Btukfyl

How can I install a previous version of Python 3 in macOS using brew?

With the command brew install python I got the latest version of Python 3 (currently v3.7.0), but I want the last version of Python 3.6 (currently 3.6.5).

I have read about another package pyenv that can assist in handle different python installation, but this solution is not suitable for me.

Short Answer

To make a clean install of Python 3.6.5 use:

brew unlink python # ONLY if you have installed (with brew) another version of python 3

brew install https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/f2a764ef944b1080be64bd88dca9a1d80130c558/Formula/python.rb

If you receive this error Error: python contains a recursive dependency on itself,

please see the answer of @François below.

If you prefer to recover a previously installed version, then:

brew info python           # To see what you have previously installed

brew switch python 3.x.x_x # Ex. 3.6.5_1

Long Answer

There are two formulas for installing Python with Homebrew: python@2 and python.

The first is for Python 2 and the second for Python 3.

Note: You can find outdated answers on the web where it is mentioned python3 as the formula name for installing Python version 3. Now it's just python!

By default, with these formulas you can install the latest version of the corresponding major version of Python. So, you cannot directly install a minor version like 3.6.

Solution

With brew, you can install a package using the address of the formula, for example in a git repository.

brew install https://the/address/to/the/formula/FORMULA_NAME.rb

Or specifically for Python 3

brew install https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/COMMIT_IDENTIFIER/Formula/python.rb

The address you must specify is the address to the last commit of the formula (python.rb) for the desired version.
You can find the commint identifier by looking at the history for homebrew-core/Formula/python.rb

https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/commits/master/Formula/python.rb

Python > 3.6.5

In the link above you will not find a formula for a version of Python above 3.6.5.
After the maintainers of that (official) repository released Python 3.7, they only submit updates to the recipe of Python 3.7.

As explained above, with homebrew you have only Python 2 (python@2) and Python 3 (python), there is no explicit formula for Python 3.6.

Although those minor updates are mostly irrelevant in most cases and for most users, I will search if someone has done an explicit formula for 3.6.

As an update, when doing

brew unlink python # If you have installed (with brew) another version of python

brew install https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/f2a764ef944b1080be64bd88dca9a1d80130c558/Formula/python.rb

You may encounter

Error: python contains a recursive dependency on itself:

  python depends on sphinx-doc

  sphinx-doc depends on python

To bypass it, add the --ignore-dependencies argument to brew install.

brew unlink python # If you have installed (with brew) another version of python

brew install --ignore-dependencies https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/f2a764ef944b1080be64bd88dca9a1d80130c558/Formula/python.rb

To solve this with homebrew, you can temporarily backdate homebrew-core and set the HOMEBREW_NO_AUTO_UPDATE variable to hold it in place:

cd `brew --repo homebrew/core`

git checkout f2a764ef944b1080be64bd88dca9a1d80130c558

export HOMEBREW_NO_AUTO_UPDATE=1

brew install python

I don't recommend permanently backdating homebrew-core, as you will miss out on security patches, but it is useful for testing purposes.

You can also extract old versions of homebrew formulae into your own tap (tap_owner/tap_name) using the brew extract command:

brew extract python tap_owner/tap_name --version=3.6.5

What I did was first I installed python 3.7 brew install python3 then brew unlink python then I installed python 3.6.5 using above link brew install --ignore-dependencies https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/f2a764ef944b1080be64bd88dca9a1d80130c558/Formula/python.rb --ignore-dependencies


After that I ran brew link --overwrite python. Now I have all pythons in the system to create the virtual environments.

mian@tdowrick2~ $ python --version

Python 2.7.10

mian@tdowrick2~ $ python3.7 --version

Python 3.7.1

mian@tdowrick2~ $ python3.6 --version

Python 3.6.5

To create Python 3.7 virtual environment.

mian@tdowrick2~ $ virtualenv -p python3.7 env

Already using interpreter /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.7/bin/python3.7

Using base prefix '/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.7'

New python executable in /Users/mian/env/bin/python3.7

Also creating executable in /Users/mian/env/bin/python

Installing setuptools, pip, wheel...

done.

mian@tdowrick2~ $ source env/bin/activate

(env) mian@tdowrick2~ $ python --version

Python 3.7.1

(env) mian@tdowrick2~ $ deactivate

To create Python 3.6 virtual environment

mian@tdowrick2~ $ virtualenv -p python3.6 env

Running virtualenv with interpreter /usr/local/bin/python3.6

Using base prefix '/usr/local/Cellar/python/3.6.5_1/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.6'

New python executable in /Users/mian/env/bin/python3.6

Not overwriting existing python script /Users/mian/env/bin/python (you must use /Users/mian/env/bin/python3.6)

Installing setuptools, pip, wheel...

done.

mian@tdowrick2~ $ source env/bin/activate

(env) mian@tdowrick2~ $ python --version

Python 3.6.5

(env) mian@tdowrick2~ $