Simple shell aliases for virtualenv

It happens often that I need to use python2 for a specific dependency or app while I have python3 as default on my system. Thst’s exactly one of the main goals of virtualenv. The problem is that I can never remember the exact command to type to turn in on and off.

Create the shorthands

First we need to setup the aliases so that we can later refer to the shorthand versions of the commands.

Turn it ON

Open your .bash_profile (if you’re using bash) and paste either:

alias startvenv='source bin/activate; cd bin'

or

alias entervenv='source bin/activate; cd bin'

Since my memory is terrible I have them both, so I’m sure I’ll type the right one no matter what.

Turn it OFF

Again in your .bash_profile add the following line to crearte an alias to exit:

alias exitvenv='deactivate'

Use the shorthands to quickly turn virtualenv on and off

Now to activate venv you just need to cd to your virtualenv project folder and runstartvenv orentervenvdepending on which one you pasted in and you’ll be set. You just need to cd to your application folder and stsrt up your virtual environment.