28.3.venv — Creation of virtual environments

New in version 3.3.

Source code:Lib/venv/


Thevenv module provides support for creating lightweight “virtualenvironments” with their own site directories, optionally isolated from systemsite directories. Each virtual environment has its own Python binary (allowingcreation of environments with various Python versions) and can have its ownindependent set of installed Python packages in its site directories.

SeePEP 405 for more information about Python virtual environments.

Note

Thepyvenv script has been deprecated as of Python 3.6 in favor of usingpython3-mvenv to help prevent any potential confusion as to whichPython interpreter a virtual environment will be based on.

28.3.1. Creating virtual environments

Creation ofvirtual environments is done by executing thepyvenv script:

pyvenv/path/to/new/virtual/environment

Running this command creates the target directory (creating any parentdirectories that don’t exist already) and places apyvenv.cfg file in itwith ahome key pointing to the Python installation the command was runfrom. It also creates abin (orScripts on Windows) subdirectorycontaining a copy of thepython binary (or binaries, in the case ofWindows). It also creates an (initially empty)lib/pythonX.Y/site-packagessubdirectory (on Windows, this isLib\site-packages).

On Windows, you may have to invoke thepyvenv script as follows, if youdon’t have the relevant PATH and PATHEXT settings:

c:\Temp>c:\Python35\python c:\Python35\Tools\Scripts\pyvenv.py myenv

or equivalently:

c:\Temp>c:\Python35\python -m venv myenv

The command, if run with-h, will show the available options:

usage: venv [-h] [--system-site-packages] [--symlinks | --copies] [--clear]            [--upgrade] [--without-pip]            ENV_DIR [ENV_DIR ...]Creates virtual Python environments in one or more target directories.positional arguments:  ENV_DIR             A directory to create the environment in.optional arguments:  -h, --help             show this help message and exit  --system-site-packages Give the virtual environment access to the system                         site-packages dir.  --symlinks             Try to use symlinks rather than copies, when symlinks                         are not the default for the platform.  --copies               Try to use copies rather than symlinks, even when                         symlinks are the default for the platform.  --clear                Delete the contents of the environment directory if it                         already exists, before environment creation.  --upgrade              Upgrade the environment directory to use this version                         of Python, assuming Python has been upgraded in-place.  --without-pip          Skips installing or upgrading pip in the virtual                         environment (pip is bootstrapped by default)

Depending on how thevenv functionality has been invoked, the usage messagemay vary slightly, e.g. referencingpyvenv rather thanvenv.

Changed in version 3.4:Installs pip by default, added the--without-pip and--copiesoptions

Changed in version 3.4:In earlier versions, if the target directory already existed, an error wasraised, unless the--clear or--upgrade option was provided. Now,if an existing directory is specified, its contents are removed andthe directory is processed as if it had been newly created.

The createdpyvenv.cfg file also includes theinclude-system-site-packages key, set totrue ifvenv isrun with the--system-site-packages option,false otherwise.

Unless the--without-pip option is given,ensurepip will beinvoked to bootstrappip into the virtual environment.

Multiple paths can be given topyvenv, in which case an identicalvirtualenv will be created, according to the given options, at eachprovided path.

Once a venv has been created, it can be “activated” using a script in thevenv’s binary directory. The invocation of the script is platform-specific:

PlatformShellCommand to activate virtual environment
Posixbash/zsh$ source <venv>/bin/activate
 fish$ . <venv>/bin/activate.fish
 csh/tcsh$ source <venv>/bin/activate.csh
Windowscmd.exeC:\> <venv>\Scripts\activate.bat
 PowerShellPS C:\> <venv>\Scripts\Activate.ps1

You don’t specificallyneed to activate an environment; activation justprepends the venv’s binary directory to your path, so that “python” invokes thevenv’s Python interpreter and you can run installed scripts without having touse their full path. However, all scripts installed in a venv should berunnable without activating it, and run with the venv’s Python automatically.

