Creating virtual environments with pyenv – Thomas Sandmann’s blog

I am planning to learn more about (web application) development with python. Today I learned how to

Manage multiple python installations on the same system and
Create virtual envirnments with pyenv.

There is a lot of information about virtual environments in python out there, e.g. in the official python documentation. In addition to managing dependencies for a project, I also foresee the need to manage different versions of python itself.

To set up my development environment, I decided to follow the advice of Real python and The hitchhiker’s guide to python and manage multiple python versions and virtual environments with pyenv

Installing pyenv on MX Linux

I used homebrew to install pyenv on my linux machine running MX 23.1 Libretto.

brew update
brew install pyenv

Afterwards, I executed the following code to add three lines to my ~/.bashrc file, as recommended on the pyenv README page.

echo 'export PYENV_ROOT="$HOME/.pyenv"' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'command -v pyenv >/dev/null || export PATH="$PYENV_ROOT/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'eval "$(pyenv init -)"' >> ~/.bashrc

Installing python with `pyenv`

Next, I used pyenv to install the latest release version of python, version 3.12.1 (at the time of writing).

Prerequisites

To install successfully, python 3.12.1 required the following system tools to be available (installed via sudo apt install):

libsqlite3-dev
tk-dev

Troubleshooting

I ran into the issue reported here, preventing me from installing python with pyenv (see below). It turns out that brew masks the system’s pkg-config, intefering with the compilation of python.

I unlinked pkg-config with the following command, and the installation succeeded:

brew unlink pkg-config

Installing python version 3.12.1

First, I listed the (many) python versions pynev is aware of:

pyenv install --list

and then installed the version of my choice:

pyenv install -v 3.12.1

Setting the default python version

Finally, I set my new python installation as the default version:

pyenv global 3.12.1

Creating and using virtual environments

To make using virtual environments with pyenv easier, I installed the pyenv-virtualenv plugin:

brew install pyenv-virtualenv

Creating a first virtual environment

The pyenv virtualenv command creates a new virtual environment for the specified python version (e.g. 3.12.1).

pyenv virtualenv 3.12.1 rango

All virtual environments created in this way are stored in the same location, by default the ~/.pyenv/versions folder:

ls ~/.pyenv/versions/

Activating a virtual environment

The following command activates my new rango virtual environment:

pyenv activate rango
python --version  # 3.12.1

and the equivalent command deactivates it:

pyenv deactivate rango

Using virtual environment in VS Code

To use my virtual environment in the VS Code IDE:

Open VSCode preferences (Ctrl + ,)
Search for venv.
Add ~/.pyenv to the “Venv Path” text box.

Once I created a first python file in VS Code, I could choose the python interpretor from the rango virtual environment by clicking on the python version in the bottom right of the IDE window.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

--- title: "Creating virtual environments with pyenv" author: "Thomas Sandmann" date: "2023-12-27" freeze: true categories: [python, TIL] editor: markdown: wrap: 72 format: html: toc: true toc-depth: 4 code-tools: source: true toggle: false caption: none editor_options: chunk_output_type: console --- I am planning to learn more about (web application) development with python. Today I learned how to - Manage multiple python installations on the same system and - Create virtual envirnments with [pyenv](https://github.com/pyenv/pyenv). There is a lot of information about virtual environments in python out there, e.g. in the [official python documentation](https://packaging.python.org/en/latest/guides/installing-using-pip-and-virtual-environments/#creating-a-virtual-environment). In addition to managing dependencies for a project, I also foresee the need to manage different versions of python itself. To set up my development environment, I decided to follow the advice of [Real python](https://realpython.com/intro-to-pyenv/) and [The hitchhiker's guide to python](https://docs.python-guide.org/dev/virtualenvs/#installing-pipenv) and manage multiple python versions and virtual environments with [pyenv](https://github.com/pyenv/pyenv) ## Installing pyenv on MX Linux I used [homebrew](https://brew.sh/) to install `pyenv` on my linux machine running MX 23.1 Libretto. ```bash brew update brew install pyenv ``` Afterwards, I executed the following code to add three lines to my `~/.bashrc` file, as recommended [on the pyenv README page](https://github.com/pyenv/pyenv#set-up-your-shell-environment-for-pyenv). ```bash echo 'export PYENV_ROOT="$HOME/.pyenv"' >> ~/.bashrc echo 'command -v pyenv >/dev/null || export PATH="$PYENV_ROOT/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc echo 'eval "$(pyenv init -)"' >> ~/.bashrc ``` ## Installing python with `pyenv` Next, I used `pyenv` to install the latest release version of python, version `3.12.1` (at the time of writing). ### Prerequisites To install successfully, python 3.12.1 required the following system tools to be available (installed via `sudo apt install`): - `libsqlite3-dev` - `tk-dev` ### Troubleshooting I ran into the [issue reported here](https://github.com/pyenv/pyenv/issues/2823), preventing me from installing python with `pyenv` (see below). It turns out that brew masks the system's `pkg-config`, intefering with the compilation of python. I unlinked `pkg-config` with the following command, and the installation succeeded: ```bash brew unlink pkg-config ``` ### Installing python version 3.12.1 First, I listed the (many) python versions `pynev` is aware of: ```bash pyenv install --list ``` and then installed the version of my choice: ```bash pyenv install -v 3.12.1 ``` ### Setting the default python version Finally, I set my new python installation as the default version: ```bash pyenv global 3.12.1 ``` ## Creating and using virtual environments To make using virtual environments with `pyenv` easier, I installed the `pyenv-virtualenv` plugin: ```bash brew install pyenv-virtualenv ``` ### Creating a first virtual environment The `pyenv virtualenv` command creates a new virtual environment for the specified python version (e.g. 3.12.1). ```bash pyenv virtualenv 3.12.1 rango ``` All virtual environments created in this way are stored in the same location, by default the `~/.pyenv/versions` folder: ```bash ls ~/.pyenv/versions/ ``` ### Activating a virtual environment The following command activates my new `rango` virtual environment: ```bash pyenv activate rango python --version # 3.12.1 ``` and the equivalent command deactivates it: ```bash pyenv deactivate rango ``` ## Using virtual environment in VS Code To use my virtual environment in the [VS Code IDE](https://code.visualstudio.com/): 1. Open VSCode preferences (Ctrl + ,) 2. Search for `venv`. 3. Add ~/.pyenv to the “Venv Path” text box. Once I created a first python file in VS Code, I could choose the python interpretor from the `rango` virtual environment by clicking on the python version in the bottom right of the IDE window.