Ubuntu 12.04

When you install Fabric with apt-get install fabric, you get a fabric with version 1.3.x, which is too old. So we need install it manually:

# apt-get install -y python-dev
# apt-get install -y python-pip
# pip install fabric

That's it. If you want to speed up the installation process, download Fabric-1.8.3.tar.gz and paramiko-1.12.3.tar.gz from PYPI. Then install them with:

# pip install paramiko-1.12.3.tar.gz
# pip install Fabric-1.8.3.tar.gz

Note: when install from source (tar.gz file), python-dev is necessary, or you will get a compile error.

CentOS 6.4

# yum install -y python-devel
# yum install -y python-pip
# pip install fabric

In a new OS, you should run apt-get update or yum update.