"/usr/bin/python: No module named virtualenvwrapper" error when opening terminal

Question

I'm using Ubuntu 20.04 (clean installation, I did not upgrade from a previous one) and when I open a new terminal (simply by Ctrl+Alt+T), it always starts with the output shown below (also shown in the following screenshot):

/usr/bin/python: No module named virtualenvwrapper
virtualenvwrapper.sh: There was a problem running the initialization hooks.
If Python could not import the module virtualenvwrapper.hook_loader,
check that virtualenvwrapper has been installed for
VIRTUALENVWRAPPER_PYTHON=/usr/bin/python and that PATH is
set properly.
/usr/bin/python: No module named virtualenvwrapper
virtualenvwrapper.sh: There was a problem running the initialization hooks.
If Python could not import the module virtualenvwrapper.hook_loader,
check that virtualenvwrapper has been installed for
VIRTUALENVWRAPPER_PYTHON=/usr/bin/python and that PATH is
set properly.
daniel@daniel-Inspiron-5482:~$

Of course I have already tried to execute reset and reboot.

In the past I did have a problem with these paths, so the commands I had executed to fix the path were:

export VIRTUALENVWRAPPER_PYTHON=/usr/bin/python3
export VIRTUALENVWRAPPER_VIRTUALENV=/usr/local/bin/virtualenv

Here is my ~/.bashrc:

# ~/.bashrc: executed by bash(1) for non-login shells.
# see /usr/share/doc/bash/examples/startup-files (in the package bash-doc)
# for examples
If not running interactively, don't do anything
case $- in
    i) ;;
      *) return;;
esac
don't put duplicate lines or lines starting with space in the history.
See bash(1) for more options
HISTCONTROL=ignoreboth
append to the history file, don't overwrite it
shopt -s histappend
for setting history length see HISTSIZE and HISTFILESIZE in bash(1)
HISTSIZE=1000
HISTFILESIZE=2000
check the window size after each command and, if necessary,
update the values of LINES and COLUMNS.
shopt -s checkwinsize
If set, the pattern "**" used in a pathname expansion context will
match all files and zero or more directories and subdirectories.
#shopt -s globstar
make less more friendly for non-text input files, see lesspipe(1)
[ -x /usr/bin/lesspipe ] && eval "$(SHELL=/bin/sh lesspipe)"
set variable identifying the chroot you work in (used in the prompt below)
if [ -z "${debian_chroot:-}" ] && [ -r /etc/debian_chroot ]; then
    debian_chroot=$(cat /etc/debian_chroot)
fi
set a fancy prompt (non-color, unless we know we "want" color)
case "$TERM" in
    xterm-color|*-256color) color_prompt=yes;;
esac
uncomment for a colored prompt, if the terminal has the capability; turned
off by default to not distract the user: the focus in a terminal window
should be on the output of commands, not on the prompt
#force_color_prompt=yes
if [ -n "$force_color_prompt" ]; then
    if [ -x /usr/bin/tput ] && tput setaf 1 >&/dev/null; then
    # We have color support; assume it's compliant with Ecma-48
    # (ISO/IEC-6429). (Lack of such support is extremely rare, and such
    # a case would tend to support setf rather than setaf.)
    color_prompt=yes
    else
    color_prompt=
    fi
fi
if [ "$color_prompt" = yes ]; then
    PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}[\033[01;32m]\u@\h[\033[00m]:[\033[01;34m]\w[\033[00m]$ '
else
    PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\u@\h:\w$ '
fi
unset color_prompt force_color_prompt
If this is an xterm set the title to user@host:dir
case "$TERM" in
xterm|rxvt)
    PS1="[\e]0;${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\u@\h: \w\a]$PS1"
    ;;
*)
    ;;
esac
enable color support of ls and also add handy aliases
if [ -x /usr/bin/dircolors ]; then
    test -r ~/.dircolors && eval "$(dircolors -b ~/.dircolors)" || eval "$(dircolors -b)"
    alias ls='ls --color=auto'
    #alias dir='dir --color=auto'
    #alias vdir='vdir --color=auto'
alias grep='grep --color=auto'
alias fgrep='fgrep --color=auto'
alias egrep='egrep --color=auto'

