Install Python from Source on Ubuntu

I’m writing this article as a personal reference because I always find myself searching for the steps whenever I need to install Python from source on Ubuntu. If you find it useful too, that’s a bonus!

Sometimes, you may need to install a specific version of Python that isn’t available in the Ubuntu repositories, or you may want to compile Python from source to customize it according to your needs. This guide will walk you through the process step by step.

Step 1: Install Required Dependencies

First, install the necessary tools and libraries that are required to build Python from source.

Open a terminal and run the following commands:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential checkinstall
sudo apt-get install libncursesw5-dev libssl-dev libffi-dev libsqlite3-dev tk-dev libgdbm-dev libc6-dev libbz2-dev

These packages provide essential development tools and libraries like the C compiler, and libraries for working with SSL, SQLite, and more.

Step 2: Download Python Source Code

Download the Python source code from the official Python website. You can download the specific version you need.

For this example, we are downloading Python 3.11.5:

wget https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.11.5/Python-3.11.5.tgz

Step 3: Extract the Python Source Code

Once the .tgz is downloaded, open terminal from the location the python tgz is downloaded at and run the following command:

tar xzvf Python-3.11.5.tgz

This will extract the contents of the Python-3.11.5.tgz file into a folder called Python-3.11.5.

Step 4: Configure the Build

Navigate to the extracted directory and configure the build process. This step checks your system for required libraries and prepares Python for installation.

cd Python-3.11.5
./configure

Step 5: Compile and Install Python

Compile and install Python using the commands below:

make
sudo make install

Step 6: Verify the Installation

After installation, check the Python version to ensure everything worked as expected.

python3 --version

You should see the version of Python you just installed (e.g. Python 3.11.5).

Happy coding!!!!