How to Install Python 3.6 on Ubuntu & LinuxMint

Python 3.6.9 is the latest stable version at the time of writing of tutorial. This Python version is available to download and install. This article will help you to install Python 3.6.9 on Ubuntu and Linuxmint operating system. To know more about this version visit Python official website.

Step 1 – Prerequsities

Use the following command to install prerequisites for Python before proceeding to the next steps.

sudo apt-get install build-essential checkinstall
sudo apt-get install libreadline-gplv2-dev libncursesw5-dev libssl-dev libsqlite3-dev tk-dev libgdbm-dev libc6-dev libbz2-dev

Step 2 – Download Python 3.6

Download Python using following command from python official site. You can also download the latest version in place of specified below.

cd /usr/src
sudo wget https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.6.9/Python-3.6.9.tgz

Now extract the downloaded package.

sudo tar xzf Python-3.6.9.tgz

Step 3 – Compile Python Source

Now use below set of commands to compile Python source code on your system. We use --enable-optimizations option with configure command to enable additional supports like SSL, bz2 support. With make command altinstall, to install it as separate Python, This will not overwrite the existing installation.

cd Python-3.6.9
sudo ./configure --enable-optimizations
sudo make altinstall

make altinstall is used to prevent replacing the default python binary file /usr/bin/python.

Step 4 – Check the Python Version

Finally, you have successfully installed Python 3.6 on your system. Let’s check the version installed of python using the below command.

python3.6 -V

Python 3.6.9

This will also configure PIP for you to install Python modules.

pip3.6 -V

pip 9.0.1 from /usr/local/lib/python3.6/site-packages (python 3.6)