🐍 Python virtualenvs with mkvirtualenv
Create a virtualenv
Let's say you wanted to create a virtualenv for a new project using python3 called gutentag
This command can be run from anywhere, though I tend to create a directory for the project in my
$HOME/Developer/ directory with the same name as the virtualenv.
Delete a virtualenv
What if you no longer need a particular virtualenv? Use the rmvirtualenv command.
List all current virtualenv
To output a list of existing virtualenv setups, use the lsvirtualenv following command, note the
-b option for brevity.
Installing mkvirtualenv
These steps are copy/pasted from this stackoverflow Post so that I can find them quickly.
To install virtualenv and virtualenvwrapper for repetitive use you need a correctly configured
Python (this example uses Python 3.x but the process is identical for Python 2.x).
Although you can get the python installer from Python website I advise against
it. The most convenient and future-proof method to install Python on MacOS is
brew.
Main difference between installer from Python website and brew is that installer puts python
packages to:
Brew on the other hand installs Python, Pip & Setuptools and puts everything to:
And though it may not make any difference to you now – it will later on.
Configuration steps
Install brew
Check out brew installation page or simply run this in your terminal:
Install Python
To install python with brew run:
Now your system needs to know where to look for freshly installed Python packages. Add this line to
your ~/.zshrc (or ~/.bash_profile if you're using bash):
Restart your terminal. To make sure you've done everything correctly, run which python3 and in
return you should receive /usr/local/bin/python.
Install virtualenv & virtualenvwrapper
Now it's time to install virtualenv and virtualenvwrapper to be able to use workon command and
switch between virtual environments. This is done using pip:
Set up virtualenv variables
Define a default path for your virtual environments. For example you can create a hidden directory
inside ~ and call it .virtualenvs with mkdir ~/.virtualenvs. Add virtualenv variables to
.zshrc (or .bash_profile).
Final version of your .zshrc (or .bash_profile) should contain this information to work properly
with installed packages:
Setting PATH for Python 3 installed by brew
Configuration for virtualenv
Restart your terminal
You should be able to use mkvirtualenv and workon commands including autocompletion.