Install preferred version only if package is not already installed.

runhouse/resources/packages/package.py

@@ -46,10 +46,11 @@ class Package(Resource):
 
     def __init__(
         self,
-        name: str = None,
-        install_method: str = None,
-        install_target: Union[str, Folder] = None,
-        install_args: str = None,
+        name: Optional[str] = None,
+        install_method: Optional[str] = None,
+        install_target: Optional[Union[str, Folder]] = None,
+        install_args: Optional[str] = None,
+        preferred_version: Optional[str] = None,
         dryrun: bool = False,
         **kwargs,  # We have this here to ignore extra arguments when calling from from_config
     ):
@@ -66,6 +67,7 @@ def __init__(
         self.install_method = install_method
         self.install_target = install_target
         self.install_args = install_args
+        self.preferred_version = preferred_version
 
     def config(self, condensed=True):
         # If the package is just a simple Package.from_string string, no
@@ -78,6 +80,7 @@ def config(self, condensed=True):
             self.install_target, condensed
         )
         config["install_args"] = self.install_args
+        config["preferred_version"] = self.preferred_version
         return config
 
     def __str__(self):
@@ -225,6 +228,25 @@ def _install(self, env: Union[str, "Env"] = None, cluster: "Cluster" = None):
                 return
 
         if self.install_method == "pip":
+
+            # If this is a generic pip package, with no version pinned, we want to check if there is a version
+            # already installed. If there is, then we ignore preferred version and leave the existing version.
+            # The user can always force a version install by doing `numpy==2.0.0` for example. Else, we install
+            # the preferred version, that matches their local.
+            if (
+                is_python_package_string(self.install_target)
+                and self.preferred_version is not None
+            ):
+                # Check if this is installed
+                retcode = run_setup_command(
+                    f"python -c \"import importlib.util; exit(0) if importlib.util.find_spec('{self.install_target}') else exit(1)\"",
+                    cluster=cluster,
+                )[0]
+                if retcode != 0:
+                    self.install_target = (
+                        f"{self.install_target}=={self.preferred_version}"
+                    )
+
             install_cmd = self._pip_install_cmd(env=env, cluster=cluster)
             logger.info(f"Running via install_method pip: {install_cmd}")
             retcode = run_setup_command(install_cmd, cluster=cluster)[0]
@@ -486,6 +508,7 @@ def from_string(specifier: str, dryrun=False):
         # If we are just defaulting to pip, attempt to install the same version of the package
         # that is already installed locally
         # Check if the target is only letters, nothing else. This means its a string like 'numpy'.
+        preferred_version = None
         if install_method == "pip" and is_python_package_string(target):
             locally_installed_version = find_locally_installed_version(target)
             if locally_installed_version:
@@ -494,6 +517,10 @@ def from_string(specifier: str, dryrun=False):
                 if local_install_path and Path(local_install_path).exists():
                     target = Folder(path=local_install_path, dryrun=True)
 
+                else:
+                    # We want to preferrably install this version of the package server-side
+                    preferred_version = locally_installed_version
+
         # "Local" install method is a special case where we just copy a local folder and add to path
         if install_method == "local":
             return Package(
@@ -505,6 +532,7 @@ def from_string(specifier: str, dryrun=False):
                 install_target=target,
                 install_args=args,
                 install_method=install_method,
+                preferred_version=preferred_version,
                 dryrun=dryrun,
             )
         elif install_method == "rh":

tests/test_resources/test_data/test_package.py

@@ -8,10 +8,10 @@
 from runhouse.utils import run_with_logs
 
 
-def get_plotly_version():
-    import plotly
+def get_bs4_version():
+    import bs4
 
-    return plotly.__version__
+    return bs4.__version__
 
 
 class TestPackage(tests.test_resources.test_resource.TestResource):
@@ -151,13 +151,12 @@ def test_local_reqs_on_cluster(self, cluster, local_package):
         assert remote_package.install_target.system == cluster
 
     @pytest.mark.level("local")
-    @pytest.mark.skip("Feature deprecated for now")
     def test_local_package_version_gets_installed(self, cluster):
-        run_with_logs("pip install plotly==5.9.0")
-        env = rh.env(name="temp_env", reqs=["plotly"])
+        run_with_logs("pip install beautifulsoup4==4.11.1")
+        env = rh.env(name="temp_env", reqs=["beautifulsoup4"])
 
-        remote_fn = rh.function(get_plotly_version, env=env).to(cluster)
-        assert remote_fn() == "5.9.0"
+        remote_fn = rh.function(get_bs4_version, env=env).to(cluster)
+        assert remote_fn() == "4.11.1"
 
     # --------- basic torch index-url testing ---------
     @pytest.mark.level("unit")