How to Install Pyenv on MacOS

February 5, 2024

Steps to install Pyenv on MacOS

There are a few ways on MacOS to install Python. You can install it via Brew, or by using Pyenv. After needing to switch between different versions of Python often I’ve decided to move to Pyenv. Prior to these steps I removed all versions of Python installed directly with Brew.

1. Update Brew and install prerequisites
We will need to update brew.

1	brew update

In some cases when installing Python >=3.12.1 we will need ncurses. If it’s missing you can install using:

1	brew install ncurses

2. Install Pyenv using brew

The recommended way to install pyenv on MacOS is brew.

1	brew install pyenv

3. Brew doctor fix

If you want to avoid brew doctor warning about “config” scripts existing outside the system or Homebrew directories please include the following in your shell.

1	alias brew='env PATH="${PATH//$(pyenv root)\/shims:/}" brew'

4. Configure your Zsh profile.

echo 'export PYENV_ROOT="$HOME/.pyenv"' >> ~/.zshrc

echo '[[ -d $PYENV_ROOT/bin ]] && export PATH="$PYENV_ROOT/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc

echo 'eval "$(pyenv init -)"' >> ~/.zshrc

If you wish to use Pyenv in non-interactive shells, add the following:

echo 'export PYENV_ROOT="$HOME/.pyenv"' >> ~/.zprofile

echo '[[ -d $PYENV_ROOT/bin ]] && export PATH="$PYENV_ROOT/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/. zprofile

echo 'eval "$(pyenv init -)"' >> ~/.zprofile

5. Restart shell

1	exec "$SHELL"

6. Install python 3.12

I am going to show how to install python 3.12 but you can select any version of your choice.

1	pyenv install 3.12

7. Switch between your python versions

pyenv shell <version> – modifies python for the current shell session

pyenv local <version> – modifies the python used in the current directory (or subdirectories)

pyenv global <version> – modifies the python used for your user account

brew, mac, macos, pyenv, python, system

DevOps, MacOS, Python, System Administration

1 Comment

How to Install Pyenv on Ubuntu 22.04

January 11, 2024

Eric Anderson

Due to the slowness of repositories or even lack thereof being updated with specific versions of Python, I’ve decided to move some of my environments over to Pyenv to allow me to dynamically install and configure Python specifically for my environment. As it turns out this will also allow VS Code to allow me to choose the version of Python that I’d like to use when testing. So, here’s a quick guide to installing Pyenv on Ubuntu 22.04

Steps to install Pyenv on Ubuntu 22.04

1. Update and Install Dependencies

We need to ensure our package cache is updated, and then install the dependencies to download, and build Python from Pyenv.

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install make build-essential libssl-dev \

zlib1g-dev libbz2-dev libreadline-dev libsqlite3-dev wget curl llvm \

libncursesw5-dev xz-utils tk-dev libxml2-dev libxmlsec1-dev libffi-dev liblzma-dev

2. Install Pyenv using pyenv-installer

1	curl https://pyenv.run \| bash

3. Configure user profile to use pyenv

Ensure the following is in your ~/.bash_profile (if exists), ~/.profile (for login shells), ~/.bashrc (for interactive shells), or ~/.zshrc

# Load pyenv automatically by appending

# the following to

# ~/.bash_profile if it exists, otherwise ~/.profile (for login shells)

# and ~/.bashrc (for interactive shells) :

export PYENV_ROOT="$HOME/.pyenv"

[[ -d $PYENV_ROOT/bin ]] && export PATH="$PYENV_ROOT/bin:$PATH"

eval "$(pyenv init -)"

Optionally enable pyenv-virtualenv

1	eval "$(pyenv virtualenv-init -)"

4. Reload your profile

1	source ~/.bashrc

5. Install python using pyenv

1	pyenv install <version>

6. Set your python version

pyenv shell <version> — select just for current shell session
pyenv local <version> — automatically select whenever you are in the current directory (or its subdirectories)
pyenv global <version> — select globally for your user account

7. Validate your installation of python

1	python3 --version

1	python --version