Command Reference¶
All of the commands below are to be used on the Terminal command line.
Managing Environments¶
mkvirtualenv¶
Create a new environment, in the WORKON_HOME.
Syntax:
mkvirtualenv [-a project_path] [-i package] [-r requirements_file] [virtualenv options] ENVNAME
All command line options except -a, -i, -r, and -h are passed
directly to virtualenv. The new environment is automatically
activated after being initialized.
$ workon
$ mkvirtualenv mynewenv
New python executable in mynewenv/bin/python
Installing setuptools.............................................
..................................................................
..................................................................
done.
(mynewenv)$ workon
mynewenv
(mynewenv)$
The -a option can be used to associate an existing project
directory with the new environment.
The -i option can be used to install one or more packages (by
repeating the option) after the environment is created.
The -r option can be used to specify a text file listing packages
to be installed. The argument value is passed to pip -r to be
installed.
mktmpenv¶
Create a new virtualenv in the WORKON_HOME directory.
Syntax:
mktmpenv [(-c|--cd)|(-n|--no-cd)] [VIRTUALENV_OPTIONS]
A unique virtualenv name is generated.
If -c or --cd is specified the working directory is changed to
the virtualenv directory during the post-activate phase, regardless of
the value of VIRTUALENVWRAPPER_WORKON_CD.
If -n or --no-cd is specified the working directory is not
changed to the virtualenv directory during the post-activate phase,
regardless of the value of VIRTUALENVWRAPPER_WORKON_CD.
$ mktmpenv
Using real prefix '/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7'
New python executable in 1e513ac6-616e-4d56-9aa5-9d0a3b305e20/bin/python
Overwriting 1e513ac6-616e-4d56-9aa5-9d0a3b305e20/lib/python2.7/distutils/__init__.py
with new content
Installing setuptools...............................................
....................................................................
.................................................................done.
This is a temporary environment. It will be deleted when deactivated.
(1e513ac6-616e-4d56-9aa5-9d0a3b305e20) $
lsvirtualenv¶
List all of the environments.
Syntax:
lsvirtualenv [-b] [-l] [-h]
| -b | Brief mode, disables verbose output. |
| -l | Long mode, enables verbose output. Default. |
| -h | Print the help for lsvirtualenv. |
See also
rmvirtualenv¶
Remove an environment, in the WORKON_HOME.
Syntax:
rmvirtualenv ENVNAME
You must use deactivate before removing the current environment.
(mynewenv)$ deactivate
$ rmvirtualenv mynewenv
$ workon
$
See also
cpvirtualenv¶
Duplicate an existing virtualenv environment. The source can be an environment managed by virtualenvwrapper or an external environment created elsewhere.
Warning
Copying virtual environments is not well supported. Each virtualenv has path information hard-coded into it, and there may be cases where the copy code does not know to update a particular file. Use with caution.
Syntax:
cpvirtualenv ENVNAME [TARGETENVNAME]
Note
Target environment name is required for WORKON_HOME duplications. However, target environment name can be ommited for importing external environments. If omitted, the new environment is given the same name as the original.
$ workon
$ mkvirtualenv source
New python executable in source/bin/python
Installing setuptools.............................................
..................................................................
..................................................................
done.
(source)$ cpvirtualenv source dest
Making script /Users/dhellmann/Devel/virtualenvwrapper/tmp/dest/bin/easy_install relative
Making script /Users/dhellmann/Devel/virtualenvwrapper/tmp/dest/bin/easy_install-2.6 relative
Making script /Users/dhellmann/Devel/virtualenvwrapper/tmp/dest/bin/pip relative
Script /Users/dhellmann/Devel/virtualenvwrapper/tmp/dest/bin/postactivate cannot be made relative (it's not a normal script that starts with #!/Users/dhellmann/Devel/virtualenvwrapper/tmp/dest/bin/python)
Script /Users/dhellmann/Devel/virtualenvwrapper/tmp/dest/bin/postdeactivate cannot be made relative (it's not a normal script that starts with #!/Users/dhellmann/Devel/virtualenvwrapper/tmp/dest/bin/python)
Script /Users/dhellmann/Devel/virtualenvwrapper/tmp/dest/bin/preactivate cannot be made relative (it's not a normal script that starts with #!/Users/dhellmann/Devel/virtualenvwrapper/tmp/dest/bin/python)
Script /Users/dhellmann/Devel/virtualenvwrapper/tmp/dest/bin/predeactivate cannot be made relative (it's not a normal script that starts with #!/Users/dhellmann/Devel/virtualenvwrapper/tmp/dest/bin/python)
(dest)$ workon
dest
source
(dest)$
allvirtualenv¶
Run a command in all virtualenvs under WORKON_HOME.
Syntax:
allvirtualenv command with arguments
Each virtualenv is activated, bypassing activation hooks, the current working directory is changed to the current virtualenv, and then the command is run. Commands cannot modify the current shell state, but can modify the virtualenv.
$ allvirtualenv pip install -U pip
Controlling the Active Environment¶
workon¶
List or change working virtual environments
Syntax:
workon [(-c|--cd)|(-n|--no-cd)] [environment_name|"."]
