Activate virtual environment and install requirements in the first setup automatically - Python, Windows

Question

I want to write a first_setup.py script, where users can run it for the first time and the script will do the entire setup automatically, namely it will create a virtual environment, activate it, and install the requirements with pip. Users can then start to use the program without worrying about any dependency issue.

Therefore, I used venv together with subprocess library. My Python version is 3.7.5. With the following command, it creates the virtual environment in the working directory:

env_name = ".venv"
subprocess.run(["python", "-m", "venv", env_name])

However, activation doesn't work. I tried to activate it in various ways, for example:

subprocess.run([f"{venv_name}\\Scripts\\Activate.ps1"], shell=True)

This just opens Activate.ps1 in Windows Text Editor like a .txt file (?). I also thought to add .../Scripts/python.exe to the PATH variable, but it didn't work actually.

Furthermore, when the venv created by the script, VS Code pops up a message saying a venv detected, do you want to use it? If I click on Yes, then it changes my interpreter to venv, which is exactly what I want to do, but automatically with the first_setup.py script.

How can I proceed?

Answer 1

Does this first_setup script need to be Python?

The problem is that the activate script sets environment variables for the shell, which is why it’s usually run with ‘source’.

Answer 2

try using bash file:

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install your_library