How to Setup a Python Virtual Environment on Ubuntu 18.04

In this article, we learn how to set up a python virtual environment on a Ubuntu 18.04 dedicated server. Python is a high-level dynamic programming language. Its straightforward syntax makes it a great choice for fast development. Python is used by system administrators to automate workloads and by developers for application development as well.

One of the significant parts of Python’s standard library is the venv module. Venv provides a mechanism to create an isolated “virtual” Python environment to work within. Working on projects within a virtual Python environment helps to encapsulate that project’s dependencies and prevents possible conflicts with the system’s wider Python environment. In this tutorial, we will discuss how to get up and running with virtual Python environments on Ubuntu.

Pre-flight Check

These instructions are being performed on an Ubuntu 18.04 LTS dedicated server as the root user.

Python 3

Step 1: Install Python3-venv

First, as a best-practice, we ensure all packages are up to date:

root@ubuntu:~# apt-get update -y

Next, let's install python3-venv

root@ubuntu:~# apt-get install -y python3-venv

Step 2: Create a Virtual Python Environment

Now that the venv module is installed, we can go ahead and create a virtual Python environment. Let’s start by making a project directory and changing into it. You can name it whatever you like:

root@ubuntu:~# mkdir awesome_python_project
root@ubuntu:~# cd awesome_python_project/
root@ubuntu:~/awesome_python_project#

Now it’s time to create the virtual Python environment for the project:

root@ubuntu:~/awesome_python_project# python3 -m venv awesome_venv

You’ll notice if you list your project directory, there is a new directory inside. This is where the Python binary and site-packages for your virtual Python environment are:

root@ubuntu:~/awesome_python_project# ls -l
total 4
drwxr-xr-x 6 root root 4096 Oct 30 20:14 awesome_venv

Step 3: Activate and Update the Virtual Python Environment

Now that we have a virtual Python environment to work with, let’s activate it:

root@ubuntu:~/awesome_python_project# source awesome_venv/bin/activate

After activating the virtual Python environment, the name of the virtual environment, wrapped in parentheses, precedes the command prompt. This is an indication that right now, we’re working within the virtual environment we just created. Any Python packages we install will be isolated to this virtual environment:

(awesome_venv) root@ubuntu:~/awesome_python_project#

After the virtual environment is active, we are going to want to ensure that a couple of essential Python packages within the virtual environment are up to date:

(awesome_venv) root@ubuntu:~/awesome_python_project# pip install -U setuptools pip

Step 4: Try It Out

Now that our virtual environment is set up and ready to go, let’s give it a try with a simple script. First, let’s install the termcolor package:

(awesome_venv) root@ubuntu:~/awesome_python_project# pip install termcolor
Collecting termcolor
  Downloading https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/8a/48/a76be51647d0eb9f10e2a4511bf3ffb8cc1e6b14e9e4fab46173aa79f981/termcolor-1.1.0.tar.gz
Installing collected packages: termcolor
    Running setup.py install for termcolor ... done
Successfully installed termcolor-1.1.0

Next, let’s create a simple Python script. First, run this command:

(awesome_venv) root@ubuntu:~/awesome_python_project# cat << EOF > hello_colors.py
>

After that, paste in this Python snippet. Be sure to include the EOF at the end of the snippet and then hit enter:

#!/usr/bin/env python

import termcolor

for color in termcolor.COLORS.keys():
    print(termcolor.colored("Hello!", color))
EOF

Finally, run the script:

(awesome_venv) root@ubuntu:~/awesome_python_project# python hello_colors.py

You should see “Hello!” printed nine times in different colors.

To wrap things up, let’s deactivate the virtual environment:

(awesome_venv) root@ubuntu:~/awesome_python_project# deactivate
root@ubuntu:~/awesome_python_project#

The last thing we need to verify is that the package we installed in our virtual environment, termcolor, is truly isolated to that environment. Let’s open up a Python shell:

root@ubuntu:~/awesome_python_project# python3
Python 3.6.8 (default, Oct  7 2019, 12:59:55)
[GCC 8.3.0] on linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> 

Now, try to import termcolor:

>>> import termcolor
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'termcolor'

We are unable to import the termcolor module because we are no longer invoking the Python binary and site-packages that exist in the virtual environment we created. This indicates that the termcolor module isn’t installed on our system’s Python.

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