How to Create a Python Virtual Environment on Ubuntu 22.04 or 20.04

A virtual environment is an isolated, self-contained environment that holds all the dependencies and packages required for a specific project. It is a popular concept in the world of software development and is used to keep the dependencies and packages isolated from the system, ensuring the stability and reliability of projects. In the world of Python, virtual environments are created using a tool called Virtualenv. This tool allows developers to create virtual environments for their projects and manage their dependencies and packages.

When it comes to Ubuntu servers, virtual environments have become an essential tool to ensure the smooth and stable operation of projects. With the increasing use of Python on Ubuntu servers, virtual environments have become a popular and widely used tool for creating and managing projects. The ability to create virtual environments for projects has made it possible to isolate dependencies and packages, ensuring that the projects are not affected by updates or changes to the system.

Features of Virtual Environments for Python on Ubuntu:

• Isolation: Virtual environments allow for the isolation of dependencies and packages required for a specific project, ensuring that the project is not affected by changes or updates to the system.
• Package Management: Virtual environments provide an easy and effective way to manage packages for a specific project, allowing developers to install, update, and delete packages as needed.
• Version Compatibility: With virtual environments, developers can choose the version of Python and other dependencies required for a specific project, ensuring that the project is compatible with the correct versions of packages and dependencies.
• Easy Management: Virtual environments make it easy to manage projects and their dependencies, with the ability to create, activate, and delete virtual environments with just a few commands.
• Stability: Virtual environments ensure the stability of projects by isolating dependencies and packages, providing that the project is not affected by updates or changes to the system.

This comprehensive guide will delve into the process of creating a Python virtual environment on the latest versions of Ubuntu, specifically Ubuntu 22.04 “Jammy Jellyfish” and Ubuntu 20.04 “Focal Fossa.” We will cover all the necessary steps involved in creating a virtual environment, including installing Python and “virtualenv,” creating and activating the virtual environment, installing packages and deactivating the virtual environment, and deleting the virtual environment.

Step 1: Update Ubuntu

Before installing Python and setting up a virtual environment on Ubuntu, it is crucial to ensure that the system packages are up-to-date. This can be easily achieved by running the following command in your terminal.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Step 2: Install Python

Before we can create a virtual environment for our Python projects, it is essential to have Python installed on our system. If you do not already have Python installed, you can easily install it by running the following command in your terminal.

sudo apt install python3

This command will install the latest version of Python on your system, which is currently version 3.x.

Step 3: Install Virtual Environment (virtualenv)

The package “virtualenv” needs to be installed to create and manage virtual environments for their Python projects. It provides a safe and isolated environment and allows you to install packages and dependencies without affecting your system’s global Python environment.

Run the following command to install “virtualenv” with the APT package manager.

sudo apt install python3-virtualenv

This will install virtualenv on your system, and you can now start creating virtual environments for your Python projects.

Step 4: Create a Virtual Environment

With Python and the “virtualenv” package installed, it’s time to create a virtual environment which you can do immediately using the following command.

virtualenv env

This command creates a virtual environment named “env.” You can replace “env” with the name of your choice.

Example output that you would see similar:

Step 5: Activating the Virtual Environment

After creating a virtual environment, you need to activate it to start using it. To activate the virtual environment, follow these steps.

source env/bin/activate

This command activates the virtual environment. Replace “env” with the name of your virtual environment. You will see the name of your virtual environment in the terminal prompt, which indicates that the virtual environment is activated. The terminal prompt should look something like this.

(env) joshua@ubuntu-linux:~$ 

Step 6: Install Packages

With the virtual environment activated, you can now install packages without affecting the system’s packages which you would do in the following format.

pip install <package_name>

This command installs the package specified by “<package_name>.” Replace “<package_name>” with the name of the package you want to install.

Step 7: Deactivate Virtual Environment

When you’re finished with your project, you can deactivate the virtual environment to return to the system environment. To deactivate the virtual environment, run the following command.

deactivate

Conclusion

In this article, we learned how to create a Python virtual environment on Ubuntu in detail, including installing Python and Virtualenv, creating and activating the virtual environment, installing packages, deactivating the virtual environment, and deletion of the virtual environment. With the knowledge of these steps, you can now easily create virtual environments for your projects and keep your dependencies and packages isolated from the system, ensuring the stability and reliability of your projects.

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