fi
colored GCC warnings and errors
#export GCC_COLORS='error=01;31:warning=01;35:note=01;36:caret=01;32:locus=01:quote=01'
some more ls aliases
alias ll='ls -alF'
alias la='ls -A'
alias l='ls -CF'
Add an "alert" alias for long running commands.  Use like so:
sleep 10; alert
alias alert='notify-send --urgency=low -i "$([ $? = 0 ] && echo terminal || echo error)" "$(history|tail -n1|sed -e '''s/^\s[0-9]+\s//;s/[;&|]\s*alert$//''')"'
Alias definitions.
You may want to put all your additions into a separate file like
~/.bash_aliases, instead of adding them here directly.
See /usr/share/doc/bash-doc/examples in the bash-doc package.
if [ -f ~/.bash_aliases ]; then
    . ~/.bash_aliases
fi
enable programmable completion features (you don't need to enable
this, if it's already enabled in /etc/bash.bashrc and /etc/profile
sources /etc/bash.bashrc).
if ! shopt -oq posix; then
  if [ -f /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion ]; then
    . /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion
  elif [ -f /etc/bash_completion ]; then
    . /etc/bash_completion
  fi
fi
Virtual Environment Wrapper
source /usr/local/bin/virtualenvwrapper.sh
Virtual Environment Wrapper
source /usr/local/bin/virtualenvwrapper.sh
>>> conda initialize >>>
!! Contents within this block are managed by 'conda init' !!
__conda_setup="$('/home/daniel/anaconda3/bin/conda' 'shell.bash' 'hook' 2> /dev/null)"
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    eval "$__conda_setup"
else
    if [ -f "/home/daniel/anaconda3/etc/profile.d/conda.sh" ]; then
        . "/home/daniel/anaconda3/etc/profile.d/conda.sh"
    else
        export PATH="/home/daniel/anaconda3/bin:$PATH"
    fi
fi
unset __conda_setup
<<< conda initialize <<<

I have also installed the packages virtualenv and virtualenvwrapper and updated using sudo apt, but the problem still accrues.

What is the problem with my terminal actually?

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 03 '21 at 19:00

The problem is with this entry in your ~/.bashrc file:

# Virtual Environment Wrapper
source /usr/local/bin/virtualenvwrapper.sh
# Virtual Environment Wrapper
source /usr/local/bin/virtualenvwrapper.sh

It's a duplicate entry. You only need one, so just remove the other.
Make sure that the path to virtualenvwrapper.sh is the correct one by running the following command and replacing /usr/local/bin/virtualenvwrapper.sh with the command's output:
```
which virtualenvwrapper.sh
```
If the path is already the correct one, then great! Just skip this step.
You need to add these commands (that you also mention in your question) right before source /usr/local/bin/virtualenvwrapper.sh in your ~/.bashrc:
```
export VIRTUALENVWRAPPER_PYTHON=/usr/bin/python3
export VIRTUALENVWRAPPER_VIRTUALENV=/usr/local/bin/virtualenv
```
Again, you should make sure that the paths are the correct ones.
After doing the above, restart your terminal or run:
```
source ~/.bashrc
```

Your terminal should start properly now, without the error text, and virtualenvwrapper should work as expected!

"/usr/bin/python: No module named virtualenvwrapper" error when opening terminal

If not running interactively, don't do anything

don't put duplicate lines or lines starting with space in the history.

See bash(1) for more options

append to the history file, don't overwrite it

for setting history length see HISTSIZE and HISTFILESIZE in bash(1)

check the window size after each command and, if necessary,

update the values of LINES and COLUMNS.

If set, the pattern "**" used in a pathname expansion context will

match all files and zero or more directories and subdirectories.

make less more friendly for non-text input files, see lesspipe(1)

set variable identifying the chroot you work in (used in the prompt below)

set a fancy prompt (non-color, unless we know we "want" color)

uncomment for a colored prompt, if the terminal has the capability; turned

off by default to not distract the user: the focus in a terminal window

should be on the output of commands, not on the prompt

If this is an xterm set the title to user@host:dir

enable color support of ls and also add handy aliases

colored GCC warnings and errors

some more ls aliases

Add an "alert" alias for long running commands. Use like so:

sleep 10; alert

Alias definitions.

You may want to put all your additions into a separate file like

~/.bash_aliases, instead of adding them here directly.

See /usr/share/doc/bash-doc/examples in the bash-doc package.

enable programmable completion features (you don't need to enable

this, if it's already enabled in /etc/bash.bashrc and /etc/profile

sources /etc/bash.bashrc).

Virtual Environment Wrapper

Virtual Environment Wrapper

>>> conda initialize >>>

!! Contents within this block are managed by 'conda init' !!

<<< conda initialize <<<

1 Answers1