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+Virtualenv |
+========== |
+ |
+`Mailing list <http://groups.google.com/group/python-virtualenv>`_ | |
+`Issues <https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/issues>`_ | |
+`Github <https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv>`_ | |
+`PyPI <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/virtualenv/>`_ | |
+User IRC: #pypa |
+Dev IRC: #pypa-dev |
+ |
+Introduction |
+------------ |
+ |
+``virtualenv`` is a tool to create isolated Python environments. |
+ |
+The basic problem being addressed is one of dependencies and versions, |
+and indirectly permissions. Imagine you have an application that |
+needs version 1 of LibFoo, but another application requires version |
+2. How can you use both these applications? If you install |
+everything into ``/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages`` (or whatever your |
+platform's standard location is), it's easy to end up in a situation |
+where you unintentionally upgrade an application that shouldn't be |
+upgraded. |
+ |
+Or more generally, what if you want to install an application *and |
+leave it be*? If an application works, any change in its libraries or |
+the versions of those libraries can break the application. |
+ |
+Also, what if you can't install packages into the global |
+``site-packages`` directory? For instance, on a shared host. |
+ |
+In all these cases, ``virtualenv`` can help you. It creates an |
+environment that has its own installation directories, that doesn't |
+share libraries with other virtualenv environments (and optionally |
+doesn't access the globally installed libraries either). |
+ |
+.. comment: split here |
+ |
+.. toctree:: |
+ :maxdepth: 2 |
+ |
+ installation |
+ userguide |
+ reference |
+ development |
+ changes |
+ |
+.. warning:: |
+ |
+ Python bugfix releases 2.6.8, 2.7.3, 3.1.5 and 3.2.3 include a change that |
+ will cause "import random" to fail with "cannot import name urandom" on any |
+ virtualenv created on a Unix host with an earlier release of Python |
+ 2.6/2.7/3.1/3.2, if the underlying system Python is upgraded. This is due to |
+ the fact that a virtualenv uses the system Python's standard library but |
+ contains its own copy of the Python interpreter, so an upgrade to the system |
+ Python results in a mismatch between the version of the Python interpreter |
+ and the version of the standard library. It can be fixed by removing |
+ ``$ENV/bin/python`` and re-running virtualenv on the same target directory |
+ with the upgraded Python. |
+ |
+Other Documentation and Links |
+----------------------------- |
+ |
+* `Blog announcement of virtualenv`__. |
+ |
+ .. __: http://blog.ianbicking.org/2007/10/10/workingenv-is-dead-long-live-virtualenv/ |
+ |
+* James Gardner has written a tutorial on using `virtualenv with |
+ Pylons |
+ <http://wiki.pylonshq.com/display/pylonscookbook/Using+a+Virtualenv+Sandbox>`_. |
+ |
+* Chris Perkins created a `showmedo video including virtualenv |
+ <http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2910000&fromSeriesID=291>`_. |
+ |
+* Doug Hellmann's `virtualenvwrapper`_ is a useful set of scripts to make |
+ your workflow with many virtualenvs even easier. `His initial blog post on it`__. |
+ He also wrote `an example of using virtualenv to try IPython`__. |
+ |
+ .. _virtualenvwrapper: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/virtualenvwrapper/ |
+ .. __: http://www.doughellmann.com/articles/CompletelyDifferent-2008-05-virtualenvwrapper/index.html |
+ .. __: http://www.doughellmann.com/articles/CompletelyDifferent-2008-02-ipython-and-virtualenv/index.html |
+ |
+* `Pew`_ is another wrapper for virtualenv that makes use of a different |
+ activation technique. |
+ |
+ .. _Pew: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pew/ |
+ |
+* `Using virtualenv with mod_wsgi |
+ <http://code.google.com/p/modwsgi/wiki/VirtualEnvironments>`_. |
+ |
+* `virtualenv commands |
+ <https://github.com/thisismedium/virtualenv-commands>`_ for some more |
+ workflow-related tools around virtualenv. |
+ |
+* PyCon US 2011 talk: `Reverse-engineering Ian Bicking's brain: inside pip and virtualenv |
+ <http://pyvideo.org/video/568/reverse-engineering-ian-bicking--39-s-brain--insi>`_. |
+ By the end of the talk, you'll have a good idea exactly how pip |
+ and virtualenv do their magic, and where to go looking in the source |
+ for particular behaviors or bug fixes. |
+ |
+Compare & Contrast with Alternatives |
+------------------------------------ |
+ |
+There are several alternatives that create isolated environments: |
+ |
+* ``workingenv`` (which I do not suggest you use anymore) is the |
+ predecessor to this library. It used the main Python interpreter, |
+ but relied on setting ``$PYTHONPATH`` to activate the environment. |
+ This causes problems when running Python scripts that aren't part of |
+ the environment (e.g., a globally installed ``hg`` or ``bzr``). It |
+ also conflicted a lot with Setuptools. |
+ |
+* `virtual-python |
+ <http://peak.telecommunity.com/DevCenter/EasyInstall#creating-a-virtual-python>`_ |
+ is also a predecessor to this library. It uses only symlinks, so it |
+ couldn't work on Windows. It also symlinks over the *entire* |
+ standard library and global ``site-packages``. As a result, it |
+ won't see new additions to the global ``site-packages``. |
+ |
+ This script only symlinks a small portion of the standard library |
+ into the environment, and so on Windows it is feasible to simply |
+ copy these files over. Also, it creates a new/empty |
+ ``site-packages`` and also adds the global ``site-packages`` to the |
+ path, so updates are tracked separately. This script also installs |
+ Setuptools automatically, saving a step and avoiding the need for |
+ network access. |
+ |
+* `zc.buildout <http://pypi.python.org/pypi/zc.buildout>`_ doesn't |
+ create an isolated Python environment in the same style, but |
+ achieves similar results through a declarative config file that sets |
+ up scripts with very particular packages. As a declarative system, |
+ it is somewhat easier to repeat and manage, but more difficult to |
+ experiment with. ``zc.buildout`` includes the ability to setup |
+ non-Python systems (e.g., a database server or an Apache instance). |
+ |
+I *strongly* recommend anyone doing application development or |
+deployment use one of these tools. |