Observed Signal · Jul 27, 2026 · Deprecation · Source: DEV Community · Impact: 4/5 · Sentiment: Negative
Amazon Linux 2023 removes Python 2, breaking legacy scripts
Amazon Linux 2023 does not include any Python 2 packages, so scripts and tools that call python2 (or use a #!/usr/bin/env python2 shebang) will fail on startup. The article explains why the interpreter is missing, confirms AL2023 ships Python 3 (default 3.9 with versioned 3.11/3.12 available), and provides remediation steps: update shebangs to python3, install the required Python 3 minor version via dnf, replace explicit python2/pip2 invocations, and test for silent failures. The author frames this as one item in the broader AL2→AL2023 migration checklist and points to an EOLkits scanner for auditing instances.
A base OS image change from a major cloud vendor (Amazon Linux 2023 removing Python 2) impacts provisioning, automation, and legacy tooling across cloud deployments and therefore requires coordinated migration planning.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Amazon Linux 2023 does not provide any Python 2 package (no python2 or python27 available via dnf).
- Amazon Linux 2023 ships Python 3 (default python3 is currently 3.9; versioned packages like python3.11 and python3.12 are available).
- There is no supported way to install Python 2 on Amazon Linux 2023; the recommended path is to port code to Python 3.
- Recommended migration steps: change shebangs to python3, install a tested Python 3 minor version via dnf, replace python2/pip2 calls with python3/pip3, and verify no silent failures.
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