON_VERSION} already installed"
 fi
-alias python=$(which python${PYTHON_BASE})
 alias python3=$(which python${PYTHON_BASE})
 
 python${PYTHON_BASE} -m venv ${VIRTUAL_ENV}
@@ -159,7 +172,7 @@ export PATH="$VIRTUAL_ENV/bin:$PATH"
 
 if [ "${BUILD_COVERAGE}" = "on" ]; then
     apt-get install -y --no-install-suggests --no-install-recommends gdb
-    python -m pip install --no-cache-dir "gcovr>=7.0"
+    python3 -m pip install --no-cache-dir "gcovr>=7.0"
     curl -L -o ${WORKSPACE}/minio https://dl.min.io/server/minio/release/linux-amd64/minio
     chmod +x ${WORKSPACE}/minio
     mkdir -p ${WORKSPACE}/minio_files/minio-bucket
@@ -237,7 +250,7 @@ make install
 
 
 # INSTALL PYTHON PACKAGES
-python -m pip install --no-cache-dir "numpy>=${NUMPY_MIN_VERSION},<2.0.0" "coverage>=7.3.1" \
+python3 -m pip install --no-cache-dir "numpy>=${NUMPY_MIN_VERSION},<2.0.0" "coverage>=7.3.1" \
     "protobuf==4.${PROTOBUF_VERSION}" "cryptography>=42.0.7"
 
 
@@ -251,7 +264,7 @@ cp -r include/* /usr/local/include/
 git clone --branch ${FAISS_VERSION} https://github.com/facebookresearch/faiss.git $VDMS_DEP_DIR/faiss
 cd $VDMS_DEP_DIR/faiss
 mkdir build && cd build
-cmake -DFAISS_ENABLE_GPU=OFF -DPython_EXECUTABLE=$(which python) \
+cmake -DFAISS_ENABLE_GPU=OFF -DPython_EXECUTABLE=$(which python3) \
     -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ..
 make ${BUILD_THREADS}
 make install

INSTALL.md

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 Here is the detailed process of installation of VDMS dependencies.
 
 ## Dependencies
-To install VDMS, we must install the necessary dependencies via apt, github, and pip (Python 3.9+).
+To install VDMS, we must install the necessary dependencies via apt, github, and pip (Python 3.12+).
 
 ### Install Debian/Ubuntu Packages
 Here we will install the Debian/Ubuntu packages.
@@ -58,8 +58,8 @@ mkdir -p $VDMS_DEP_DIR
 
 
 #### Python3 Packages
-It is expected that you have Python3.9 or higher installed on your system.
-All python calls will use Python3.9+; therefore you may find it convenient to set alias for python.
+It is expected that you have Python3.12 or higher installed on your system.
+All python calls will use Python3.12+; therefore you may find it convenient to set alias for python.
 Here we will install Python 3.12.3 from the Python website.
 ```bash
 PYTHON_VERSION=3.12.3
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ If you prefer, you can install the the Python 3 version available on the OS plat
 sudo apt-get install -y python3-dev python3-pip
 ```
 
-***NOTE:*** If multiple versions of Python 3 are present on your system, verify you are using Python3.9 or higher. You can specify the specific verison and set an alias for `python` and/or `python3` to easily use the desired python version. This can be done using the following:
+***NOTE:*** If multiple versions of Python 3 are present on your system, verify you are using Python3.12 or higher. You can specify the specific verison and set an alias for `python` and/or `python3` to easily use the desired python version. This can be done using the following:
 ```bash
 alias python=/usr/bin/python3.x
 alias python3=/usr/bin/python3.x

docker/base/Dockerfile

@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ RUN git clone https://github.com/opencv/opencv.git /dependencies/opencv && \
 
 # VALIJSON
 # hadolint ignore=DL3003
-RUN python -m pip install --no-cache-dir "numpy>=${NUMPY_MIN_VERSION},<2.0.0" && \
+RUN python3 -m pip install --no-cache-dir "numpy>=${NUMPY_MIN_VERSION},<2.0.0" && \
     git clone --branch ${VALIJSON_VERSION} https://github.com/tristanpenman/valijson.git /dependencies/valijson && \
         cd /dependencies/valijson && cp -r include/* /usr/local/include/ && \
         mkdir -p /opt/dist/usr/local/include/ && cp -r include/* /opt/dist/usr/local/include/
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ RUN python -m pip install --no-cache-dir "numpy>=${NUMPY_MIN_VERSION},<2.0.0" &&
 # hadolint ignore=DL3003,SC2086
 RUN git clone --branch ${FAISS_VERSION} https://github.com/facebookresearch/faiss.git /dependencies/faiss && \
         cd /dependencies/faiss && mkdir build && cd build && \
-            cmake -DFAISS_ENABLE_GPU=OFF -DPython_EXECUTABLE=$(which python) \
+            cmake -DFAISS_ENABLE_GPU=OFF -DPython_EXECUTABLE=$(which python3) \
             -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release .. && \
             make ${BUILD_THREADS} && make install DESTDIR=/opt/dist && make install && \
     git clone https://github.com/tonyzhang617/FLINNG.git /dependencies/FLINNG && \