virtualenv is not compatible with this system or executable

[ivf777]

I deleted old virtualenv "my3" with command
rmvirtualenv my3

and I created new virtualenv with command
mkvirtualenv my3 -p python3

I have 3 errors:

Running virtualenv with interpreter /home/myname/anaconda3/bin/python3
Using base prefix '/home/myname/anaconda3'
New python executable in /home/myname/.virtualenvs/my3/bin/python3
Also creating executable in /home/myname/.virtualenvs/my3/bin/python
/home/myname/.virtualenvs/my3/bin/python3: error while loading shared libraries: libpython3.6m.so.1.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
ERROR: The executable /home/myname/.virtualenvs/my3/bin/python3 is not functioning
ERROR: It thinks sys.prefix is '/home/myname/.virtualenvs' (should be '/home/myname/.virtualenvs/my3')
ERROR: virtualenv is not compatible with this system or executable

What can I do to create new virtualenv "my3"?

P.S.
I have Ubuntu 16.04

[gst]

For python3 it s recommended to use venv module. It s builtin in python3.

[altendky]

Recommended by some. Others like the 2/3 compatibility and separation from core of virtualenv.

But, is this a dup of #1050? Also, isn't conda what anaconda provides as an alternative?

[yazabaza]

I have the same issue on Mac OS 10.12.6 and virtualenv 15.1.0:

RonMacAir-4:~ r$ virtualenv --system-site-packages /Users/r/tf13py27
Using base prefix '/Users/r/anaconda'
New python executable in /Users/r/tf13py27/bin/python
dyld: Library not loaded: @rpath/libpython3.6m.dylib
  Referenced from: /Users/r/tf13py27/bin/python
  Reason: image not found
ERROR: The executable /Users/r/tf13py27/bin/python is not functioning
ERROR: It thinks sys.prefix is '/Users/r' (should be '/Users/r/tf13py27')
ERROR: virtualenv is not compatible with this system or executable

I suspect this is due to the Anaconda installation changing the system python interpreter path to point to the Anaconda python binary, then virtualenv tries to install from there rather than the original system python binary.

[altendky]

@yazabaza maybe try specifying the python executable you want to use via -p. It looks like it's now using your Anaconda Python instead of whatever you had before based on the base prefix given.

[yazabaza]

Yes, pointing to the original python interpreter fixed it. Thanks!

[wizardboy2010]

I used this in ubuntu
virtualenv --system-site-packages -p python3 ~/tensorflow

my error is
Running virtualenv with interpreter /home/user/anaconda3/bin/python3
Using base prefix '/home/user/anaconda3'
New python executable in /home/user/tensorflow/bin/python3
Also creating executable in /home/user/tensorflow/bin/python
/home/user/tensorflow/bin/python3: error while loading shared libraries: libpython3.6m.so.1.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
ERROR: The executable /home/user/tensorflow/bin/python3 is not functioning
ERROR: It thinks sys.prefix is '/home/user' (should be '/home/user/tensorflow')
ERROR: virtualenv is not compatible with this system or executable

How to overcome this

[altendky]

@wizardboy2010 are you trying to use virtualenv with your anaconda python? If so, I thought conda was meant for envs with anaconda. If not, it's finding your anaconda python and you need to specify your regular system python instead. Anaconda seems to have put itself earlier in the $PATH so python3 points to it.

[everttrollip]

If you are still struggling, and experiencing this issue:

ERROR: virtualenv is not compatible with this system or executable

Have you tried installing virtualenv with conda and trying again?

conda install virtualenv

[FourSpaces]

I also encountered this problem, my environment is anaconda python,
Uninstall virtualenv using pip, install virtualenv using conda,
pip uninstall virtualenv
conda install virtualenv
Virtualenv can be used normally

[vesellov]

in my venv/lib/python3.6/site-packages/virtualenv.py after line 1118 i added: prefix = os.path.abspath(prefix) and it started working on my MacOS Sierra

[axiaoxin]

I ceate virtualenv in a dir which named like test.2018-08-13_20:16:01 will fail, normal dir name is ok.

New python executable in /data/srv/test.2018-08-13_20:16:01/test/bin/python
ImportError: No module named site
ERROR: The executable /data/srv/test.2018-08-13_20:16:01/test/bin/python is not functioning
ERROR: It thinks sys.prefix is u'/data/srv/test.2018-08-13_20:16:01' (should be u'/data/srv/test.2018-08-13_20:16:01/test')
ERROR: virtualenv is not compatible with this system or executable

[stale]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Just add a comment if you want to keep it open. Thank you for your contributions.

[jandog8990]

So I'm having the same problem but I don't think it's an Anaconda thing, I've installed Py3.5 standalone with the latest pip and virtualenv and I get the following errs:

Running virtualenv with interpreter /usr/bin/python
Using base prefix '/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.5'
New python executable in ///PythonInstalls/venv/bin/python
ERROR: The executable ///PythonInstalls/venv/bin/python is not functioning
ERROR: It thinks sys.prefix is '/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.5' (should be '///PythonInstalls/venv')
ERROR: virtualenv is not compatible with this system or executable

Has anyone solved this without the need for Anaconda? That's a whole set of probs I'm not willing to try at the moment

[gaborbernat]

Hmm feels like a problem with the system python of Mac. Can you replicate with the brew one, or the official one with python.org?

[jandog8990]

@gaborbernat Hey so I finally got it, instead of using virtualenv executable use the pyvenv for Mac users!

$ pyvenv --system-site-packages ./venv