You can deactivate a venv by typing “deactivate” in your shell. The exactmechanism is platform-specific: for example, the Bash activation script definesa “deactivate” function, whereas on Windows there are separate scripts calleddeactivate.bat andDeactivate.ps1 which are installed when the venv iscreated.

New in version 3.4:fish andcsh activation scripts.

Note

A virtual environment (also called avenv) is a Pythonenvironment such that the Python interpreter, libraries and scriptsinstalled into it are isolated from those installed in other virtualenvironments, and (by default) any libraries installed in a “system” Python,i.e. one which is installed as part of your operating system.

A venv is a directory tree which contains Python executable files andother files which indicate that it is a venv.

Common installation tools such asSetuptools andpip work asexpected with venvs - i.e. when a venv is active, they install Pythonpackages into the venv without needing to be told to do so explicitly.

When a venv is active (i.e. the venv’s Python interpreter is running), theattributessys.prefix andsys.exec_prefix point to the basedirectory of the venv, whereassys.base_prefix andsys.base_exec_prefix point to the non-venv Python installationwhich was used to create the venv. If a venv is not active, thensys.prefix is the same assys.base_prefix andsys.exec_prefix is the same assys.base_exec_prefix (theyall point to a non-venv Python installation).

When a venv is active, any options that change the installation path will beignored from all distutils configuration files to prevent projects beinginadvertently installed outside of the virtual environment.

When working in a command shell, users can make a venv active by running anactivate script in the venv’s executables directory (the precise filenameis shell-dependent), which prepends the venv’s directory for executables tothePATH environment variable for the running shell. There should be noneed in other circumstances to activate a venv – scripts installed intovenvs have a shebang line which points to the venv’s Python interpreter. Thismeans that the script will run with that interpreter regardless of the valueofPATH. On Windows, shebang line processing is supported if you have thePython Launcher for Windows installed (this was added to Python in 3.3 - seePEP 397 for more details). Thus, double-clicking an installed script ina Windows Explorer window should run the script with the correct interpreterwithout there needing to be any reference to its venv inPATH.

28.3.2. API

The high-level method described above makes use of a simple API which providesmechanisms for third-party virtual environment creators to customize environmentcreation according to their needs, theEnvBuilder class.

classvenv.EnvBuilder(system_site_packages=False,clear=False,symlinks=False,upgrade=False,with_pip=False)

TheEnvBuilder class accepts the following keyword arguments oninstantiation:

  • system_site_packages – a Boolean value indicating that the system Pythonsite-packages should be available to the environment (defaults toFalse).
  • clear – a Boolean value which, if true, will delete the contents ofany existing target directory, before creating the environment.
  • symlinks – a Boolean value indicating whether to attempt to symlink thePython binary (and any necessary DLLs or other binaries,e.g.pythonw.exe), rather than copying. Defaults toTrue on Linux andUnix systems, butFalse on Windows.
  • upgrade – a Boolean value which, if true, will upgrade an existingenvironment with the running Python - for use when that Python has beenupgraded in-place (defaults toFalse).
  • with_pip – a Boolean value which, if true, ensures pip isinstalled in the virtual environment. This usesensurepip withthe--default-pip option.

Changed in version 3.4:Added thewith_pip parameter

Creators of third-party virtual environment tools will be free to use theprovidedEnvBuilder class as a base class.

The returned env-builder is an object which has a method,create:

create(env_dir)

This method takes as required argument the path (absolute or relative tothe current directory) of the target directory which is to contain thevirtual environment. Thecreate method will either create theenvironment in the specified directory, or raise an appropriateexception.

Thecreate method of theEnvBuilder class illustrates the hooksavailable for subclass customization:

defcreate(self,env_dir):"""    Create a virtualized Python environment in a directory.    env_dir is the target directory to create an environment in.    """env_dir=os.path.abspath(env_dir)context=self.ensure_directories(env_dir)self.create_configuration(context)self.setup_python(context)self.setup_scripts(context)self.post_setup(context)

Each of the methodsensure_directories(),create_configuration(),setup_python(),setup_scripts() andpost_setup() can be overridden.

ensure_directories(env_dir)

