Command Reference — virtualenvwrapper 4.8.4 documentation

# 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.

See also

- premkvirtualenv
- postmkvirtualenv
- requirements file format

### 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

- get_env_details

### showvirtualenv

Show the details for a single virtualenv.

Syntax:

    showvirtualenv [env]

See also

- get_env_details

### 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

- prermvirtualenv
- postrmvirtualenv

### 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 it needs 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)$

See also

- precpvirtualenv
- postcpvirtualenv
- premkvirtualenv
- postmkvirtualenv

### 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 $VIRTUAL_ENV
    /Users/dhellmann/Devel/virtualenvwrapper/tmp/env2
    (env2)$

See also

- predeactivate
- postdeactivate
- preactivate
- postactivate
- Enable Project Directory Switching

### 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

- predeactivate
- postdeactivate

## Quickly Navigating to a virtualenv

There are two functions to provide shortcuts to navigate into the currently-active virtualenv.

### cdvirtualenv

Change the current working directory to `$VIRTUAL_ENV`.

Syntax:

    cdvirtualenv [subdir]

Calling `cdvirtualenv` changes the current working directory to the top of the virtualenv (`$VIRTUAL_ENV`). An optional argument is appended to the path, allowing navigation directly into a subdirectory.

    $ mkvirtualenv env1
    New python executable in env1/bin/python
    Installing setuptools.............................................
    ..................................................................
    ..................................................................
    done.
    (env1)$ echo $VIRTUAL_ENV
    /Users/dhellmann/Devel/virtualenvwrapper/tmp/env1
    (env1)$ cdvirtualenv
    (env1)$ pwd
    /Users/dhellmann/Devel/virtualenvwrapper/tmp/env1
    (env1)$ cdvirtualenv bin
    (env1)$ pwd
    /Users/dhellmann/Devel/virtualenvwrapper/tmp/env1/bin

### cdsitepackages

Change the current working directory to the `site-packages` for `$VIRTUAL_ENV`.

Syntax:

    cdsitepackages [subdir]

Because the exact path to the site-packages directory in the virtualenv depends on the version of Python, `cdsitepackages` is provided as a shortcut for `cdvirtualenv lib/python${pyvers}/site-packages`. An optional argument is also allowed, to specify a directory hierarchy within the `site-packages` directory to change into.

    $ mkvirtualenv env1
    New python executable in env1/bin/python
    Installing setuptools.............................................
    ..................................................................
    ..................................................................
    done.
    (env1)$ echo $VIRTUAL_ENV
    /Users/dhellmann/Devel/virtualenvwrapper/tmp/env1
    (env1)$ cdsitepackages PyMOTW/bisect/
    (env1)$ pwd
    /Users/dhellmann/Devel/virtualenvwrapper/tmp/env1/lib/python2.6/site-packages/PyMOTW/bisect

### lssitepackages

Calling `lssitepackages` shows the content of the `site-packages` directory of the currently-active virtualenv.

Syntax:

    lssitepackages

    $ mkvirtualenv env1
    New python executable in env1/bin/python
    Installing setuptools.............................................
    ..................................................................
    ..................................................................
    done.
    (env1)$ $ workon env1
    (env1)$ lssitepackages
    setuptools-0.6.10-py2.6.egg     pip-0.6.3-py2.6.egg
    easy-install.pth                setuptools.pth

## 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`.

1. Check out the source for a big project, such as Django.
2. Run: `add2virtualenv path_to_source`.
3. Run: `add2virtualenv`.
4. A usage message and list of current “extra” paths is printed.
5. Use option `-d` to remove the added path.

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

Project Management

### 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

- premkproject
- postmkproject

### 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

## Managing Installed Packages

### wipeenv

Remove all of the installed third-party packages in the current virtualenv.

Syntax:

    wipeenv

## Other Commands

### virtualenvwrapper

Print a list of commands and their descriptions as basic help output.

Syntax:

    virtualenvwrapper