Installation ============ .. warning:: We advise installing virtualenv-1.9 or greater. Prior to version 1.9, the pip included in virtualenv did not download from PyPI over SSL. .. warning:: When using pip to install virtualenv, we advise using pip 1.3 or greater. Prior to version 1.3, pip did not download from PyPI over SSL. .. warning:: We advise against using easy_install to install virtualenv when using setuptools < 0.9.7, because easy_install didn't download from PyPI over SSL and was broken in some subtle ways. In Windows, run the ``pip`` provided by your Python installation to install ``virtualenv``. :: > pip install virtualenv In non-Windows systems it is discouraged to run ``pip`` as root including with ``sudo``. Generally use your system package manager if it provides a package. This avoids conflicts in versions and file locations between the system package manager and ``pip``. See your distribution's package manager documentation for instructions on using it to install ``virtualenv``. Using ``pip install --user`` is less hazardous but can still cause trouble within the particular user account. If a system package expects the system provided ``virtualenv`` and an incompatible version is installed with ``--user`` that package may have problems within that user account. To install within your user account with ``pip`` (if you have pip 1.3 or greater installed): :: $ pip install --user virtualenv Note: The specific ``bin`` path may vary per distribution but is often ``~/.local/bin`` and must be added to your ``$PATH`` if not already present. Or to get the latest unreleased dev version: :: $ pip install --user https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/tarball/master To install version ``X.X.X`` globally from source: :: $ pip install --user https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/tarball/X.X.X To *use* locally from source: :: $ curl --location --output virtualenv-X.X.X.tar.gz https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/tarball/X.X.X $ tar xvfz virtualenv-X.X.X.tar.gz $ cd pypa-virtualenv-YYYYYY $ python virtualenv.py myVE .. note:: The ``virtualenv.py`` script is *not* supported if run without the necessary pip/setuptools/virtualenv distributions available locally. All of the installation methods above include a ``virtualenv_support`` directory alongside ``virtualenv.py`` which contains a complete set of pip and setuptools distributions, and so are fully supported.