README
Simple Python Version Management: pyenv
pyenv lets you easily switch between multiple versions of Python. It's simple, unobtrusive, and follows the UNIX tradition of single-purpose tools that do one thing well.
This project was forked from rbenv and ruby-build, and modified for Python.
What pyenv does...
Lets you change the global Python version on a per-user basis.
Provides support for per-project Python versions.
Allows you to override the Python version with an environment variable.
Searches for commands from multiple versions of Python at a time. This may be helpful to test across Python versions with tox.
In contrast with pythonbrew and pythonz, pyenv does not...
Depend on Python itself. pyenv was made from pure shell scripts. There is no bootstrap problem of Python.
Need to be loaded into your shell. Instead, pyenv's shim approach works by adding a directory to your
PATH
.Manage virtualenv. Of course, you can create virtualenv yourself, or pyenv-virtualenv to automate the process.
Table of Contents
How It Works
At a high level, pyenv intercepts Python commands using shim executables injected into your PATH
, determines which Python version has been specified by your application, and passes your commands along to the correct Python installation.
Understanding PATH
When you run a command like python
or pip
, your operating system searches through a list of directories to find an executable file with that name. This list of directories lives in an environment variable called PATH
, with each directory in the list separated by a colon:
Directories in PATH
are searched from left to right, so a matching executable in a directory at the beginning of the list takes precedence over another one at the end. In this example, the /usr/local/bin
directory will be searched first, then /usr/bin
, then /bin
.
Understanding Shims
pyenv works by inserting a directory of shims at the front of your PATH
:
Through a process called rehashing, pyenv maintains shims in that directory to match every Python command across every installed version of Python—python
, pip
, and so on.
Shims are lightweight executables that simply pass your command along to pyenv. So with pyenv installed, when you run, say, pip
, your operating system will do the following:
Search your
PATH
for an executable file namedpip
Find the pyenv shim named
pip
at the beginning of yourPATH
Run the shim named
pip
, which in turn passes the command along to pyenv
Understanding Python version selection
When you execute a shim, pyenv determines which Python version to use by reading it from the following sources, in this order:
The
PYENV_VERSION
environment variable (if specified). You can use thepyenv shell
command to set this environment variable in your current shell session.The application-specific
.python-version
file in the current directory (if present). You can modify the current directory's.python-version
file with thepyenv local
command.The first
.python-version
file found (if any) by searching each parent directory, until reaching the root of your filesystem.The global
$(pyenv root)/version
file. You can modify this file using thepyenv global
command. If the global version file is not present, pyenv assumes you want to use the "system" Python (see below).
A special version name "system
" means to use whatever Python is found on PATH
after the shims PATH
entry (in other words, whatever would be run if Pyenv shims weren't on PATH
). Note that Pyenv considers those installations outside its control and does not attempt to inspect or distinguish them in any way. So e.g. if you are on MacOS and have OS-bundled Python 3.8.9 and Homebrew-installed Python 3.9.12 and 3.10.2 -- for Pyenv, this is still a single "system
" version, and whichever of those is first on PATH
under the executable name you specified will be run.
NOTE: You can activate multiple versions at the same time, including multiple versions of Python2 or Python3 simultaneously. This allows for parallel usage of Python2 and Python3, and is required with tools like tox
. For example, to instruct Pyenv to first use your system Python and Python3 (which are e.g. 2.7.9 and 3.4.2) but also have Python 3.3.6, 3.2.1, and 2.5.2 available, you first pyenv install
the missing versions, then set pyenv global system 3.3.6 3.2.1 2.5.2
. Then you'll be able to invoke any of those versions with an appropriate pythonX
or pythonX.Y
name. You can also specify multiple versions in a .python-version
file by hand, separated by newlines. Lines starting with a #
are ignored.
pyenv which <command>
displays which real executable would be run when you invoke <command>
via a shim. E.g. if you have 3.3.6, 3.2.1 and 2.5.2 installed of which 3.3.6 and 2.5.2 are selected and your system Python is 3.2.5, pyenv which python2.5
should display $(pyenv root)/versions/2.5.2/bin/python2.5
, pyenv which python3
-- $(pyenv root)/versions/3.3.6/bin/python3
and pyenv which python3.2
-- path to your system Python due to the fall-through (see below).
