I’m trying to activate venv on a Red Hat Linux machine running Python 2.5.2. I created a virtual environment using Virtualenv 1.6.4 (since it’s compatible with Python 2.6), and everything seems to install correctly, Python, setuptools, and pip are all in place.
However, when I try to activate the environment using . bin/activate, I get a “Permission denied” error. I’ve checked and even changed file permissions, but the issue persists. Has anyone encountered this before? What’s the proper way to activate a virtual environment in Linux under these conditions?
Ah, I’ve definitely run into this before when working with older Python setups. The key takeaway here is that you need to source bin/activate, not execute it like a script. If you’re seeing ‘Permission denied,’ it often means the shell is trying to run it as a script instead of sourcing it. So, instead of running ./bin/activate, you’ll want to use:
source bin/activate
Or just:
. bin/activate
It’s a subtle difference but makes a big impact. Also, don’t forget to check that you’re in the right directory. If your environment is under /home/user/virtualenvs/myenv, be sure to navigate into that myenv/ directory first, then run source bin/activate. That usually clears things up.
Yep, that’s a solid point. I’ve had this issue too, and one thing to keep in mind is that the activate script doesn’t need to be executable, it just needs to be readable. Another potential culprit here could be the Python version you’re using. I’ve encountered similar issues on older systems, like Red Hat boxes, especially with mismatched glibc versions and outdated system Python.
If you can, it might be worth upgrading your Python version. Even just switching to Python 2.7 or better yet, Python 3.x using something like pyenv in your user directory can help. Sometimes the older virtualenv scripts just don’t play nice with older Python setups, and that might explain the odd permission errors.
Yeah, I’ve been there too! One common mistake I made was running bin/activate from the wrong directory. If you’re inside virtualenv/ and try to run source bin/activate, but you’re not in the right directory, it can throw some confusing permission errors.
Also, remember to always run source from within your virtual environment’s directory. Avoid trying to run /bin/activate directly from root, it won’t work like that. source is definitely the safer option, especially if you’re switching between different shell types like bash, sh, or zsh. It keeps everything nice and tidy!