Python Virtual Environment Usage

On Radxa OS, installing Python libraries system-wide with pip3 is restricted by the system. You can use a Python virtual environment to isolate project dependencies from the system environment.

error: externally-managed-environment

× This environment is externally managed
╰─> To install Python packages system-wide, try apt install
    python3-xyz, where xyz is the package you are trying to
    install.

Install the virtual environment tools

sudo apt install python3-venv

Create a virtual environment

python3 -m venv .venv

Activate the virtual environment

source .venv/bin/activate

Upgrade pip

pip3 install --upgrade pip

Deactivate the virtual environment

deactivate