Installing Python from source on Ubuntu

For whatever reason you may want to upgrade your version of Python that came with your Ubuntu distro. However, completely replacing the system version is not recommended. Here is how to install Python for the local user.

Python 2.7.10

$ mkdir ~/local/python-2.7.10
$ cd ~/Downloads
$ wget https://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.7.10/Python-2.7.10.tgz
$ tar -zxvf Python-2.7.10.tgz
$ cd Python-2.7.10
$ ./configure --prefix=/home/<user>/local/python-2.7.10
$ make
$ make install
$ ~/local/python-2.7.10/bin/python --version

Python 3.5.1

$ mkdir ~/local/python-3.5.1
$ cd ~/Downloads
$ wget https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.5.1/Python-3.5.1.tgz
$ tar -zxvf Python-3.5.1.tgz
$ cd Python-3.5.1
$ ./configure --prefix=$HOME/local/python-3.5.1/
$ make
$ make test
$ make install
$ ~/local/python-3.5.1/bin/python3 --version

Tips

1. While in the Python source directory you should also check out the README for any extra help on the installation process. cat README | less
2. View the configuration help with ./configure --help while in the Python source directory.

Quick Start with Python 3.5.1

$ mkdir ~/sandbox/python3-playground
$ cd ~/sandbox/python3-playground
$ ~/local/python-3.5.1/bin/pyvenv env
$ . env/bin/activate
(env) $ pip install django
(env) $ ...
(env) $ deactivate
$ exit

Learn more about virtual environments in Python 3.5.1 here.

References

• http://askubuntu.com/questions/572973/how-to-update-python-version-on-ubuntu-14-10
• http://stackoverflow.com/q/1534210/391924

Installing pip

$ cd ~/Downloads
$ wget https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py
$ ~/local/python-2.7.10/bin/python get-pip.py
$ ~/local/python-2.7.10/bin/pip --version

References

• https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/installing/

Installing virtualenv

$ ~/local/python-2.7.10/bin/pip install virtualenv

References

• https://virtualenv.pypa.io/en/latest/installation.html

Starting a new project

$ mkdir ~/projects/helloworld
$ cd ~/projects/helloworld
$ ~/local/python-2.7.10/bin/virtualenv env
$ . env/bin/activate