Is there a way to create a virtual environment with an earlier version of python?

Question

Is there a way to create a virtual environment with an earlier version of python?

I have python 3.8 installed on my pc, but i need 3.7 for a specific task. When i try to set up a virtual environment via

virtualenv -p "my/path/to/python37.exe"

it calls the installer, so i am to install py37 manually, but then it ends up with an error:

Error 0x80070666: Cannot install a product when a newer version is installed

Is there a proper way to implement such a thing?

Thanks!

python

python-3.x

virtualenv

virtual-environment

asked on Stack Overflow Nov 29, 2019 by

Alex • edited Nov 29, 2019 by

Hamza Lachi

2 Answers

Have you tried anaconda or miniconda (the lighter version of anaconda)? Having more python versions in different environments and switching between them is quite easy.

answered on Stack Overflow Nov 29, 2019 by

gabBGG

I haven't installed Anaconda. If you want to have multiple different environments with pure Python you can do it like this:

1) Install the python versions that you want with the exe installer, ie Python 2.x.x, Python 3.7.x, Python 3.8.x etc, maybe inside a common folder like C:\Python

2) Then edit the System Variables path and pinpoint to the folder for the version you want to create a virtual environment. You need two entries here, one to python folder (for the python.exe) and one to the Scripts folder (for the pip.exe)

3) Open command prompt and hit python. You ll see that it's showing the apporpriate version. Install the virtual environment with "python -m venv name_of_env_you_want"

4) If you want to create a virtual environment with a different version change the paths

answered on Stack Overflow Nov 29, 2019 by

Dimitris Thomas

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