How to Install Python 3.6.5 on Linux: Step‑by‑Step Guide

Based on a Linux distribution that ships with Python 2.7.5, you can first verify the existing Python version with python --version. The command shows Python 2.7.5, and you can enter the interactive interpreter with python (exit with Ctrl+D).

The default Python binaries are located at /usr/bin/python and /usr/bin/python2, both of which are symlinks ultimately pointing to /usr/bin/python2.7. Therefore, invoking python, python2, or python2.7 runs the same interpreter.

To install Python 3, download the source package (e.g., Python‑3.6.5.tgz) from https://www.python.org/downloads/source/ and upload it to a directory on the Linux host, such as /root/tools.

Extract the archive with tar -zxvf Python-3.6.5.tgz. Then install the required build dependencies:

yum -y install zlib-devel bzip2-devel openssl-devel ncurses-devel sqlite-devel readline-devel tk-devel gcc make

If you are building Python 3.7 or later, also install libffi-devel. The compilation process typically takes about one minute.

In environments without external network access, you may need to adjust the network configuration. Edit the appropriate interface file (e.g., /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-ens33) with the correct IP settings, then restart the network service using service network restart before re‑running the yum command.

Proceed with the compilation steps:

./configure --prefix=/root/training/Python-3.6.5
make
make install

The --prefix option sets the installation directory. After a successful build, the setuptools and pip tools are installed alongside Python.

Create a symbolic link for the new interpreter without removing the system Python 2.7.5. Place the link in /usr/local/bin pointing to the newly installed python3 binary.

Finally, configure environment variables to make pip3 easily accessible. Edit ~/.bash_profile and add:

# Configure Python
export PYTHON_HOME=/root/training/Python-3.6.5
export PATH=$PYTHON_HOME/bin:$PATH

Save the file, run source ~/.bash_profile, and verify the configuration with echo $PYTHON_HOME and python3 --version. The installation is now complete, while the original Python 2.7.5 remains functional.