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python -m venv VS virtualenv - kazi380 - Jul-11-2019

Hi all,

Can someone explain to me why Apache24 server is able to host my Python-Flask (test) web application, when the Python virtual environment is created with 'virtualenv' but NOT when the Python virtual environment is created with 'python -m venv'?

Preferably i would also like to learn how to make the Python virtual environment, created with 'python -m venv', work with Apache24.

My system setup:
Windows 10 64-bit
Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2019 Redistributable (x64)
Microsoft Visual build tools C++ version 14.0.25420.1
Apache 2.4.39 Win64 (VC14 from Apache Lounge, installation path C:\Apache24)
Python 3.6.0 64-bit (installation path C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Shared\Python36_64)
Python 3.6.0 64-bit Virtual Environment (installation path C:\myenv)
mod_wsgi 4.6.7
flask 1.1.1

Procedure for creating the Python virtual environment (myenv01) with 'virtualenv':
1. C:\>virtualenv myenv01
2. C:\myenv01\Scripts>activate
3. C:\myenv01\Scripts>python -m pip install --upgrade pip setuptools wheel
4. C:\myenv01\Scripts>pip install mod_wsgi
5. C:\myenv01\Scripts>pip3 install flask
6. C:\myenv01\Scripts>deactivate

Procedure for creating the Python virtual environment (myenv02) with 'python -m venv':
1. C:\>phyton -m venv myenv02
2. C:\myenv02\Scripts>activate
3. C:\myenv02\Scripts>python -m pip install --upgrade pip setuptools wheel
4. C:\myenv02\Scripts>pip install mod_wsgi
5. C:\myenv02\Scripts>pip3 install flask
6. C:\myenv02\Scripts>deactivate

I already did some investigation myself by comparing the two virtual environments.
It turned out that the 'python -m venv' environment is missing some critical files needed for the Python-Flask web application to work with Apache24.
So far I have pinpointed the issue to files missing in "C:\myenv02\Lib" and a missing folder "C:\myenv02\Lib\encodings".
When I copy these files and folder from the 'virtualenv' environment (myenv01) to the 'python -m venv' environment (myenv02), Apache24 is also able to host the web application with the 'python -m venv' environment (myenv02).
Unfortunately due to my lack of Python knowledge I have difficulty to understand what these files are for and what purpose they have in the hosting of the Python-flask web application. At this moment I think they are just some basic Python modules/scripts but am puzzled why they aren't created with the 'python -m venv' command.

Directory C:\myenv02\Lib
11-07-2019 12:38 <DIR> site-packages
11-07-2019 12:27 <DIR> tcl8.6

Directory C:\myenv01\Lib
16-05-2016 16:43 8,628 abc.py
11-09-2016 22:51 20,418 base64.py
16-05-2016 16:43 2,595 bisect.py
16-05-2016 16:43 36,231 codecs.py
10-07-2019 18:26 <DIR> collections
14-06-2016 00:47 8,815 copy.py
16-05-2016 16:43 6,833 copyreg.py
11-07-2019 12:41 <DIR> distutils
10-07-2019 18:26 <DIR> encodings
22-11-2016 00:14 33,000 enum.py
11-09-2016 22:51 3,166 fnmatch.py
11-09-2016 22:51 30,967 functools.py
05-09-2016 19:43 4,756 genericpath.py
07-09-2016 16:50 9,477 hashlib.py
16-05-2016 16:43 22,929 heapq.py
11-09-2016 22:51 5,057 hmac.py
15-08-2016 18:35 10,624 imp.py
10-07-2019 18:26 <DIR> importlib
11-09-2016 22:51 3,517 io.py
16-05-2016 16:43 2,211 keyword.py
16-05-2016 16:43 5,312 linecache.py
14-06-2016 00:47 74,724 locale.py
11-07-2019 12:41 0 no-global-site-packages.txt
07-09-2016 16:50 23,148 ntpath.py
16-05-2016 16:43 10,863 operator.py
11-07-2019 12:41 65 orig-prefix.txt
22-11-2016 00:15 37,442 os.py
05-09-2016 19:43 15,349 posixpath.py
22-11-2016 00:15 27,228 random.py
14-11-2016 20:25 15,552 re.py
16-05-2016 16:43 5,336 reprlib.py
14-06-2016 00:47 7,097 rlcompleter.py
01-11-2016 02:21 40,086 shutil.py
11-07-2019 12:58 <DIR> site-packages
11-07-2019 12:41 28,389 site.py
11-09-2016 22:51 19,338 sre_compile.py
16-05-2016 16:43 6,448 sre_constants.py
07-12-2016 04:27 36,422 sre_parse.py
16-05-2016 16:43 5,038 stat.py
16-05-2016 16:43 257 struct.py
01-11-2016 02:21 93,021 tarfile.py
14-06-2016 00:47 26,635 tempfile.py
16-05-2016 16:43 3,075 token.py
11-09-2016 22:51 28,959 tokenize.py
11-09-2016 22:51 8,870 types.py
07-12-2016 04:27 18,488 warnings.py
16-05-2016 16:43 19,408 weakref.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,301 _bootlocale.py
22-11-2016 00:14 26,253 _collections_abc.py
16-05-2016 16:43 5,118 _dummy_thread.py
16-05-2016 16:43 5,705 _weakrefset.py
16-05-2016 16:43 4,841 __future__.py
11-07-2019 12:41 <DIR> __pycache__

