Virtual Environment unable to set up

[ananyaj1]

Operating System

Apple M1 chip

RAM size

N/A

Which step are you stuck on?

Context:
I am a student who is interested in contributing to Oppia, but I've run into a problem while setting up-- I've followed the instructions completely up until setting up the virtual environment.

Issue:
I am facing a problem while trying to run: python -m scripts.start
I get this error when I run the command:

Expected behavior:
I expect that the virtual environment is set up and that running this command will start the development server.

Screenshots:

Both versions of python are installed, so is direnv. I've also made sure to add the necessary lines to my .zshrc file, and created the .envrc file. But I suspect that my virtual environment is still not set up, because when I type 'which python' I get /Users/ananyajoshi/.pyenv/shims/python instead of .../opensource/.direnv/python-3.8.15/bin/python, which is what I expect to see. I've also checked out the other closed issues where other contributors have had the same issue as me and I've tried all the other solutions and none of them have worked.

Any new direction or guidance would be much appreciated! Thank you so much!

Error Log

, in <module>
    from . import install_third_party_libs
  File "/Users/ananyajoshi/Documents/opensource/oppia/scripts/install_third_party_libs.py", line 28, in <module>
    install_python_dev_dependencies.main(['--assert_compiled'])
  File "/Users/ananyajoshi/Documents/opensource/oppia/scripts/install_python_dev_dependencies.py", line 136, in main
    check_python_env_is_suitable()
  File "/Users/ananyajoshi/Documents/opensource/oppia/scripts/install_python_dev_dependencies.py", line 70, in check_python_env_is_suitable
    raise AssertionError(
AssertionError: Oppia must be developed within a virtual environment.
ananyajoshi@Ananyas-MacBook-Pro oppia % open ~/.direnvc
The file /Users/ananyajoshi/.direnvc does not exist.
ananyajoshi@Ananyas-MacBook-Pro oppia % open ~/.direnvrc
ananyajoshi@Ananyas-MacBook-Pro oppia % which python
/Users/ananyajoshi/.pyenv/shims/python
ananyajoshi@Ananyas-MacBook-Pro oppia % pyenv versions
  system
* 2.7.18 (set by /Users/ananyajoshi/.pyenv/version)
* 3.8.15 (set by /Users/ananyajoshi/.pyenv/version)
ananyajoshi@Ananyas-MacBook-Pro oppia % which python
/Users/ananyajoshi/.pyenv/shims/python
ananyajoshi@Ananyas-MacBook-Pro oppia %

Approaches already used to resolve the issue

I've tried reloading the shell, I've checked that both python versions are downloaded, and made sure that I have all the Python dependencies needed.

Additional information

No response

[Shrish9Bhargav]

I am getting the same error #18080

[Shrish9Bhargav]

@U8NWXD @gp201

[Shrish9Bhargav]

Hiie!
Is your issue resolved??

[gp201]

@ananyaj1 looks like the Virtual env is not getting activated. Have you created the .direnvrc file? Check out https://github.com/oppia/oppia/wiki/Installing-Oppia-%28Linux%3B-Python-3%29#setup-a-virtual-environment step-7

[owenwu811]

Getting the same error too: (have the eval "$(direnv hook zsh)" in my ~/.zshrc file, using python 3.8.15, and followed all steps: https://github.com/oppia/oppia/wiki/Installing-Oppia-%28Linux%3B-Python-3%29#setup-a-virtual-environment)

1. python3 venv venv
2. source venv/bin/activate
3. python -m scripts.start
   AssertionError: Oppia must be developed within a virtual environment.

[print-hellochris]

Hi! It's important to have a .direnv file and a local .envrc file as well just like @gp201 said.

Something else that is important is to have your Oppia file inside your username folder. My OS is windows and I had a similar issue. After I reinstalled Oppia in a folder inside my username I was able to successfully install it. Maybe that could help?

Also, it's important to restart your terminal after editing your .bashrc file (I didn't and was facing errors, then I remembered that I had to restart the terminal).

Let's us know if you were able to solve it

[Ash-2k3]

Hi @ananyaj1, were you able to solve this issue ?

