Certbot command fails with python errors

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1

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My domain is:
defluris.com
I ran this command:
certbot --version
It produced this output:
certbot --version
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/snap/certbot/4325/bin/certbot", line 5, in
from certbot.main import main
File "/snap/certbot/4325/lib/python3.12/site-packages/certbot/main.py", line 6, in
from certbot._internal import main as internal_main
File "/snap/certbot/4325/lib/python3.12/site-packages/certbot/_internal/main.py", line 20, in
import josepy as jose
File "/snap/certbot/4325/lib/python3.12/site-packages/josepy/init.py", line 40, in
from josepy.json_util import (
File "/snap/certbot/4325/lib/python3.12/site-packages/josepy/json_util.py", line 24, in
from OpenSSL import crypto
File "/snap/certbot/4325/lib/python3.12/site-packages/OpenSSL/init.py", line 8, in
from OpenSSL import SSL, crypto
File "/snap/certbot/4325/lib/python3.12/site-packages/OpenSSL/SSL.py", line 15, in
from cryptography import x509
File "/snap/certbot/4325/lib/python3.12/site-packages/cryptography/x509/init.py", line 7, in
from cryptography.x509 import certificate_transparency, verification
File "/snap/certbot/4325/lib/python3.12/site-packages/cryptography/x509/verification.py", line 10, in
from cryptography.x509.general_name import DNSName, IPAddress
File "/snap/certbot/4325/lib/python3.12/site-packages/cryptography/x509/general_name.py", line 10, in
from email.utils import parseaddr
File "/home/charlie/email.py", line 3, in
from acme.client import ClientV2
File "/snap/certbot/4325/lib/python3.12/site-packages/acme/client.py", line 4, in
from email.utils import parsedate_tz
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'email.utils'; 'email' is not a package
My web server is (include version):
httpd-2.4.37-65
The operating system my web server runs on is (include version):
x86_64-linux AlmaLinux release 8.10 kernel: 4.18.0-553.36.1.el8_10.x86_64
My hosting provider, if applicable, is:
Linode
I can login to a root shell on my machine (yes or no, or I don't know):
yes
I'm using a control panel to manage my site (no, or provide the name and version of the control panel):
No
The version of my client is (e.g. output of certbot --version or certbot-auto --version if you're using Certbot):
Can't tell as command won't work, but should be the latest

Certbot command was working fine until snapd updated on 1/31/25 to:

snap 2.67-0.el8
snapd 2.67-0.el8
series 16
almalinux 8.10
kernel 4.18.0-553.36.1.el8_10.x86_64

2

What a weird error. Because email is a built-in Python module?

I noticed this just above the last error message:

Somehow Certbot seems to import that email.py file I think? Are you running Certbot from your home directory by any chance? Try running Certbot from another dir or rename that email.py file and try again.

3

Thank you for your answer especially as it was correct.

I was running certbot from the home directory. After changing to another one, the command worked fine. After renaming email.py, the command worked in the home directory as well.

4

I can't reproduce it on my non-snap system, but I think it's a good idea to report this issue at GitHub · Where software is built. :slight_smile:

5

Will do as you suggest.

The email.py file contains:

#!/usr/bin/env python

from acme.client import ClientV2
from acme.client import ClientNetwork
from acme import messages
import josepy as jose
from glob import glob

with open(glob('/etc/letsencrypt/accounts/acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory/*/private_key.json')[0], 'rb') as f:
key = jose.JWK.json_loads(f.read())

with open(glob('/etc/letsencrypt/accounts/acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory/*/regr.json')[0], 'r') as f:
regr = messages.RegistrationResource.json_loads(f.read())

net = ClientNetwork(key)
directory = messages.Directory.from_json(net.get("https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory").json())
client = ClientV2(directory, net)

client.net.account = regr
resp = client._post(regr.uri, None)

print(resp.json()['contact'])

6

Not reproducable at my server (but that one doesn't have snap):

"email.py" [New] 22L, 749B written
server ~ # certbot --version
certbot 3.1.0.dev0
server ~ #

Maybe other volunteers (or devs @ the Github repo) using snap can reproduce it :slight_smile: