Error "virtualenv : command not found" but install location is in PYTHONPATH

Question

This has been driving me crazy for the past 2 days. I installed virtualenv on my Macbook using pip install virtualenv. But when I try to create a new virtualenv using virtualenv venv, I get the error saying "virtualenv : command not found".

I used pip show virtualenv and the location of the installation is "Location: /usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages" but I can't figure out where the executable is. I tried dozens other similar looking posts but those solutions do not work for me.

Any ideas what might be going wrong here?

Are you sure your python path is correct? Are you using the system installed python, or one you downloaded on your own? — OneCricketeer, Oct 10 '16 at 18:38
Pythonpath wouldn't affect executing a program from the commandline... — John Gordon, Oct 10 '16 at 18:39
@cricket_007 : I've been using it for the past 2 years so I'm not sure but I think its the default installation. When I do `which python`, I get "/usr/local/bin/python" — Pravesh Jain, Oct 10 '16 at 18:42
@Gator_Python: Yes when I do "python -m virtualenv venv" it creates the virtual environment. Thanks. But I wonder why this is not the default method to use virtualenv and still don't understand why the method listed in the docs doesn't work for me. — Pravesh Jain, Oct 10 '16 at 18:45
`/usr/local` means you've downloaded your own python, which is separate from `/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/`. If `virtualenv` cannot be found, then you are missing `/usr/local/bin/virtualenv` — OneCricketeer, Oct 10 '16 at 18:50
@cricket_007 so what can I do to have an executable in /usr/local/bin/virtualenv ? — Pravesh Jain, Oct 10 '16 at 19:34
I have python installed via homebrew. When I did `pip install virtualenv`, it created it there. — OneCricketeer, Oct 10 '16 at 19:39
Possible duplicate of [How to add virtualenv to path](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/15453793/how-to-add-virtualenv-to-path) — vz0, Oct 11 '16 at 08:13
re: `pip install virtualenv` , I had to use `sudo` to get that command to succeed. — Cheeso, Sep 19 '17 at 17:31
mine installed in a strange place Location: /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.8/lib/python3.8/site-packages I used sudo pip3 install -U virtualenv # system-wide install Anybody know why I get virtualenv : command not found? — user1322114, May 26 '20 at 15:22

score 94 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 11 '16 at 07:17

94

The only workable approach I could figure out (with help from @Gator_Python was to do python -m virtualenv venv. This creates the virtual environment and works as expected.

I have custom python installed and maybe that's why the default approach doesn't work for me.

answered Oct 11 '16 at 07:17

Pravesh Jain

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Works with the official Python3 download on El Capitan. Thanks. – marw Jan 09 '17 at 20:34
This was roughly where I landed as well. Ultimately ended up adding an alias to my `.bashrc` so that I could save myself some typing. – Alexander Nied Dec 30 '19 at 18:10
More detailed version of this same Answer: https://stackoverflow.com/a/39977369/1357094 – cellepo Apr 26 '20 at 21:06
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I did python3 -m virtualenv venv so python3 instead of python because I have both installed, might be useful for other noobs... – Chagai Friedlander Nov 11 '20 at 09:49
I also installed python with custom path, maybe that cause cannot find virtualenv with default approach. – wind s Nov 17 '22 at 10:23

score 20 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 20 '19 at 21:42

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On macOS Mojave
First check python is in the path.
python --version
Second check pip is installed.
pip --version
If it is not installed.
brew install pip
Third install virtualenv
sudo -H pip install virtualenv

answered Jan 20 '19 at 21:42

Dr. Mian

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score 17 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 11 '19 at 06:41

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For Python 3

python3 -m virtualenv venv

answered Oct 11 '19 at 06:41

Lal Krishna

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score 11 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 11 '16 at 12:34

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As mentioned in the comments, you've got the virtualenv module installed properly in the expected environment since python -m venv allows you to create virtualenv's.