Shims also fall through to anything further on PATH
if the corresponding executable is not present in any of the selected Python installations. This allows you to use any programs installed elsewhere on the system as long as they are not shadowed by a selected Python installation.
Locating Pyenv-provided Python installations
Once pyenv has determined which version of Python your application has specified, it passes the command along to the corresponding Python installation.
Each Python version is installed into its own directory under $(pyenv root)/versions
.
For example, you might have these versions installed:
$(pyenv root)/versions/2.7.8/
$(pyenv root)/versions/3.4.2/
$(pyenv root)/versions/pypy-2.4.0/
As far as Pyenv is concerned, version names are simply directories under $(pyenv root)/versions
.
Installation
Getting Pyenv
UNIX/MacOS
Homebrew in macOS
Consider installing with Homebrew:
Then follow the rest of the post-installation steps, starting with Set up your shell environment for Pyenv.
OPTIONAL. To fix
brew doctor
's warning ""config" scripts exist outside your system or Homebrew directories"If you're going to build Homebrew formulae from source that link against Python like Tkinter or NumPy (This is only generally the case if you are a developer of such a formula, or if you have an EOL version of MacOS for which prebuilt bottles are no longer provided and you are using such a formula).
To avoid them accidentally linking against a Pyenv-provided Python, add the following line into your interactive shell's configuration:
Bash/Zsh:
Fish:
Automatic installer
curl https://pyenv.run | bash
For more details visit our other project: https://github.com/pyenv/pyenv-installer
Basic GitHub Checkout
This will get you going with the latest version of Pyenv and make it easy to fork and contribute any changes back upstream.
Check out Pyenv where you want it installed. A good place to choose is
$HOME/.pyenv
(but you can install it somewhere else):Optionally, try to compile a dynamic Bash extension to speed up Pyenv. Don't worry if it fails; Pyenv will still work normally:
Windows
Pyenv does not officially support Windows and does not work in Windows outside the Windows Subsystem for Linux. Moreover, even there, the Pythons it installs are not native Windows versions but rather Linux versions running in a virtual machine -- so you won't get Windows-specific functionality.
If you're in Windows, we recommend using @kirankotari's pyenv-win
fork -- which does install native Windows Python versions.
Set up your shell environment for Pyenv
Upgrade note: The startup logic and instructions have been updated for simplicity in 2.3.0. The previous, more complicated configuration scheme for 2.0.0-2.2.5 still works.
Define environment variable
PYENV_ROOT
to point to the path where Pyenv will store its data.$HOME/.pyenv
is the default. If you installed Pyenv via Git checkout, we recommend to set it to the same location as where you cloned it.Add the
pyenv
executable to yourPATH
if it's not already thererun
eval "$(pyenv init -)"
to installpyenv
into your shell as a shell function, enable shims and autocompletionYou may run
eval "$(pyenv init --path)"
instead to just enable shims, without shell integration
The below setup should work for the vast majority of users for common use cases. See Advanced configuration for details and more configuration options.
For bash:
Stock Bash startup files vary widely between distributions in which of them source which, under what circumstances, in what order and what additional configuration they perform. As such, the most reliable way to get Pyenv in all environments is to append Pyenv configuration commands to both
.bashrc
(for interactive shells) and the profile file that Bash would use (for login shells).First, add the commands to
~/.bashrc
by running the following in your terminal:Then, if you have
~/.profile
,~/.bash_profile
or~/.bash_login
, add the commands there as well. If you have none of these, add them to~/.profile
.to add to
~/.profile
:to add to
~/.bash_profile
:
For Zsh:
If you wish to get Pyenv in noninteractive login shells as well, also add the commands to
~/.zprofile
or~/.zlogin
.For Fish shell:
If you have Fish 3.2.0 or newer, execute this interactively:
Otherwise, execute the snippet below:
Now, add this to
~/.config/fish/config.fish
:
Bash warning: There are some systems where the BASH_ENV
variable is configured to point to .bashrc
. On such systems, you should almost certainly put the eval "$(pyenv init -)"
line into .bash_profile
, and not into .bashrc
. Otherwise, you may observe strange behaviour, such as pyenv
getting into an infinite loop. See #264 for details.
Proxy note: If you use a proxy, export http_proxy
and https_proxy
, too.
