How to Install Python 3.8.5 on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

Straightforward instructions on how to install Python 3.8.5 on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS from source.

4 Easy Steps

Step 1: Install pre-requisites
a. Install build pre-requisites
$ sudo apt install build-essential checkinstall -y
b. Install module build requirements
$ sudo apt install libreadline-gplv2-dev libncursesw5-dev libssl-dev libsqlite3-dev tk-dev libgdbm-dev libc6-dev libbz2-dev libffi-dev zlib1g-dev liblzma-dev libffi-dev libgdbm-compat-dev libevent-dev libzip-dev tcl tk -y

Step 2: Download and Unpack source
a. Create a working directory
$ mkdir -p ~/sources/python && cd ~/sources/python
b. Download source
$ wget https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.8.5/Python-3.8.5.tar.xz
c. Unpack source
$ tar xvf Python-3.8.5.tar.xz
$ cd Python-3.8.5/

Step 3: Configure, Build, and Test
a. Run the configuration script
$ ./configure –enable-optimizations
b. Build and Test
$ sudo make && sudo make test
c. Install compiled source
$ sudo make install (or make altinstall)

Step 4: Check installation
$ python3 -V
— OR —
$ python3.8 -V
Python 3.8.5

Enjoy your new Python installation!

When to Use ‘make altinstall’
Use alt install if you wish to keep your default python that shipped with Ubuntu. Several apps are dependent on python and these apps were tested with the version that comes with Ubuntu. ‘altinstall’ will not overwrite the default python, instead, the executable will be compiled to a different filename and copied to different location. For Python 3.8.x, simply call it as ‘python3.8’. For example: python3.8 -m venv venv.

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ubuntu 20.04