Directory of C:\myenv01\Lib\encodings
07-09-2016 16:50 15,577 aliases.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,248 ascii.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,533 base64_codec.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,019 big5.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,039 big5hkscs.py
16-05-2016 16:43 2,249 bz2_codec.py
16-05-2016 16:43 2,084 charmap.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,121 cp037.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,568 cp1006.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,113 cp1026.py
16-05-2016 16:43 34,597 cp1125.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,105 cp1140.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,686 cp1250.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,361 cp1251.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,511 cp1252.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,094 cp1253.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,502 cp1254.py
16-05-2016 16:43 12,466 cp1255.py
16-05-2016 16:43 12,814 cp1256.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,374 cp1257.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,364 cp1258.py
16-05-2016 16:43 14,132 cp273.py
16-05-2016 16:43 12,055 cp424.py
16-05-2016 16:43 34,564 cp437.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,121 cp500.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,106 cp65001.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,686 cp720.py
16-05-2016 16:43 34,681 cp737.py
16-05-2016 16:43 34,476 cp775.py
16-05-2016 16:43 34,105 cp850.py
16-05-2016 16:43 35,002 cp852.py
16-05-2016 16:43 33,850 cp855.py
16-05-2016 16:43 12,423 cp856.py
16-05-2016 16:43 33,908 cp857.py
16-05-2016 16:43 34,015 cp858.py
16-05-2016 16:43 34,681 cp860.py
16-05-2016 16:43 34,633 cp861.py
16-05-2016 16:43 33,370 cp862.py
16-05-2016 16:43 34,252 cp863.py
16-05-2016 16:43 33,663 cp864.py
16-05-2016 16:43 34,618 cp865.py
16-05-2016 16:43 34,396 cp866.py
16-05-2016 16:43 32,965 cp869.py
16-05-2016 16:43 12,595 cp874.py
16-05-2016 16:43 12,854 cp875.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,023 cp932.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,023 cp949.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,023 cp950.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,051 euc_jisx0213.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,051 euc_jis_2004.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,027 euc_jp.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,027 euc_kr.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,031 gb18030.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,027 gb2312.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,015 gbk.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,508 hex_codec.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,475 hp_roman8.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,011 hz.py
16-05-2016 16:43 9,170 idna.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,053 iso2022_jp.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,061 iso2022_jp_1.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,061 iso2022_jp_2.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,073 iso2022_jp_2004.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,061 iso2022_jp_3.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,069 iso2022_jp_ext.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,053 iso2022_kr.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,176 iso8859_1.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,589 iso8859_10.py
16-05-2016 16:43 12,335 iso8859_11.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,271 iso8859_13.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,652 iso8859_14.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,212 iso8859_15.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,557 iso8859_16.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,404 iso8859_2.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,089 iso8859_3.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,376 iso8859_4.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,015 iso8859_5.py
16-05-2016 16:43 10,833 iso8859_6.py
16-05-2016 16:43 12,844 iso8859_7.py
16-05-2016 16:43 11,036 iso8859_8.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,156 iso8859_9.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,023 johab.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,779 koi8_r.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,193 koi8_t.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,762 koi8_u.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,723 kz1048.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,264 latin_1.py
11-07-2019 13:57 0 listmyfolder.txt
16-05-2016 16:43 36,467 mac_arabic.py
16-05-2016 16:43 14,102 mac_centeuro.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,633 mac_croatian.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,454 mac_cyrillic.py
16-05-2016 16:43 15,170 mac_farsi.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,721 mac_greek.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,498 mac_iceland.py
16-05-2016 16:43 14,118 mac_latin2.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,480 mac_roman.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,661 mac_romanian.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,513 mac_turkish.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,211 mbcs.py
07-09-2016 16:50 1,019 oem.py
16-05-2016 16:43 13,519 palmos.py
16-05-2016 16:43 14,015 ptcp154.py
16-05-2016 16:43 6,881 punycode.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,525 quopri_codec.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,208 raw_unicode_escape.py
16-05-2016 16:43 2,428 rot_13.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,039 shift_jis.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,059 shift_jisx0213.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,059 shift_jis_2004.py
16-05-2016 16:43 12,300 tis_620.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,299 undefined.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,184 unicode_escape.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,196 unicode_internal.py
14-06-2016 00:47 5,236 utf_16.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,037 utf_16_be.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,037 utf_16_le.py
14-06-2016 00:47 5,129 utf_32.py
16-05-2016 16:43 930 utf_32_be.py
16-05-2016 16:43 930 utf_32_le.py
16-05-2016 16:43 946 utf_7.py
16-05-2016 16:43 1,005 utf_8.py
16-05-2016 16:43 4,133 utf_8_sig.py
16-05-2016 16:43 2,721 uu_codec.py
16-05-2016 16:43 2,204 zlib_codec.py
11-09-2016 22:51 5,642 __init__.py
10-07-2019 18:27 <DIR> __pycache__