If no environment_name is given the list of available environments
is printed to stdout.
If -c or --cd is specified the working directory is changed to
the project directory during the post-activate phase, regardless of
the value of VIRTUALENVWRAPPER_WORKON_CD.
If -n or --no-cd is specified the working directory is not
changed to the project directory during the post-activate phase,
regardless of the value of VIRTUALENVWRAPPER_WORKON_CD.
If "." is passed as the environment name, the name is derived from
the base name of the current working directory (contributed by Matias
Saguir).
$ workon
$ mkvirtualenv env1
New python executable in env1/bin/python
Installing setuptools.............................................
..................................................................
..................................................................
done.
(env1)$ mkvirtualenv env2
New python executable in env2/bin/python
Installing setuptools.............................................
..................................................................
..................................................................
done.
(env2)$ workon
env1
env2
(env2)$ workon env1
(env1)$ echo $VIRTUAL_ENV
/Users/dhellmann/Devel/virtualenvwrapper/tmp/env1
(env1)$ workon env2
(env2)$ echo $VIRTUAL_ENV
/Users/dhellmann/Devel/virtualenvwrapper/tmp/env2
(env2)$
deactivate¶
Switch from a virtual environment to the system-installed version of Python.
Syntax:
deactivate
Note
This command is actually part of virtualenv, but is wrapped to provide before and after hooks, just as workon does for activate.
$ workon
$ echo $VIRTUAL_ENV
$ mkvirtualenv env1
New python executable in env1/bin/python
Installing setuptools.............................................
..................................................................
..................................................................
done.
(env1)$ echo $VIRTUAL_ENV
/Users/dhellmann/Devel/virtualenvwrapper/tmp/env1
(env1)$ deactivate
$ echo $VIRTUAL_ENV
$
See also
Path Management¶
add2virtualenv¶
Adds the specified directories to the Python path for the currently-active virtualenv.
Syntax:
add2virtualenv directory1 directory2 ...
Sometimes it is desirable to share installed packages that are not in
the system site-packages directory and which should not be
installed in each virtualenv. One possible solution is to symlink the
source into the environment site-packages directory, but it is
also easy to add extra directories to the PYTHONPATH by including them
in a .pth file inside site-packages using add2virtualenv.
- Check out the source for a big project, such as Django.
- Run:
add2virtualenv path_to_source. - Run:
add2virtualenv. - A usage message and list of current “extra” paths is printed.
The directory names are added to a path file named
_virtualenv_path_extensions.pth inside the site-packages directory
for the environment.
Based on a contribution from James Bennett and Jannis Leidel.
toggleglobalsitepackages¶
Controls whether the active virtualenv will access the packages in the
global Python site-packages directory.
Syntax:
toggleglobalsitepackages [-q]
Outputs the new state of the virtualenv. Use the -q switch to turn off all
output.
$ mkvirtualenv env1
New python executable in env1/bin/python
Installing setuptools.............................................
..................................................................
..................................................................
done.
(env1)$ toggleglobalsitepackages
Disabled global site-packages
(env1)$ toggleglobalsitepackages
Enabled global site-packages
(env1)$ toggleglobalsitepackages -q
(env1)$
Project Directory Management¶
See also
mkproject¶
Create a new virtualenv in the WORKON_HOME and project directory in PROJECT_HOME.
Syntax:
mkproject [-f|--force] [-t template] [virtualenv_options] ENVNAME
| -f, --force | Create the virtualenv even if the project directory already exists |
The template option may be repeated to have several templates used to
create a new project. The templates are applied in the order named on
the command line. All other options are passed to mkvirtualenv to
create a virtual environment with the same name as the project.
$ mkproject myproj
New python executable in myproj/bin/python
Installing setuptools.............................................
..................................................................
..................................................................
done.
Creating /Users/dhellmann/Devel/myproj
(myproj)$ pwd
/Users/dhellmann/Devel/myproj
(myproj)$ echo $VIRTUAL_ENV
/Users/dhellmann/Envs/myproj
(myproj)$
See also
setvirtualenvproject¶
Bind an existing virtualenv to an existing project.
Syntax:
setvirtualenvproject [virtualenv_path project_path]
The arguments to setvirtualenvproject are the full paths to the
virtualenv and project directory. An association is made so that when
workon activates the virtualenv the project is also activated.
$ mkproject myproj
New python executable in myproj/bin/python
Installing setuptools.............................................
..................................................................
..................................................................
done.
Creating /Users/dhellmann/Devel/myproj
(myproj)$ mkvirtualenv myproj_new_libs
New python executable in myproj/bin/python
Installing setuptools.............................................
..................................................................
..................................................................
done.
Creating /Users/dhellmann/Devel/myproj
(myproj_new_libs)$ setvirtualenvproject $VIRTUAL_ENV $(pwd)
When no arguments are given, the current virtualenv and current directory are assumed.
Any number of virtualenvs can refer to the same project directory, making it easy to switch between versions of Python or other dependencies for testing.
cdproject¶
Change the current working directory to the one specified as the project directory for the active virtualenv.
Syntax:
cdproject