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Python: Installation

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How to install Python from source?​

Guide to installing Python from source in Ubuntu.

1. Install required packages:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y build-essential libssl-dev zlib1g-dev libncurses5-dev libncursesw5-dev libreadline-dev libsqlite3-dev libgdbm-dev libdb5.3-dev libbz2-dev libexpat1-dev liblzma-dev tk-dev libffi-dev wget

2. Download source code for the required Python version: https://www.python.org/ftp/python/

cd /usr/src
sudo wget https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.13.0/Python-3.13.0.tgz
sudo tar xzf Python-3.13.0.tgz
cd Python-3.13.0

3. Build and install Python:

sudo ./configure --enable-optimizations --with-ensurepip=install
sudo make -j $(nproc)
sudo make altinstall
note

Use make altinstall instead of make install to avoid overwriting the standard Python.

4. Add an alias for convenience:

echo "alias python13='python3.13'" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

5. Enjoy!

python3.13 --version