Break the Virtual Environment

Table of Contents

Few ways to run Python tool without activating Python virtual environment.

After we optimize main.py, we may continue to make it a standalone tool.

And a lot of time, especially Python >3.12, we create our project with virtual environment venv module. This will require us to break the virtual environment to make it a standalone tool without depending on sets of libraries/modules.

We have a few options: use shebang directly or use OneFiler to convert it to a single binary.

Use `shebang`
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This is a straight forward method, and it is suitable for using it at the same machine.

Instead of activating the virtual environment every time, we can directly call the Python interpreter within venv with shebang. Simply add the shebang line at the top of Python script as below:

#!/patch/to/venv/bin/python

Then, ensure the script has executable bit with chmod +x main.py.

Finally, we can just run the Python script ./main.py.

Use `OneFiler`
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Using OneFiler simply means package the Python CLI application into a single binary using tools i

PyInstaller: most common
Nuitka: more optimized, faster execution
shiv: for virtual environment-like bundle

PyInstaller
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This is most common tool used due to its simplicity.

First, we need to setup PyInstaller.

$ pip install pyinstaller --break-system-packages
$ pyinstaller --version
6.11.1

Then, we can create the binary with the following:

$ pyinstaller --onefile --collect-all pyfiglet patch_tuesday.py

Finally, we can find the binary at dist/patch_tuesday.

Nuitka
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Nuitka converts Python script into a C-based binary, and has the advantage of better performance.

This is because it transpiles Python code into C code and then compiles it into a native executable file. And to make the CLI app fully portable, use --standalone option, or the CLI app will depend on libraries that need to be installed.

First, let’s setup Nuitka with the following:

$ pip install nuitka --break-system-packages
$ sudo apt install patchelf

Then, create the binary.

$ python3 -m nuitka --onefile --standalone patch_tuesday.py

Finally, we can find the binary at patch_tuesday.bin.

Shiv
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Shiv can bundle our app into a zipapp than can run as a single file. But it still depends on a compatible Python interpreter. Thus, it is for a more portable Python-based package.

Here, we simply create a pyz of shiv using shiv!!

$ mkdir standalone
$ cd standalone
$ python3 -m venv ../venv/standalone
$ source ../venv/standalone/bin/activate
(standalone) $ pip install shiv
(standalone) $ shiv -c shiv -o shiv shiv
(standalone) $ deactivate
$ ./shiv
You must supply PIP ARGS or --site-packages!