Changing Python version on linux server

Recently, Python 3.14 LTS has been released. So, it's time for an upgrade. And if you have a running project, I strongly recommend updating it to the newer version from time to time. It will ease support and development, and save you a lot of headaches in the future.

First, check the current Python version:

python --version
# Python 3.13.3

Delete old version:

# See what /usr/local has
ls -l /usr/local/bin/python3*
readlink -f /usr/local/bin/python3 2>/dev/null || true
type -a python3

# Remove the binaries/symlinks in /usr/local/bin

sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/python3 /usr/local/bin/python3.* \
            /usr/local/bin/pip3 /usr/local/bin/pip3.*
hash -r   # clear shell command cache
# Find & delete any stragglers under /usr/local
sudo find /usr/local -maxdepth 3 -name 'python3*' -print
# If the list looks right:
# sudo find /usr/local -maxdepth 3 -name 'python3*' -exec rm -rf {} +

# Verify you’re now using the system Python
which python3
python3 --version
ls -l /usr/bin/python3

Load the latest Python version and update packages:

wget https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.14.0/Python-3.14.0.tgz;
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y;

 Make sure  all of the build requirements are installed:

sudo apt install -y make build-essential libssl-dev zlib1g-dev \
       libbz2-dev libreadline-dev libsqlite3-dev wget curl llvm \
       libncurses5-dev libncursesw5-dev xz-utils tk-dev

Build and Install Python:

tar xvf Python-3.14.0.tgz
cd Python-3.14.0/

This command unpacks the source code into a directory named after the TAR file. Note that the TAR file will show a specific Python version.

Now you need to run the ./configure script to prepare the build:

./configure --enable-optimizations --with-ensurepip=install

The enable-optimizations flag will enable some optimizations within Python to make it run faster. Doing this may add twenty or thirty minutes to the compilation time. The with-ensurepip=install flag will install pip bundled with this installation.

Next, you build Python using the make command. The -j option allows you to tell make to split the building into parallel steps to speed up the compilation. Even with the parallel builds, this step can take several minutes. Note: Use all logical cores like this; if you pass more cores than are available, it will get stuck.

make -j"$(nproc)"

And install the new version:  

sudo make altinstall

And Voilà, we have a new version installed :)

 python3.14.0 --version