pyudev

library0.24.4pypypi✓ verified 25d ago

pyudev is an LGPL-licensed, pure Python binding for libudev, the device and hardware management library for Linux. It provides functionality to enumerate devices, query their properties and attributes, and monitor device events, including asynchronous monitoring with various GUI toolkit integrations. The current version is 0.24.4 and it supports CPython 3.9 and newer. It is actively maintained with development on GitHub.

devops

pip install pyudev

github ↗package ↗

INSTALL

IMPORT

SIG · PYUDEV

pyudev

devopspythonv0.24.4

Install

1.5s avg

Import

51ms

Disk

16MB

Pass rate

10/ 10

Env Coverage10 / 10

glibc

3.9–3.13

musl

3.9–3.13

Install & Compatibility

Where this runs

tested against v0.24.4 · pip install

no network on importno background threads

Install × environment matrix

Each cell = how many times install + import succeeded across repeated harness runs. Partial = flaky.
glibc = Debian/Ubuntu slim · musl = Alpine Linux

musl

py 3.10–3.95 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 0.0s · import 0.048s · 18.2MB

glibc

py 3.10–3.95 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 1.5s · import 0.054s · 19MB

16MB installed

● package 16MB

Code

Verified usage

Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.

Context

✓ from pyudev import Context

Device

✓ from pyudev import Device

Monitor

✓ from pyudev import Monitor

MonitorObserver

✓ from pyudev import MonitorObserver

Devices

✓ from pyudev import Devices

This quickstart initializes a udev context, then demonstrates enumerating all block device partitions and printing their file system labels. It also shows how to set up a monitor to listen for new USB device 'add' events in real-time.

import pyudev # Create a udev context context = pyudev.Context() # Enumerate all block devices that are partitions and print their labels print('Listing partitions:') for device in context.list_devices(subsystem='block', DEVTYPE='partition'): # Use device.get() for properties, providing a default for safety label = device.get('ID_FS_LABEL', 'unlabeled partition') print(f" {device.device_node}: {label}") # Monitor for new USB devices (example) print('\nMonitoring for new USB devices (Ctrl+C to stop):') monitor = pyudev.Monitor.from_netlink(context) monitor.filter_by(subsystem='usb') monitor.start() # Start the monitor to receive events for action, device in monitor: if action == 'add': print(f" Added USB device: {device.sys_name} ({device.get('ID_VENDOR_FROM_DATABASE', 'Unknown Vendor')})")

Debug

Known issues

gotchaUsing a `Device` object in a boolean context (e.g., `if device:`) can yield `False` if the device has no udev properties, even if the device itself is valid. This is due to `Device` inheriting from `Mapping`. Explicitly check for `None` or specific properties instead.

fix

Avoid `if device:`. Instead, use `if device is not None:` or `if 'PROPERTY_NAME' in device:` if checking for specific data.

affects: >=0.21.0

deprecatedAccessing udev properties directly via `Device` object indexing (e.g., `device['PROPERTY']`) is deprecated since version 0.21.0. The `Device` class no longer behaves like a mapping for properties.

fix

Use the `Device.get('PROPERTY_NAME', default_value)` method or `device.properties.get('PROPERTY_NAME', default_value)` instead.

affects: >=0.21.0

gotchaDo not use object identity (`is` operator) to compare `Device` objects (e.g., `device1 is device2`). `pyudev` may create multiple `Device` objects that refer to the same underlying udev device. Compare them by value using `==` or `!=` instead.

fix

Use `if device1 == device2:` for comparison.

affects: All

deprecatedMethods like `Device.from_sys_path()`, `Device.from_name()`, and `Device.from_device_file()` were deprecated in version 0.18.

fix

Use the static methods on the `Devices` class, such as `pyudev.Devices.from_sys_path(context, path)`, `pyudev.Devices.from_name(context, subsystem, name)`, or `pyudev.Devices.from_device_file(context, filename)`.

affects: >=0.18

Errors

Common errors & fixes

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pyudev'

The `pyudev` library has not been installed in your current Python environment.

fix

pip install pyudev

ImportError: libudev.so.1: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

The underlying `libudev` shared library, which `pyudev` depends on, is not installed or cannot be found on your system.

fix

Install the `libudev` development package for your Linux distribution (e.g., `sudo apt-get install libudev-dev` on Debian/Ubuntu, `sudo yum install libudev-devel` on RHEL/Fedora).

PermissionError: [Errno 13] Permission denied

Your current user lacks the necessary read/write permissions to access udev interfaces or specific device files.

fix

Run the script with `sudo`, or add your user to the `plugdev` or `dialout` groups (e.g., `sudo usermod -a -G plugdev $USER` then log out and back in).

AttributeError: 'Device' object has no attribute 'vendor_id'

`pyudev.Device` objects do not have direct attributes like `vendor_id`; these properties are stored in the `properties` dictionary.

fix

Access device properties using the `device.properties` dictionary with the correct uppercase key, e.g., `device.properties.get('ID_VENDOR_ID')`.

Upgrade

Version history

0.24.4latest on PyPI · released Oct 8, 2025

Audit

Dependencies

libudevrequiredCore system library that pyudev binds to. Must be installed on the host system (e.g., via apt, dnf, or pacman).

PyQt4/PyQt5/PySide/pygobject/wxPythonoptionalOptional dependencies for integrating device monitoring into respective GUI toolkit event loops.

Agent activity

5 hits · last 30 days

node

Resources

githubhttp://github.com/pyudev/pyudev ↗

packagehttps://pypi.org/project/pyudev/ ↗