Install Python Modules Without Root Access

What is Root Access?

Root access refers to the highest level of administrative privileges on Unix-like operating systems [Linus or macOS]. This root user has the ability to access all the files and system settings. This includes installing and removing software, altering system configurations, and managing user accounts.

Installing Python Modules without Root Access

In Python modules are files with the ". py" extension containing Python code that can be imported inside another Python Modules Operations Program.

If you don't have sufficient permissions to install Python modules directly on your machines, there are a few alternative methods you can use. This article discusses about the two most effective ways?

• Virtualenv
• Modifying your Python path

Using Virtualenv

Virtualenv is a tool that creates isolated Python environments, allowing you to manage dependencies and versions separately from the system Python installation. This is effective when different applications require different versions of the same library.

To use the virtualenv, firstly you have to install using pip if you haven't. Once you create it, you have to create virtual environment and activate it. Now, you can install packages within the virtual environment. You can follow the below commands ?

#Install Virtualenv
pip install --user virtualenv
#Create virtual environment
virtualenv myenv  
#Activate virtual environment on Windows 
myenv\Scripts\activate
#Activate virtual environment on macOS/Linux
source myenv/bin/activate
#Install packages
pip install package_name  

Now, any module you install will affect only the isolated environment, avoiding conflicts with other applications.

Adding Custom Module Paths

If you have module files saved in a specific directory, you can allow Python to look there for imports by modifying the sys.path. You can use the below code to search for modules in the given directory ?

import os, sys
file_path = 'AdditionalModules/'
sys.path.append(os.path.dirname(file_path))
#Now python also searches AdditionalModules folder for importing modules as we have set it on the PYTHONPATH.