Curious Mints

How to Set Up a Scheduled Task in PythonAnywhere with a Virtual Environment

Amit Jotwani -

So, I wanted to set up a scheduled task in PythonAnywhere and make sure it used my virtual environment. This way, all the packages I installed would be available to the task. Here’s how I figured it out, broken into steps.

Step 1: Set Up the Virtual Environment

The virtual environment ensures your task has access to all the packages you’ve installed. Here's how to set it up:

  1. Open a Bash console on PythonAnywhere.

Deactivate the virtual environment when done:

deactivate

Install your required dependencies:

pip install <your-package-list>

Activate the virtual environment:

source venv/bin/activate

Create a virtual environment if you don’t already have one:

python3 -m venv venv

Navigate to your project directory:

cd ~/your_project_directory

Step 2: Get the Path to Your Virtual Environment’s Python

To run your script using the virtual environment, you need the path to its Python interpreter.

Find the path to the Python interpreter:

which python

You should see something like:

/home/yourusername/your_project_directory/venv/bin/python

Save this path; you’ll need it for the next step.

Activate your virtual environment:

source ~/your_project_directory/venv/bin/activate

Step 3: Schedule the Task

Now, let’s add the scheduled task to PythonAnywhere:

  1. Go to the Tasks tab in the PythonAnywhere dashboard.
  2. Click Add a new scheduled task.
    • /home/yourusername/your_project_directory/venv/bin/python with the Python interpreter path from Step 2.
    • /home/yourusername/your_project_directory/your_script.py with the full path to your script.
  3. Set the schedule (e.g., daily, hourly, or specific times).
  4. Save the task.

In the command box, enter:

/home/yourusername/your_project_directory/venv/bin/python /home/yourusername/your_project_directory/your_script.py

Replace:

Step 4: Test the Task

Before letting PythonAnywhere handle the task, test it manually in the Bash console:

/home/yourusername/your_project_directory/venv/bin/python /home/yourusername/your_project_directory/your_script.py

If it runs successfully, your scheduled task is ready to go.

And That’s It!

Now your scheduled task will run with your virtual environment, ensuring all your packages are available without any hassle. This setup has worked perfectly for me.

Source: https://help.pythonanywhere.com/pages/ScheduledTasks#using-a-virtualenv