[hiramatsuyuusuke]

Hello @ananyaj1. I have another answer, in Ubuntu (linux), not Arch Linux.

I think there are Inaccuracies in the description of the installation instructions that is not Arch Linux. Step 5 of Arch Linux instructions pyenv virtualenv 3.8.15 oppia creat a virtual environment in oppia folder. In non-Arch instructions, I think the part shown below is inaccurate. Step8 shown below doesn't creat a virtual environment without virtualenv -p python3 oppia or python3 -m venv oppia.

[U8NWXD]

While the commands virtualenv and python3 -m venv will create virtual environments, we prefer to use direnv because direnv will automatically load the virtual environment when you cd into the oppia folder. The environments created by virtualenv and python3 -m venv don't do that. If the virtual environment isn't being created with direnv, it's usually because either (1) the ~/.direnvrc file wasn't created or (2) the shell wasn't reloaded after updating your bashrc file

[hiramatsuyuusuke]

Thank you for your advice. I'll try it.

[AtulSingh100]

Thank You Your Solution of virtual environment instead of using .envrc I have used pyenv virtualenv 3.8.15 oppia and It Worked

[wangjess]

I have this same issue...

Followed the instructions on THIS page, which say to create the .envrc file inside opensource/, but when I go up one folder level to the oppia/ root folder, it "loses" the specified python version that's inside .envrc because it's in the subdirectory below.

It must be a typo... opensource/ should be oppia/. I created the .envrc file that specifies using python 3.8.15 inside oppia/ and it works.

[U8NWXD]

@wangjess it sounds like your opensource/ folder is inside your oppia/ directory. It should be the other way around. The oppia/ root folder should end up inside the opensource/ folder after you clone the oppia repository from inside opensource/ (see https://github.com/oppia/oppia/wiki/Installing-Oppia-%28Mac-OS%3B-Python-3%29#clone-oppia)

[wangjess]

I see now, I missed that step - I already created an OpenSource/ folder for my project(s) and was confused why it wanted me to create another opensource/ inside oppia/. Thanks!

[s4shantanu]

Hi,
Please help me to solve this error!!
direnv allow has no effect when i have a .envrc file.
See my dir.

[sammyifelse]

Difficulty Setting Up Oppia Virtual Environment and Running Development Server (Windows)
I'm encountering issues setting up the Oppia development environment on my Windows machine while following the instructions in the GitHub wiki https://github.com/oppia/oppia/wiki/Installing-Oppia

Steps Completed:

Installed all required dependencies for Windows.
Successfully installed pyenv and Python 3.8.15.
Issue:

Step 8 in the "Setup a virtual environment" section mentions a specific command for Ubuntu/Linux. I'm unclear if this step applies to Windows or if there's an alternative approach.

Additional Information:

Running python -m scripts.start in the terminal to launch the development server results in an error. Unfortunately, I cannot provide the specific error message at this moment.
Request for Assistance:

Clarification on whether step 8 applies to Windows virtual environment setup.
Any alternative steps or considerations for setting up the environment on Windows.
Guidance on troubleshooting the error encountered when attempting to run the development server.
Below i have provided the error message and the screenshot.

Traceback (most recent call last): File "<frozen runpy>", line 198, in _run_module_as_main File "<frozen runpy>", line 88, in _run_code File "C:\Users\KIIT0001\OneDrive\Desktop\OpenSource\oppia\scripts\start.py", line 30, in <module> from . import install_third_party_libs File "C:\Users\KIIT0001\OneDrive\Desktop\OpenSource\oppia\scripts\install_third_party_libs.py", line 32, in <module> install_python_dev_dependencies.main(['--assert_compiled']) File "C:\Users\KIIT0001\OneDrive\Desktop\OpenSource\oppia\scripts\install_python_dev_dependencies.py", line 138, in main check_python_env_is_suitable() File "C:\Users\KIIT0001\OneDrive\Desktop\OpenSource\oppia\scripts\install_python_dev_dependencies.py", line 70, in check_python_env_is_suitable raise AssertionError( AssertionError: Oppia must be developed within a virtual environment.