In MacOS, you might also want to install Fig which provides alternative shell completions for many command line tools with an IDE-like popup interface in the terminal window. (Note that their completions are independent from Pyenv's codebase so they might be slightly out of sync for bleeding-edge interface changes.)
Restart your shell
for the PATH
changes to take effect.
Install Python build dependencies
Install Python build dependencies before attempting to install a new Python version.
You can now begin using Pyenv.
Usage
Install additional Python versions
To install additional Python versions, use pyenv install
.
For example, to download and install Python 3.10.4, run:
Running pyenv install -l
gives the list of all available versions.
NOTE: Most Pyenv-provided Python releases are source releases and are built from source as part of installation (that's why you need Python build dependencies preinstalled). You can pass options to Python's configure
and compiler flags to customize the build, see Special environment variables in Python-Build's README for details.
NOTE: If you are having trouble installing a Python version, please visit the wiki page about Common Build Problems.
NOTE: If you want to use proxy for download, please set the http_proxy
and https_proxy
environment variables.
NOTE: If you'd like a faster interpreter at the cost of longer build times, see Building for maximum performance in Python-Build's README.
Prefix auto-resolution to the latest version
All Pyenv subcommands except uninstall
automatically resolve full prefixes to the latest version in the corresponding version line.
pyenv install
picks the latest known version, while other subcommands pick the latest installed version.
E.g. to install and then switch to the latest 3.10 release:
You can run pyenv latest -k <prefix>
to see how pyenv install
would resolve a specific prefix, or pyenv latest <prefix>
to see how other subcommands would resolve it.
See the pyenv latest
documentation for details.
Python versions with extended support
For the following Python releases, Pyenv applies user-provided patches that add support for some newer environments. Though we don't actively maintain those patches, since existing releases never change, it's safe to assume that they will continue working until there are further incompatible changes in a later version of those environments.
3.7.8-3.7.15, 3.8.4-3.8.12, 3.9.0-3.9.7 : XCode 13.3
3.5.10, 3.6.15 : MacOS 11+ and XCode 13.3
2.7.18 : MacOS 10.15+ and Apple Silicon
Switch between Python versions
To select a Pyenv-installed Python as the version to use, run one of the following commands:
pyenv shell <version>
-- select just for current shell sessionpyenv local <version>
-- automatically select whenever you are in the current directory (or its subdirectories)pyenv global <version>
-- select globally for your user account
E.g. to select the above-mentioned newly-installed Python 3.10.4 as your preferred version to use:
Now whenever you invoke python
, pip
etc., an executable from the Pyenv-provided 3.10.4 installation will be run instead of the system Python.
Using "system
" as a version name would reset the selection to your system-provided Python.
See Understanding shims and Understanding Python version selection for more details on how the selection works and more information on its usage.
Uninstall Python versions
As time goes on, you will accumulate Python versions in your $(pyenv root)/versions
directory.
To remove old Python versions, use pyenv uninstall <versions>
.
Alternatively, you can simply rm -rf
the directory of the version you want to remove. You can find the directory of a particular Python version with the pyenv prefix
command, e.g. pyenv prefix 2.6.8
. Note however that plugins may run additional operations on uninstall which you would need to do by hand as well. E.g. Pyenv-Virtualenv also removes any virtual environments linked to the version being uninstalled.
Other operations
Run pyenv commands
to get a list of all available subcommands. Run a subcommand with --help
to get help on it, or see the Commands Reference.
Note that Pyenv plugins that you install may add their own subcommands.
Upgrading
Upgrading with Homebrew
If you've installed Pyenv using Homebrew, upgrade using:
To switch from a release to the latest development version of Pyenv, use:
then you can upgrade it with brew upgrade pyenv
as usual.
Upgrading with Installer or Git checkout
If you've installed Pyenv with Pyenv-installer, you likely have the Pyenv-Update plugin that would upgrade Pyenv and all installed plugins:
If you've installed Pyenv using Pyenv-installer or Git checkout, you can also upgrade your installation at any time using Git.
To upgrade to the latest development version of pyenv, use git pull
:
To upgrade to a specific release of Pyenv, check out the corresponding tag:
Uninstalling pyenv
The simplicity of pyenv makes it easy to temporarily disable it, or uninstall from the system.
