Installing Python 3.5.2 from source

Posted 2020-08-23

Here are the procedures we are to follow,

1. Download the source code of an official Python release.

2. Configure the build appropriately for our machine.

3. Compile the software.

4. Test the software to make sure it works properly.

5. Install the software.

6. Configure our system to make sure we can use the software easily.

Getting a Python release

Go to the Python source downloads and choose a version to download (I’ll use 3.5.2 throughout this document but the process should be similar for any other version).

You can extract a tar archive file using the following command:

tar xf Python-3.5.1.tgz

tar’s argument handling is ancient and unlike almost all other UNIX programs so you probably needn’t bother learning how the work; just remember tar xf means “extract from a file”. Like most UNIX programs, tar will not produce any output unless it encounters an error or you specifically ask it to. If you’d like it to give you some feedback as it works use tar xvf instead (“extract verbosely from a file”).

You should now have a directory called Python-3.5.1/ which contains the release files. From now on I’ll assume we’re working inside this new directory:

cd Python-3.5.1/

Building Python

Most UNIX software uses a very similar build process:

• first you configure the build with the install location, where to find any libraries it needs, etc.

• then you compile the software

• then you test the software

• then you install the software

Each step is usually a single command and the whole process usually looks a little like this:

./configure
make
make test
sudo make install

Reference: https://passingcuriosity.com/2015/installing-python-from-source/