The fact that virtualenv is not a recognized command is a result of the virtualenv.py not being in your system PATH and/or not being executable. The root cause could be outdated distutils or setuptools.

You should attempt to locate the virtualenv.py file, ensure it is executable (chmod +x) and that its location is in your system PATH. On my system, virtualenv.py is in the ../Pythonx.x/Scripts folder, but this may be different for you.

answered Oct 11 '16 at 12:34

sytech

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The first solution worked for me, but the second failed, despite locating `virtualenv` in `~/lib/python/site-packages`, adding this directory to the `PATH`, and making `virtualenv.py` executable. I am on macOS Mojave with Python 3.6.7 and pip3. – miguelmorin Dec 11 '18 at 10:29
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On macOS Mojave you can do `sudo -H pip install virtualenv` – Dr. Mian Jan 20 '19 at 21:38

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 28 '17 at 00:53

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Could it be that you are using Anaconda package manager? If so, then it has it's own virtual environment system which you setup as follows:

conda create --name venv

answered Aug 28 '17 at 00:53

Bill

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score 1 · Answer 6 · edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

I had the same issue (although on ubuntu), a simple solution is instead of doing pip install virtualenv, you precede the commend with "sudo".

A little inspection reveals the reason behind this fix:

pip install virtualenv tries to put an executable under /usr/local/bin so that it can be invoked from command line, but it failed because only root has write permission to that directory

an alternative is pip install --user virtualenv, here are some further readings 1,2

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Nov 08 '20 at 18:40

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Had the same problem on Windows. Command not found and can't find the executable in the directory given by pip show.
Fixed it by adding "C:\Users{My User}\AppData\Roaming\Python\Python39\Scripts" to the PATH environment variable.

answered Nov 08 '20 at 18:40

Eric Pedley

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score 1 · Answer 8 · edited Apr 28 '21 at 11:47

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Install virtualenv from https://pypi.org/project/virtualenv

python -m pip install --user virtualenv

sudo /usr/bin/easy_install virtualenv

edited Apr 28 '21 at 11:47

Gopal Joshi

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answered Apr 28 '21 at 10:50

Shekhar Prasad Rajak

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score 0 · Answer 9 · answered May 24 '19 at 12:31

I succeded creating manually a link to location/virtualenv.py in /usr/local/bin, naming it virtualenv and adding +x attribute on file

➜  ~ pip show virtualenv
Name: virtualenv
Version: 16.6.0
Summary: Virtual Python Environment builder
Home-page: https://virtualenv.pypa.io/
Author: Ian Bicking
Author-email: ianb@colorstudy.com
License: MIT
Location: /home/prsadev/.local/lib/python2.7/site-packages
Requires: 


~ chmod +x /home/prsadev/.local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/virtualenv.py 
~ sudo ln -sf /home/prsadev/.local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/virtualenv.py /usr/local/bin/virtualenv

score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Sep 16 '19 at 09:28

I tried to have virtualenv at a random location & faced the same issue on a UBUNTU machine, when I tried to run my 'venv'. What solved my issue was :-

$virtualenv -p python3 venv

Also,instead of using $activate try :- $source activate If you look at the activate script(or $cat activate), you will find the same in comment.

score 0 · Answer 11 · answered Oct 03 '21 at 13:09

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This solved my similar problem!

You need to look online on how to create a virtual environement with python X.X.X (replace x.x.x with your python version)

mine was python 3.4.3 so bellow is how should i deal with it:

sudo python3 -m venv aramisvenv

answered Oct 03 '21 at 13:09

Aramis NSR

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score 0 · Answer 12 · answered Feb 11 '22 at 14:01

0

I use asdf and had to do a reshim after installing virtualenv. asdf reshim

Fixed due to this response

answered Feb 11 '22 at 14:01

thiago-clubedochaveiro

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Error "virtualenv : command not found" but install location is in PYTHONPATH

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