Creates the environment directory and all necessary directories, andreturns a context object. This is just a holder for attributes (such aspaths), for use by the other methods. The directories are allowed toexist already, as long as eitherclear orupgrade werespecified to allow operating on an existing environment directory.

create_configuration(context)

Creates thepyvenv.cfg configuration file in the environment.

setup_python(context)

Creates a copy of the Python executable (and, under Windows, DLLs) inthe environment. On a POSIX system, if a specific executablepython3.x was used, symlinks topython andpython3 will becreated pointing to that executable, unless files with those namesalready exist.

setup_scripts(context)

Installs activation scripts appropriate to the platform into the virtualenvironment.

post_setup(context)

A placeholder method which can be overridden in third partyimplementations to pre-install packages in the virtual environment orperform other post-creation steps.

In addition,EnvBuilder provides this utility method that can becalled fromsetup_scripts() orpost_setup() in subclasses toassist in installing custom scripts into the virtual environment.

install_scripts(context,path)

path is the path to a directory that should contain subdirectories“common”, “posix”, “nt”, each containing scripts destined for the bindirectory in the environment. The contents of “common” and thedirectory corresponding toos.name are copied after some textreplacement of placeholders:

  • __VENV_DIR__ is replaced with the absolute path of the environmentdirectory.
  • __VENV_NAME__ is replaced with the environment name (final pathsegment of environment directory).
  • __VENV_PROMPT__ is replaced with the prompt (the environmentname surrounded by parentheses and with a following space)
  • __VENV_BIN_NAME__ is replaced with the name of the bin directory(eitherbin orScripts).
  • __VENV_PYTHON__ is replaced with the absolute path of theenvironment’s executable.

The directories are allowed to exist (for when an existing environmentis being upgraded).

There is also a module-level convenience function:

venv.create(env_dir,system_site_packages=False,clear=False,symlinks=False,with_pip=False)

Create anEnvBuilder with the given keyword arguments, and call itscreate() method with theenv_dir argument.

Changed in version 3.4:Added thewith_pip parameter

28.3.3. An example of extendingEnvBuilder

The following script shows how to extendEnvBuilder by implementing asubclass which installs setuptools and pip into a created venv:

