Virtualenv¶
About Python Virtual Environment - virtualenv¶
virtualenv is a tool to create isolated Python environments. Since Python 3.3, a subset of it has been integrated into the standard library under the venv module. Using virtualenv is very useful for creating isolated Python environments for your project,it will allow you installing Python packages and modules in a separate location from the rest of your host os without conflicting versions.
Install virtualenv¶
In order to install virtualenv, we need to install pip
sudo apt install python3-pip
Now we can install the virtualenv with pip command:
sudo pip3 install virtualenv
Create a Virtual Environment¶
cd to your project directory and run the following command to create a virtual environment:
virtualenv venv
Note
you can use any name insted of venv You can also use a Python interpreter of your choice
Example of creating a virtual environment with Python 2.7 environment:
virtualenv -p /usr/bin/python2.7 venv
Activate the Virtual Environment¶
In order to use the virtual environment, we need to activate it:
source venv/bin/activate
To deactivate:
deactivate
Check the Python Version in the Virtual Environment¶
In order to check the Python version in the virtual environment, we can run the following command then the virtual environment will is activated:
which python
The output should point to the Python interpreter in the virtual environment (/venv/bin/python).