CentOS/8/Python 3.14

Python 3.14 with OpenSSL 3

Python 3.14 + OpenSSL 3.x on CentOS 8

This guide installs:

• OpenSSL 3.x in /opt/openssl-3
• Python 3.14 in /opt/python3.14
• Modern TLS support for Python ssl, urllib, requests, and aiohttp
• Isolation from the OS Python and OpenSSL versions

This approach is recommended for environments that use:

• Corporate TLS inspection appliances
• Internal Artifactory servers
• Self-signed enterprise CAs
• Modern TLS requirements

Python 3.14 requires OpenSSL 1.1.1 or newer for SSL support. 1

---

1. Install Build Dependencies

dnf groupinstall -y "Development Tools"

dnf install -y \
    gcc \
    gcc-c++ \
    make \
    wget \
    perl \
    perl-IPC-Cmd \
    zlib-devel \
    bzip2-devel \
    libffi-devel \
    readline-devel \
    sqlite-devel \
    xz-devel \
    tk-devel \
    gdbm-devel \
    ncurses-devel

---

2. Download and Build OpenSSL 3.x

cd /usr/src

wget https://www.openssl.org/source/openssl-3.5.1.tar.gz

tar xf openssl-3.5.1.tar.gz

cd openssl-3.5.1

Configure:

./Configure \
    --prefix=/opt/openssl-3 \
    --openssldir=/opt/openssl-3 \
    shared \
    linux-x86_64

Build:

make -j$(nproc)

Install:

make install

Verify:

/opt/openssl-3/bin/openssl version

Expected:

OpenSSL 3.5.x

---

3. Configure Runtime Linker

Create:

cat >/etc/ld.so.conf.d/openssl3.conf <<EOF
/opt/openssl-3/lib64
EOF

Refresh:

ldconfig

Verify:

ldconfig -p | grep ssl

Expected output should include:

libssl.so.3
libcrypto.so.3

---

4. Download Python 3.14

cd /usr/src

wget https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3make -j$(nproc)

---

7. Install Python

make install

Verify:

/opt/python3.14/bin/python3.14 --version

Expected:

Python 3.14.6

---

8. Verify OpenSSL Integration

/opt/python3.14/bin/python3.14 -c "
import ssl
print(ssl.OPENSSL_VERSION)
"

Expected:

OpenSSL 3.5.x

---

9. Verify HTTPS Works

/opt/python3.14/bin/python3.14 -c "
import ssl
import urllib.request

print(ssl.OPENSSL_VERSION)
print(urllib.request.urlopen('https://www.python.org').status)
"

Expected:

OpenSSL 3.5.x
200

---

10. Install Common Packages

/opt/python3.14/bin/pip3.14 install \
    requests \
    aiohttp \
    certifi \
    truststore

Verify:

/opt/python3.14/bin/pip3.14 list

---

11. Verify Requests

import ssl
import requests

print("OpenSSL:", ssl.OPENSSL_VERSION)

r = requests.get(
    "https://www.python.org",
    timeout=30
)

print(r.status_code)

Expected:

OpenSSL: OpenSSL 3.x.x
200

---

12. Check Python Trust Stores

Show OpenSSL trust path:

import ssl

print(ssl.get_default_verify_paths())

Show Certifi path:

import certifi

print(certifi.where())

This helps troubleshoot situations where:

• curl works
• Browser works
• Python Requests fails

because Requests typically uses Certifi rather than the OS trust store.

---

13. Force Requests to Use the OS Trust Store

For enterprise environments this is often recommended.

import truststore

truststore.inject_into_ssl()

Example:

import truststore

truststore.inject_into_ssl()

import requests

r = requests.get(
    "https://artifactory.company.com",
    timeout=30
)

print(r.status_code)

---

14. Verify Corporate Certificates

Check the complete certificate chain:

echo | \
/opt/openssl-3/bin/openssl s_client \
-connect artifactory.company.com:443 \
-showcerts

Look for:

Verify return code: 0 (ok)

---

15. Verify Which OpenSSL Python Is Actually Using

ldd /opt/python3.14/bin/python3.14 | grep ssl

Expected:

libssl.so.3 => /opt/openssl-3/lib64/libssl.so.3
libcrypto.so.3 => /opt/openssl-3/lib64/libcrypto.so.3

---

Optional: Create Convenience Symlinks

ln -s /opt/python3.14/bin/python3.14 /usr/local/bin/python3.14

ln -s /opt/python3.14/bin/pip3.14 /usr/local/bin/pip3.14

Verify:

python3.14 --version
pip3.14 --version

---

Troubleshooting

SSL module missing

import ssl

fails with:

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named '_ssl'

Rebuild Python and verify the configure output detects:

checking for OpenSSL ...

and:

_ssl module... yes

---

Requests certificate errors

Enable debugging:

import ssl

print(ssl.OPENSSL_VERSION)
print(ssl.get_default_verify_paths())

Check Certifi:

import certifi

print(certifi.where())

Test with OS trust store:

import truststore

truststore.inject_into_ssl()

---

Final Installed Layout

/opt/openssl-3
/opt/python3.14

Benefits:

• Does not interfere with system Python
• Does not interfere with DNF
• Uses OpenSSL 3.x
• Fully supports Python 3.14 TLS features
• Easier troubleshooting of enterprise certificate issues