virtualb

A bash wrapper around Python's virtualenv tool. Inspired by virtualz, it aims to pull all virtualenv management into one command, with explicit and easy to remember subcommands.

Quick install

git clone https://github.com/tomplex/virtualb.git ~/.bash_plugins/virtualb

# On Linux
echo "source $HOME/.bash_plugins/virtualb/virtualb.plugin.bash" >> ~/.bashrc

# On MacOS
echo "source $HOME/.bash_plugins/virtualb/virtualb.plugin.bash" >> ~/.bash_profile

Usage

virtualb provides the vb command, which groups together some useful virtualenv management tasks:

vb new some_virtualenv          # defaults to system python
which python
vb which                        # show virtualenv name
 
vb new some_other_virtualenv -p python3.6 -r requirements.txt # can specify python to use & requirements file
which python
vb which
 
echo ${VIRTUAL_ENV}             # path to virtualenv
echo ${VIRTUAL_ENV_NAME}        # name of virtualenv
 
vb deactivate                   # deactivates current virtualenv
which python
 
vb ls                           # lists all virtualenvs
 
vb rm some_virtualenv           # removes virtualenv
vb rm some_other_virtualenv

All virtualenvs are created in the location specified environment variable VIRTUALB_HOME. It defaults to ~/.virtualenvs, but you can set this to whatever in your .bashrc/.bash_profile file (no need to export).

Subcommands will autocomplete in the prompt, as will subcommands referencing virtualenvs, like activate, freeze and rm.

Currently, virtualb provides these commands:

command	description	usage
activate	activate the specified virtualenv	vb activate <virtualenv>
deactivate	deactivate the currently activated virtualenv.	vb deactivate
exec	execute a command in the specified virtualenv	vb exec [-e env] <command>
freeze	list installed packages in currently activated or specified virtualenv	vb freeze or vb freeze <virtualenv>
help	provide help for the given command	vb help <command>
install	install a package or requirements file in the specified virtualenv(s)	vb install <virtualenv>...<virtualenv> [package_name OR requirements_file]
ls	list all virtualenvs by name	vb ls
mv / rename	rename virtualenv	vb mv <some virtualenv> <a new name>
new	create a new virtualenv with the specified name	vb new <virtualenv> [options]
pwd	show directory of active virtualenv	vb pwd
requires	Create a requirements.txt file for the specified or current virtualenv.	vb requires [virtualenv] [file name]
rm	deletes the specified virtualenv	vb rm <virtualenv>
update	update virtualb.	vb update
which	shows the currently activated virtualenv	vb which

Additionally, all arguments to the vb new subcommand will be passed along to the virtualenv command, but they must come after the name of the virtualenv.

Environment variables:

• VIRTUALB_HOME: Directory to store all virtualenvs
• VIRTUALB_DEFAULT_PYTHON: The python installation which should be used as the default when creating virtualenvs. Otherwise, vb will use $(which python), unless otherwise specified.

Installation

Manual installation is straightforward; just clone the repo wherever you want and source the virtualb.plugin.bash file in your .bashrc:

git clone https://github.com/tomplex/virtualb.git ~/.bash_plugins/virtualb
echo "source $HOME/.bash_plugins/virtualb/virtualb.plugin.bash" >> ~/.bashrc