How to duplicate virtualenv

python django virtualenv
dolma33 picture dolma33 · Sep 16, 2011 · Viewed 76.9k times · Source

I have an existing virtualenv with a lot of packages but an old version of Django.

What I want to do is duplicate this environment so I have another environment with the exact same packages but a newer version of Django. How can I do this?

Answer

rdegges picture rdegges · Sep 16, 2011

The easiest way is to use pip to generate a requirements file. A requirements file is basically a file that contains a list of all the python packages you want to install (or have already installed in case of file generated by pip), and what versions they're at.

To generate a requirements file, go into your original virtualenv, and run:

pip freeze > requirements.txt

This will generate the requirements.txt file for you. If you open that file up in your favorite text editor, you'll see something like:

Django==1.3
Fabric==1.0.1
etc...

Now, edit the line that says Django==x.x to say Django==1.3 (or whatever version you want to install in your new virtualenv).

Lastly, activate your new virtualenv, and run:

pip install -r requirements.txt

And pip will automatically download and install all the python modules listed in your requirements.txt file, at whatever versions you specified!

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