Python set environment variable when creating venv

Question

In my project I use the built-in python virtual env ( python -m venv ).
To set environment variables I add multiple export VAR1=VALUE1 to the end of the venv/bin/activate .
Obviously, when I delete the venv and create a new one, for example with the new python version all my env variables get lost.
So, is there a way to preserve them? May be it is possible to define env variables when creating the venv?

Answer 1

instead of adding to activate

export VAR1=VALUE1

consider writing them into their own file:

~/setupenv.sh :

export VAR1=VALUE1

and add the following to activate

source ~/setupenv.sh

However, personally, I would not do that. I would instead define a bash function to do it:

myownactivate(){
  source <path_to_activate>
  export VAR1=VALUE1
}

Answer 2

Use dotenv

Essentially, you have to create a simple .env file that containsyour variables and values and it will load them when you run your application.

You can access them by os.getenv('VAR1')