Python virtual environments create isolated spaces for project dependencies, preventing package conflicts between projects. The built-in venv module is the standard approach in Python 3. This guide covers creating, activating, and managing virtual environments on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS.

Tested and valid on:

  • Ubuntu 26.04 LTS

Prerequisites

  • Ubuntu 26.04 LTS with Python 3.14 installed
  • pip installed (sudo apt install python3-pip)

Step 1 – Install python3-venv

sudo apt install python3-venv python3.14-venv -y

Step 2 – Create a Virtual Environment

mkdir ~/myproject && cd ~/myproject
python3 -m venv .venv

Step 3 – Activate the Environment

source .venv/bin/activate

Your prompt changes to show (.venv). All pip installs will now go into this environment.

Step 4 – Install Packages

pip install requests flask sqlalchemy
pip list

Step 5 – Freeze and Recreate Requirements

pip freeze > requirements.txt
cat requirements.txt

On another machine or environment:

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

Step 6 – Deactivate the Environment

deactivate

Step 7 – Use virtualenvwrapper for Convenience

pip install virtualenvwrapper

Add to ~/.bashrc:

export WORKON_HOME=$HOME/.virtualenvs
source $(which virtualenvwrapper.sh)
source ~/.bashrc
mkvirtualenv myproject
workon myproject

Conclusion

Python virtual environments on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS allow clean dependency management per project. Always use a virtual environment for Python development to avoid dependency conflicts and keep the system Python clean.