BR,
Kazi

RE: python -m venv VS virtualenv - Larz60+ - Jul-12-2019

I notice that when you're installing packages you're using both pip and pip3.
Are you aware that pip and pip3 can be for two entirely different python versions?
to check:
pip -V
which pip
pip3 -V
which pip3
If they're not pointing to the same python, there's your problem.
you need to be consistent in how you load packages use only one version of pip.

also, a better way to list packages (with virtual environment activated) is to use:
pip list


RE: python -m venv VS virtualenv - kazi380 - Jul-15-2019

Hi Larz60,

Thanks for pointing out your concern about my inconsistent us of the two Python Package managers (pip and pip3)
Below are the outputs for the 'pip -V' and 'pip3 -V' commands with the virtual Python environment active.
It seems both 'pip' and 'pip3' point to the same virtual environment, as expected.

(myenv01) C:\myenv01\Scripts>pip -V
pip 19.1.1 from c:\myenv01\lib\site-packages\pip (python 3.6)

(myenv01) C:\myenv01\Scripts>pip3 -V
pip 19.1.1 from c:\myenv01\lib\site-packages\pip (python 3.6)

(myenv02) C:\myenv02\Scripts>pip -V
pip 19.1.1 from c:\myenv02\lib\site-packages\pip (python 3.6)

(myenv02) C:\myenv02\Scripts>pip3 -V
pip 19.1.1 from c:\myenv02\lib\site-packages\pip (python 3.6)


Anyway, at this moment I am still thinking that the issue is related to the differences between Python commands 'python -m venv' and 'virtualenv'. Especially because the critical files are already missing in 'myenv02' at that stage, before using the pip/pip3 commands to install the additional packages.
I am becoming more convinced that the 'python -m venv' command doesn't install some of the standard Python modules/libraries which are needed to run a basic Python application. Most likely the Pyhton virual environment created with the 'python -m venv' command requires some reference to the standard Python modules/libraries located in the system Python(base pre-fix) to function properly.

One more lead I forgot to mention in my initial post is the difference in output for two virtual environments when running the command 'mod_wsgi-express module-config'. (Note, this command generates some lines which are used for configuring the Apache24 server file 'httpd.conf' and tells Apache which Python interpreter to use when running the Python-Flask web-app)
As you can see below, the Python virtual environment created with the python -m venv' command (myenv02) doesn't generate the 'Load file' line which seems to point to a basic Python library inside the system Python(base pre-fix).
Unfortunate, manually adding the line to 'httpd.conf' doesn't resolve the issue.

(myenv01) C:\myenv01\Scripts>mod_wsgi-express module-config
LoadFile "c:/program files (x86)/microsoft visual studio/shared/python36_64/python36.dll"
LoadModule wsgi_module "c:/myenv01/lib/site-packages/mod_wsgi/server/mod_wsgi.cp36-win_amd64.pyd"
WSGIPythonHome "c:/myenv01"

(myenv02) C:\myenv02\Scripts>mod_wsgi-express module-config
LoadModule wsgi_module "c:/myenv02/lib/site-packages/mod_wsgi/server/mod_wsgi.cp36-win_amd64.pyd"
WSGIPythonHome "c:/myenv02"


BR,Kazi

RE: python -m venv VS virtualenv - Tchouanga - Jul-17-2019

hello, to you all a still new to the use of Django I just really want to know the use the flask library in Django

RE: python -m venv VS virtualenv - Larz60+ - Jul-17-2019

Tchouanga - You are pirating someone eases thread. This is against Forum rules.
To get an answer, start a fresh thread.