To disable Pyenv managing your Python versions, simply remove the
pyenv init
invocations from your shell startup configuration. This will remove Pyenv shims directory fromPATH
, and future invocations likepython
will execute the system Python version, as it was before Pyenv.pyenv
will still be accessible on the command line, but your Python apps won't be affected by version switching.To completely uninstall Pyenv, remove all Pyenv configuration lines from your shell startup configuration, and then remove its root directory. This will delete all Python versions that were installed under the
$(pyenv root)/versions/
directory:If you've installed Pyenv using a package manager, as a final step, perform the Pyenv package removal. For instance, for Homebrew:
Pyenv plugins
Pyenv provides a simple, flexible and maintainable way to extend and customize its functionality with plugins -- as simple as creating a plugin directory and dropping a shell script on a certain subpath of it with whatever extra logic you need to be run at certain moments.
See Plugins on the wiki on how to install and use plugins as well as a catalog of some useful existing plugins for common needs.
See Authoring plugins on the wiki on writing your own plugins.
Advanced Configuration
Skip this section unless you must know what every line in your shell profile is doing.
Also see the Environment variables section for the environment variables that control Pyenv's behavior.
pyenv init
is the only command that crosses the line of loading extra commands into your shell. Coming from RVM, some of you might be opposed to this idea. Here's what eval "$(pyenv init -)"
actually does:
Sets up the shims path. This is what allows Pyenv to intercept and redirect invocations of
python
,pip
etc. transparently. It prepends$(pyenv root)/shims
to your$PATH
. It also deletes any other instances of$(pyenv root)/shims
onPATH
which allows to invokeeval "$(pyenv init -)"
multiple times without getting duplicatePATH
entries.Installs autocompletion. This is entirely optional but pretty useful. Sourcing
$(pyenv root)/completions/pyenv.bash
will set that up. There are also completions for Zsh and Fish.Rehashes shims. From time to time you'll need to rebuild your shim files. Doing this on init makes sure everything is up to date. You can always run
pyenv rehash
manually.Installs
pyenv
into the current shell as a shell function. This bit is also optional, but allows pyenv and plugins to change variables in your current shell. This is required for some commands likepyenv shell
to work. The sh dispatcher doesn't do anything crazy like overridecd
or hack your shell prompt, but if for some reason you needpyenv
to be a real script rather than a shell function, you can safely skip it.
eval "$(pyenv init --path)"
only does items 1 and 3.
To see exactly what happens under the hood for yourself, run pyenv init -
or pyenv init --path
.
eval "$(pyenv init -)"
is supposed to run at any interactive shell's startup (including nested shells -- e.g. those invoked from editors) so that you get completion and convenience shell functions.
eval "$(pyenv init --path)"
can be used instead of eval "$(pyenv init -)"
to just enable shims, without shell integration. It can also be used to bump shims to the front of PATH
after some other logic has prepended stuff to PATH
that may shadow Pyenv's shims.
In particular, in Debian-based distributions, the stock
~/.profile
prepends per-userbin
directories toPATH
after having sourced~/.bashrc
. This necessitates appending apyenv init
call to~/.profile
as well as~/.bashrc
in these distributions because the system's Pip places executables for modules installed by a non-root user into those per-userbin
directories.
Using Pyenv without shims
If you don't want to use pyenv init
and shims, you can still benefit from pyenv's ability to install Python versions for you. Just run pyenv install
and you will find versions installed in $(pyenv root)/versions
.
You can manually execute or symlink them as required, or you can use pyenv exec <command>
whenever you want <command>
to be affected by Pyenv's version selection as currently configured.
pyenv exec
works by prepending $(pyenv root)/versions/<selected version>/bin
to PATH
in the <command>
's environment, the same as what e.g. RVM does.
Environment variables
You can affect how Pyenv operates with the following environment variables:
See also Special environment variables in Python-Build's README for environment variables that can be used to customize the build.
Development
The pyenv source code is hosted on GitHub. It's clean, modular, and easy to understand, even if you're not a shell hacker.
Tests are executed using Bats:
Contributing
Feel free to submit pull requests and file bugs on the issue tracker.
See CONTRIBUTING.md for more details on submitting changes.
Version History
See CHANGELOG.md.
License
Last updated