Windows-Venv-Scripts

Collection of scripts and instructions for handling Python virtual environments from a central folder on Windows.

Why?

Similar to the ~/.virtualenvs folder on Linux, this is a central folder for all your virtual environments. This allows you to easily manage your virtual environments and keep them separate from your projects.

How?

Setup

1. Create a folder for your virtual environments. I use C:\Users\{username}\virtualenvs.
2. Create a system environment variable called WORKON_HOME and set it to the path of your virtual environments folder.

   setx WORKON_HOME "C:\Users\{username}\virtualenvs"

3. Create a seperate folder for storing the scripts. I use C:\Users\{username}\scripts.
4. Add the scripts folder to your system path.
5. There are four scripts that need to be in the scripts folder:
   • mkvenv.bat

     @echo off
     setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
     set "venv_name=%~1"
     set "venv_path=%WORKON_HOME%\%venv_name%"
     python -m venv !venv_path!
     endlocal

   • rmvenv.bat

     @echo off
     setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
     set "venv_name=%~1"
     set "venv_path=%WORKON_HOME%\%venv_name%"
     rmdir /s /q "!venv_path!"
     endlocal

   • workon.bat

     @echo off
     set "venv_name=%~1"
     set "venv_path=%WORKON_HOME%\%venv_name%\Scripts\activate"
     call "%venv_path%"

   • lsvenv.bat

     @echo off
     setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
     dir /b /ad "%WORKON_HOME%"

Usage

• Create a new virtual environment:

  mkvenv {venv_name}

• Activate a virtual environment:

  workon {venv_name}

• Deactivate a virtual environment:

  deactivate

• Delete a virtual environment:

  rmvenv {venv_name}

• List all virtual environments:

  lsvenv

Notes

• mkvenv.bat will use the default python version. If you want to use a specific version, you may consider using the below script instead. You can see the available versions by running py -0

  @echo off
  setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
  set "venv_name=%~1"
  set "python_version=%~2"
  
  if "%python_version%"=="" (
      echo Please specify the Python version to use.
      exit /b
  )
  
  set "venv_path=%WORKON_HOME%\%venv_name%"
  py -%python_version% -m venv !venv_path!
  endlocal

  I've created a separate script, named mkvenv-v.bat, for this purpose because I don't always want to specify the version explicitly. If desired, you can also introduce an optional argument to the original mkvenv.bat script, with a default value pre-defined in the script.

  To use it, simply run mkvenv-v {venv_name} {python_version}

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome. If you have any questions feel free to open an issue about it.