importosimportos.pathfromsubprocessimportPopen,PIPEimportsysfromthreadingimportThreadfromurllib.parseimporturlparsefromurllib.requestimporturlretrieveimportvenvclassExtendedEnvBuilder(venv.EnvBuilder):"""    This builder installs setuptools and pip so that you can pip or    easy_install other packages into the created environment.    :param nodist: If True, setuptools and pip are not installed into the                   created environment.    :param nopip: If True, pip is not installed into the created                  environment.    :param progress: If setuptools or pip are installed, the progress of the                     installation can be monitored by passing a progress                     callable. If specified, it is called with two                     arguments: a string indicating some progress, and a                     context indicating where the string is coming from.                     The context argument can have one of three values:                     'main', indicating that it is called from virtualize()                     itself, and 'stdout' and 'stderr', which are obtained                     by reading lines from the output streams of a subprocess                     which is used to install the app.                     If a callable is not specified, default progress                     information is output to sys.stderr.    """def__init__(self,*args,**kwargs):self.nodist=kwargs.pop('nodist',False)self.nopip=kwargs.pop('nopip',False)self.progress=kwargs.pop('progress',None)self.verbose=kwargs.pop('verbose',False)super().__init__(*args,**kwargs)defpost_setup(self,context):"""        Set up any packages which need to be pre-installed into the        environment being created.        :param context: The information for the environment creation request                        being processed.        """os.environ['VIRTUAL_ENV']=context.env_dirifnotself.nodist:self.install_setuptools(context)# Can't install pip without setuptoolsifnotself.nopipandnotself.nodist:self.install_pip(context)defreader(self,stream,context):"""        Read lines from a subprocess' output stream and either pass to a progress        callable (if specified) or write progress information to sys.stderr.        """progress=self.progresswhileTrue:s=stream.readline()ifnots:breakifprogressisnotNone:progress(s,context)else:ifnotself.verbose:sys.stderr.write('.')else:sys.stderr.write(s.decode('utf-8'))sys.stderr.flush()stream.close()definstall_script(self,context,name,url):_,_,path,_,_,_=urlparse(url)fn=os.path.split(path)[-1]binpath=context.bin_pathdistpath=os.path.join(binpath,fn)# Download script into the env's binaries folderurlretrieve(url,distpath)progress=self.progressifself.verbose:term='\n'else:term=''ifprogressisnotNone:progress('Installing%s ...%s'%(name,term),'main')else:sys.stderr.write('Installing%s ...%s'%(name,term))sys.stderr.flush()# Install in the envargs=[context.env_exe,fn]p=Popen(args,stdout=PIPE,stderr=PIPE,cwd=binpath)t1=Thread(target=self.reader,args=(p.stdout,'stdout'))t1.start()t2=Thread(target=self.reader,args=(p.stderr,'stderr'))t2.start()p.wait()t1.join()t2.join()ifprogressisnotNone:progress('done.','main')else:sys.stderr.write('done.\n')# Clean up - no longer neededos.unlink(distpath)definstall_setuptools(self,context):"""        Install setuptools in the environment.        :param context: The information for the environment creation request                        being processed.        """url='https://bitbucket.org/pypa/setuptools/downloads/ez_setup.py'self.install_script(context,'setuptools',url)# clear up the setuptools archive which gets downloadedpred=lambdao:o.startswith('setuptools-')ando.endswith('.tar.gz')files=filter(pred,os.listdir(context.bin_path))forfinfiles:f=os.path.join(context.bin_path,f)os.unlink(f)definstall_pip(self,context):"""        Install pip in the environment.        :param context: The information for the environment creation request                        being processed.        """url='https://raw.github.com/pypa/pip/master/contrib/get-pip.py'self.install_script(context,'pip',url)defmain(args=None):compatible=Trueifsys.version_info<(3,3):compatible=Falseelifnothasattr(sys,'base_prefix'):compatible=Falseifnotcompatible:raiseValueError('This script is only for use with ''Python 3.3 or later')else:importargparseparser=argparse.ArgumentParser(prog=__name__,description='Creates virtual Python ''environments in one or ''more target ''directories.')parser.add_argument('dirs',metavar='ENV_DIR',nargs='+',help='A directory to create the environment in.')parser.add_argument('--no-setuptools',default=False,action='store_true',dest='nodist',help="Don't install setuptools or pip in the ""virtual environment.")parser.add_argument('--no-pip',default=False,action='store_true',dest='nopip',help="Don't install pip in the virtual ""environment.")parser.add_argument('--system-site-packages',default=False,action='store_true',dest='system_site',help='Give the virtual environment access to the ''system site-packages dir.')ifos.name=='nt':use_symlinks=Falseelse:use_symlinks=Trueparser.add_argument('--symlinks',default=use_symlinks,action='store_true',dest='symlinks',help='Try to use symlinks rather than copies, ''when symlinks are not the default for ''the platform.')parser.add_argument('--clear',default=False,action='store_true',dest='clear',help='Delete the contents of the ''environment directory if it ''already exists, before ''environment creation.')parser.add_argument('--upgrade',default=False,action='store_true',dest='upgrade',help='Upgrade the environment ''directory to use this version ''of Python, assuming Python ''has been upgraded in-place.')parser.add_argument('--verbose',default=False,action='store_true',dest='verbose',help='Display the output ''from the scripts which ''install setuptools and pip.')options=parser.parse_args(args)ifoptions.upgradeandoptions.clear:raiseValueError('you cannot supply --upgrade and --clear together.')builder=ExtendedEnvBuilder(system_site_packages=options.system_site,clear=options.clear,symlinks=options.symlinks,upgrade=options.upgrade,nodist=options.nodist,nopip=options.nopip,verbose=options.verbose)fordinoptions.dirs:builder.create(d)if__name__=='__main__':rc=1try:main()rc=0exceptExceptionase:print('Error:%s'%e,file=sys.stderr)sys.exit(rc)

This script is also available for downloadonline.