| User Guide |
| ========== |
| |
| |
| Usage |
| ----- |
| |
| Virtualenv has one basic command:: |
| |
| $ virtualenv ENV |
| |
| Where ``ENV`` is a directory to place the new virtual environment. It has |
| a number of usual effects (modifiable by many :ref:`options`): |
| |
| - :file:`ENV/lib/` and :file:`ENV/include/` are created, containing supporting |
| library files for a new virtualenv python. Packages installed in this |
| environment will live under :file:`ENV/lib/pythonX.X/site-packages/`. |
| |
| - :file:`ENV/bin` is created, where executables live - noticeably a new |
| :command:`python`. Thus running a script with ``#! /path/to/ENV/bin/python`` |
| would run that script under this virtualenv's python. |
| |
| - The crucial packages pip_ and setuptools_ are installed, which allow other |
| packages to be easily installed to the environment. This associated pip |
| can be run from :file:`ENV/bin/pip`. |
| |
| The python in your new virtualenv is effectively isolated from the python that |
| was used to create it. |
| |
| .. _pip: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pip |
| .. _setuptools: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/setuptools |
| |
| |
| .. _activate: |
| |
| activate script |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| |
| In a newly created virtualenv there will also be a :command:`activate` shell |
| script. For Windows systems, activation scripts are provided for |
| the Command Prompt and Powershell. |
| |
| On Posix systems, this resides in :file:`/ENV/bin/`, so you can run:: |
| |
| $ source bin/activate |
| |
| For some shells (e.g. the original Bourne Shell) you may need to use the |
| :command:`.` command, when :command:`source` does not exist. |
| |
| This will change your ``$PATH`` so its first entry is the virtualenv's |
| ``bin/`` directory. (You have to use ``source`` because it changes your |
| shell environment in-place.) This is all it does; it's purely a |
| convenience. If you directly run a script or the python interpreter |
| from the virtualenv's ``bin/`` directory (e.g. ``path/to/ENV/bin/pip`` |
| or ``/path/to/ENV/bin/python-script.py``) there's no need for |
| activation. |
| |
| The ``activate`` script will also modify your shell prompt to indicate |
| which environment is currently active. To disable this behaviour, see |
| :envvar:`VIRTUAL_ENV_DISABLE_PROMPT`. |
| |
| To undo these changes to your path (and prompt), just run:: |
| |
| $ deactivate |
| |
| On Windows, the equivalent `activate` script is in the ``Scripts`` folder:: |
| |
| > \path\to\env\Scripts\activate |
| |
| And type ``deactivate`` to undo the changes. |
| |
| Based on your active shell (CMD.exe or Powershell.exe), Windows will use |
| either activate.bat or activate.ps1 (as appropriate) to activate the |
| virtual environment. If using Powershell, see the notes about code signing |
| below. |
| |
| .. note:: |
| |
| If using Powershell, the ``activate`` script is subject to the |
| `execution policies`_ on the system. By default on Windows 7, the system's |
| excution policy is set to ``Restricted``, meaning no scripts like the |
| ``activate`` script are allowed to be executed. But that can't stop us |
| from changing that slightly to allow it to be executed. |
| |
| In order to use the script, you can relax your system's execution |
| policy to ``AllSigned``, meaning all scripts on the system must be |
| digitally signed to be executed. Since the virtualenv activation |
| script is signed by one of the authors (Jannis Leidel) this level of |
| the execution policy suffices. As an administrator run:: |
| |
| PS C:\> Set-ExecutionPolicy AllSigned |
| |
| Then you'll be asked to trust the signer, when executing the script. |
| You will be prompted with the following:: |
| |
| PS C:\> virtualenv .\foo |
| New python executable in C:\foo\Scripts\python.exe |
| Installing setuptools................done. |
| Installing pip...................done. |
| PS C:\> .\foo\scripts\activate |
| |
| Do you want to run software from this untrusted publisher? |
| File C:\foo\scripts\activate.ps1 is published by E=jannis@leidel.info, |
| CN=Jannis Leidel, L=Berlin, S=Berlin, C=DE, Description=581796-Gh7xfJxkxQSIO4E0 |
| and is not trusted on your system. Only run scripts from trusted publishers. |
| [V] Never run [D] Do not run [R] Run once [A] Always run [?] Help |
| (default is "D"):A |
| (foo) PS C:\> |
| |
| If you select ``[A] Always Run``, the certificate will be added to the |
| Trusted Publishers of your user account, and will be trusted in this |
| user's context henceforth. If you select ``[R] Run Once``, the script will |
| be run, but you will be prometed on a subsequent invocation. Advanced users |
| can add the signer's certificate to the Trusted Publishers of the Computer |
| account to apply to all users (though this technique is out of scope of this |
| document). |
| |
| Alternatively, you may relax the system execution policy to allow running |
| of local scripts without verifying the code signature using the following:: |
| |
| PS C:\> Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned |
| |
| Since the ``activate.ps1`` script is generated locally for each virtualenv, |
| it is not considered a remote script and can then be executed. |
| |
| .. _`execution policies`: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd347641.aspx |
| |
| The :option:`--system-site-packages` Option |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| |
| If you build with ``virtualenv --system-site-packages ENV``, your virtual |
