Step 1 – Install Required Dependencies

The latest version of Python is not included in the Oracle Linux 8 default repo, so you will need to compile it from the source.

To compile Python from the source, you will need to install some dependencies on your system. You can install all of them by running the following command:

dnf install curl gcc openssl-devel bzip2-devel libffi-devel zlib-devel sqlite-devel wget make -y

Once all the dependencies are installed, you can proceed to the next step.

Step 2 – Install Python 3.10.4 on Oracle Linux 8

Next, visit the Python official download page and download the latest version of Python using the following command:

wget https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.10.8/Python-3.10.8.tgz

Once the download is completed, extract the downloaded file using the following command:

tar xzf Python-3.10.8.tgz

Next, change the directory to the extracted directory and configure Python using the following command:

cd Python-3.10.8
sudo ./configure --enable-optimizations --with-system-ffi --with-computed-gotos

Next, start the build process using the following command:

sudo make -j ${nproc}

Finally, install Python 3.10 by running the following command:

sudo make altinstall

After the successful installation, verify the Python installation using the following command:

python3.10 --version

You will get the following output:

Python 3.10.8

Step 3 – Create a Virtual Environment in Python

Python provides a venv module that helps developers to create a virtual environment and deploy applications easily in an isolated environment.

To create a virtual environment named python-env, run the following command:

python3.10 -m venv python-env

Next, activate the virtual environment using the following command:

source python-env/bin/activate

You will get the following shell:

(python-env) [root@oraclelinux8 ~]#

Now, you can use the PIP package manager to install any package and dependencies inside your virtual environment.

For example, run the following command to install apache-airflow:

pip3.10 install apache-airflow

If you want to remove this package, run the command below:

pip3.10 uninstall apache-airflow

To exit from the Python virtual environment, run the following command:

deactivate

Conclusion

In this guide, we explained how to install Python 3.10.8 on Oracle Linux 8. You can now install Python in the development environment and start developing your first application using the Python programming language.