Prerequisites

Installing Python from the source code requires a GCC compiler. So must have installed the required development libraries first. Open a terminal on your system install prerequisites for Python:

Read: How to Use SSH to Connect Remote Linux Server

Step 1 – Download Python 3.9

Visit Python official download page and download the required Python on your system. Alternatively, You can use the following command to download Python 3.9 on a local machine. After the download is finished, extract the archive file.

Step 2 – Install Python 3.9

Use the below set of commands to compile Python 3.9 from the source code and install using the altinstall command. make altinstall is used to prevent replacing the default python binary file /usr/bin/python. Now remove the downloaded source archive file from your system

Step 3 – Check Python Version

The Python 3.9 binary is installed under /usr/local/bin directory. As we have not overwritten the current Python version, you need to run Python 3.9 command as following:

Step 4 – Create Python Virtual Environment

Python provides to create an isolated environment for the applications. Where you can create an environment directory with a specific Python version. This will contains application-specific packages. Use the following command to create environment directory: The above command will create a directory “env” in the current directory containing all the required files for the isolated environment. Every time you need to make changes in the environment, Use the below command to active it. After activating the environment, you can work with your application. Once your work is finished, use the following command to deactivate the Python environment.

Conclusion