217 lines
7.5 KiB
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217 lines
7.5 KiB
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.. _tut-venv:
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*********************************
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Virtual Environments and Packages
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*********************************
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Introduction
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============
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Python applications will often use packages and modules that don't
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come as part of the standard library. Applications will sometimes
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need a specific version of a library, because the application may
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require that a particular bug has been fixed or the application may be
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written using an obsolete version of the library's interface.
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This means it may not be possible for one Python installation to meet
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the requirements of every application. If application A needs version
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1.0 of a particular module but application B needs version 2.0, then
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the requirements are in conflict and installing either version 1.0 or 2.0
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will leave one application unable to run.
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The solution for this problem is to create a :term:`virtual environment`, a
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self-contained directory tree that contains a Python installation for a
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particular version of Python, plus a number of additional packages.
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Different applications can then use different virtual environments.
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To resolve the earlier example of conflicting requirements,
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application A can have its own virtual environment with version 1.0
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installed while application B has another virtual environment with version 2.0.
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If application B requires a library be upgraded to version 3.0, this will
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not affect application A's environment.
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Creating Virtual Environments
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=============================
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The module used to create and manage virtual environments is called
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:mod:`venv`. :mod:`venv` will usually install the most recent version of
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Python that you have available. If you have multiple versions of Python on your
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system, you can select a specific Python version by running ``python3`` or
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whichever version you want.
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To create a virtual environment, decide upon a directory where you want to
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place it, and run the :mod:`venv` module as a script with the directory path::
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python3 -m venv tutorial-env
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This will create the ``tutorial-env`` directory if it doesn't exist,
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and also create directories inside it containing a copy of the Python
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interpreter, the standard library, and various supporting files.
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A common directory location for a virtual environment is ``.venv``.
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This name keeps the directory typically hidden in your shell and thus
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out of the way while giving it a name that explains why the directory
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exists. It also prevents clashing with ``.env`` environment variable
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definition files that some tooling supports.
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Once you've created a virtual environment, you may activate it.
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On Windows, run::
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tutorial-env\Scripts\activate.bat
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On Unix or MacOS, run::
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source tutorial-env/bin/activate
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(This script is written for the bash shell. If you use the
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:program:`csh` or :program:`fish` shells, there are alternate
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``activate.csh`` and ``activate.fish`` scripts you should use
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instead.)
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Activating the virtual environment will change your shell's prompt to show what
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virtual environment you're using, and modify the environment so that running
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``python`` will get you that particular version and installation of Python.
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For example:
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.. code-block:: bash
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$ source ~/envs/tutorial-env/bin/activate
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(tutorial-env) $ python
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Python 3.5.1 (default, May 6 2016, 10:59:36)
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...
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>>> import sys
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>>> sys.path
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['', '/usr/local/lib/python35.zip', ...,
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'~/envs/tutorial-env/lib/python3.5/site-packages']
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>>>
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Managing Packages with pip
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==========================
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You can install, upgrade, and remove packages using a program called
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:program:`pip`. By default ``pip`` will install packages from the Python
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Package Index, <https://pypi.org>. You can browse the Python
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Package Index by going to it in your web browser, or you can use ``pip``'s
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limited search feature:
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.. code-block:: bash
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(tutorial-env) $ pip search astronomy
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skyfield - Elegant astronomy for Python
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gary - Galactic astronomy and gravitational dynamics.
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novas - The United States Naval Observatory NOVAS astronomy library
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astroobs - Provides astronomy ephemeris to plan telescope observations
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PyAstronomy - A collection of astronomy related tools for Python.
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...
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``pip`` has a number of subcommands: "search", "install", "uninstall",
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"freeze", etc. (Consult the :ref:`installing-index` guide for
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complete documentation for ``pip``.)
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You can install the latest version of a package by specifying a package's name:
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.. code-block:: bash
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(tutorial-env) $ python -m pip install novas
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Collecting novas
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Downloading novas-3.1.1.3.tar.gz (136kB)
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Installing collected packages: novas
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Running setup.py install for novas
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Successfully installed novas-3.1.1.3
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You can also install a specific version of a package by giving the
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package name followed by ``==`` and the version number:
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.. code-block:: bash
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(tutorial-env) $ python -m pip install requests==2.6.0
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Collecting requests==2.6.0
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Using cached requests-2.6.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl
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Installing collected packages: requests
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Successfully installed requests-2.6.0
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If you re-run this command, ``pip`` will notice that the requested
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version is already installed and do nothing. You can supply a
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different version number to get that version, or you can run ``pip
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install --upgrade`` to upgrade the package to the latest version:
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.. code-block:: bash
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(tutorial-env) $ python -m pip install --upgrade requests
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Collecting requests
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Installing collected packages: requests
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Found existing installation: requests 2.6.0
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Uninstalling requests-2.6.0:
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Successfully uninstalled requests-2.6.0
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Successfully installed requests-2.7.0
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``pip uninstall`` followed by one or more package names will remove the
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packages from the virtual environment.
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``pip show`` will display information about a particular package:
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.. code-block:: bash
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(tutorial-env) $ pip show requests
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---
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Metadata-Version: 2.0
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Name: requests
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Version: 2.7.0
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Summary: Python HTTP for Humans.
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Home-page: http://python-requests.org
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Author: Kenneth Reitz
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Author-email: me@kennethreitz.com
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License: Apache 2.0
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Location: /Users/akuchling/envs/tutorial-env/lib/python3.4/site-packages
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Requires:
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``pip list`` will display all of the packages installed in the virtual
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environment:
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.. code-block:: bash
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(tutorial-env) $ pip list
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novas (3.1.1.3)
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numpy (1.9.2)
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pip (7.0.3)
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requests (2.7.0)
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setuptools (16.0)
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``pip freeze`` will produce a similar list of the installed packages,
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but the output uses the format that ``pip install`` expects.
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A common convention is to put this list in a ``requirements.txt`` file:
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.. code-block:: bash
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(tutorial-env) $ pip freeze > requirements.txt
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(tutorial-env) $ cat requirements.txt
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novas==3.1.1.3
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numpy==1.9.2
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requests==2.7.0
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The ``requirements.txt`` can then be committed to version control and
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shipped as part of an application. Users can then install all the
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necessary packages with ``install -r``:
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.. code-block:: bash
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(tutorial-env) $ python -m pip install -r requirements.txt
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Collecting novas==3.1.1.3 (from -r requirements.txt (line 1))
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...
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Collecting numpy==1.9.2 (from -r requirements.txt (line 2))
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...
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Collecting requests==2.7.0 (from -r requirements.txt (line 3))
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...
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Installing collected packages: novas, numpy, requests
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Running setup.py install for novas
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Successfully installed novas-3.1.1.3 numpy-1.9.2 requests-2.7.0
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``pip`` has many more options. Consult the :ref:`installing-index`
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guide for complete documentation for ``pip``. When you've written
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a package and want to make it available on the Python Package Index,
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consult the :ref:`distributing-index` guide.
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