| environment will inherit packages from ``/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages`` |
| (or wherever your global site-packages directory is). |
| |
| This can be used if you have control over the global site-packages directory, |
| and you want to depend on the packages there. If you want isolation from the |
| global system, do not use this flag. |
| |
| Windows Notes |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| |
| Some paths within the virtualenv are slightly different on Windows: scripts and |
| executables on Windows go in ``ENV\Scripts\`` instead of ``ENV/bin/`` and |
| libraries go in ``ENV\Lib\`` rather than ``ENV/lib/``. |
| |
| To create a virtualenv under a path with spaces in it on Windows, you'll need |
| the `win32api <http://sourceforge.net/projects/pywin32/>`_ library installed. |
| |
| |
| Using Virtualenv without ``bin/python`` |
| --------------------------------------- |
| |
| Sometimes you can't or don't want to use the Python interpreter |
| created by the virtualenv. For instance, in a `mod_python |
| <http://www.modpython.org/>`_ or `mod_wsgi <http://www.modwsgi.org/>`_ |
| environment, there is only one interpreter. |
| |
| Luckily, it's easy. You must use the custom Python interpreter to |
| *install* libraries. But to *use* libraries, you just have to be sure |
| the path is correct. A script is available to correct the path. You |
| can setup the environment like:: |
| |
| activate_this = '/path/to/env/bin/activate_this.py' |
| execfile(activate_this, dict(__file__=activate_this)) |
| |
| This will change ``sys.path`` and even change ``sys.prefix``, but also allow |
| you to use an existing interpreter. Items in your environment will show up |
| first on ``sys.path``, before global items. However, global items will |
| always be accessible (as if the :option:`--system-site-packages` flag had been |
| used in creating the environment, whether it was or not). Also, this cannot undo |
| the activation of other environments, or modules that have been imported. |
| You shouldn't try to, for instance, activate an environment before a web |
| request; you should activate *one* environment as early as possible, and not |
| do it again in that process. |
| |
| Making Environments Relocatable |
| ------------------------------- |
| |
| **Note:** this option is somewhat experimental, and there are probably |
| caveats that have not yet been identified. |
| |
| .. warning:: |
| |
| The ``--relocatable`` option currently has a number of issues, |
| and is not guaranteed to work in all circumstances. It is possible |
| that the option will be deprecated in a future version of ``virtualenv``. |
| |
| Normally environments are tied to a specific path. That means that |
| you cannot move an environment around or copy it to another computer. |
| You can fix up an environment to make it relocatable with the |
| command:: |
| |
| $ virtualenv --relocatable ENV |
| |
| This will make some of the files created by setuptools use relative paths, |
| and will change all the scripts to use ``activate_this.py`` instead of using |
| the location of the Python interpreter to select the environment. |
| |
| **Note:** scripts which have been made relocatable will only work if |
| the virtualenv is activated, specifically the python executable from |
| the virtualenv must be the first one on the system PATH. Also note that |
| the activate scripts are not currently made relocatable by |
| ``virtualenv --relocatable``. |
| |
| **Note:** you must run this after you've installed *any* packages into |
| the environment. If you make an environment relocatable, then |
| install a new package, you must run ``virtualenv --relocatable`` |
| again. |
| |
| Also, this **does not make your packages cross-platform**. You can |
| move the directory around, but it can only be used on other similar |
| computers. Some known environmental differences that can cause |
| incompatibilities: a different version of Python, when one platform |
| uses UCS2 for its internal unicode representation and another uses |
| UCS4 (a compile-time option), obvious platform changes like Windows |
| vs. Linux, or Intel vs. ARM, and if you have libraries that bind to C |
| libraries on the system, if those C libraries are located somewhere |
| different (either different versions, or a different filesystem |
| layout). |
| |
| If you use this flag to create an environment, currently, the |
| :option:`--system-site-packages` option will be implied. |
| |
| The :option:`--extra-search-dir` option |
| --------------------------------------- |
| |
| This option allows you to provide your own versions of setuptools and/or |
| pip to use instead of the embedded versions that come with virtualenv. |
| |
| To use this feature, pass one or more ``--extra-search-dir`` options to |
| virtualenv like this:: |
| |
| $ virtualenv --extra-search-dir=/path/to/distributions ENV |
| |
| The ``/path/to/distributions`` path should point to a directory that contains |
| setuptools and/or pip wheels. |
| |
| virtualenv will look for wheels in the specified directories, but will use |
| pip's standard algorithm for selecting the wheel to install, which looks for |
| the latest compatible wheel. |
| |
| As well as the extra directories, the search order includes: |
| |
| #. The ``virtualenv_support`` directory relative to virtualenv.py |
| #. The directory where virtualenv.py is located. |
| #. The current directory. |
| |
| If no satisfactory local distributions are found, virtualenv will |
| fail. Virtualenv will never download packages. |