Python: virtualenv Tutorial

By Xah Lee. Date: 2014-01-30. Last updated: 2014-01-31.

virtualenv is a tool to create isolated Python environments, so you can install different version of python and different versions of library.

◆ virtualenv
You must provide a DEST_DIR
Usage: virtualenv [OPTIONS] DEST_DIR

Options:
--version show program's version number and exit
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-v, --verbose Increase verbosity.
-q, --quiet Decrease verbosity.
-p PYTHON_EXE, --python=PYTHON_EXE
The Python interpreter to use, e.g., --python=python2.5 will use the
python2.5 interpreter to create the new environment. The default is the
interpreter that virtualenv was installed with (/usr/bin/python)
--clear Clear out the non-root install and start from scratch.
--no-site-packages DEPRECATED. Retained only for backward compatibility. Not having access to
global site-packages is now the default behavior.
--system-site-packages
Give the virtual environment access to the global site-packages.
--always-copy Always copy files rather than symlinking.
--unzip-setuptools Unzip Setuptools when installing it.
--relocatable Make an EXISTING virtualenv environment relocatable. This fixes up scripts
and makes all .pth files relative.
--no-setuptools Do not install setuptools (or pip) in the new virtualenv.
--no-pip Do not install pip in the new virtualenv.
--extra-search-dir=DIR
Directory to look for setuptools/pip distributions in. This option can be
used multiple times.
--never-download DEPRECATED. Retained only for backward compatibility. This option has no
effect. Virtualenv never downloads pip or setuptools.
--prompt=PROMPT Provides an alternative prompt prefix for this environment.
--setuptools DEPRECATED. Retained only for backward compatibility. This option has no
effect.
--distribute DEPRECATED. Retained only for backward compatibility. This option has no
effect.