- Using the python-version input
- Using the python-version-file input
- Check latest version
- Caching packages
- Outputs and environment variables
- Available versions of Python and PyPy
- Hosted tool cache
- Using
setup-python
with a self-hosted runner - Using
setup-python
on GHES - Allow pre-releases
If there is a specific version of Python that you need and you don't want to worry about any potential breaking changes due to patch updates (going from 3.7.5
to 3.7.6
for example), you should specify the exact major, minor, and patch version (such as 3.7.5
):
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
with:
python-version: '3.7.5'
- run: python my_script.py
- The only downside to this is that setup may take a little longer. If the exact version is not already installed on the runner due to more recent versions, the exact version will have to be downloaded.
- MSI installers are used on Windows for this, so runs will take a little longer to set up vs macOS and Linux.
You can specify only a major and minor version if you are okay with the most recent patch version being used:
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
with:
python-version: '3.7'
- run: python my_script.py
- There will be a single patch version already installed on each runner for every minor version of Python that is supported.
- The patch version that will be preinstalled, will generally be the latest and every time there is a new patch released, the older version that is preinstalled will be replaced.
- Using the most recent patch version will result in a very quick setup since no downloads will be required since a locally installed version of Python on the runner will be used.
You can specify the version with prerelease tag to download and set up an accurate pre-release version of Python:
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
with:
python-version: '3.12.0-alpha.1'
- run: python my_script.py
It's also possible to use x.y-dev syntax to download and set up the latest patch version of Python, alpha, beta and rc (release candidate) releases included. (for specified major & minor versions):
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
with:
python-version: '3.12-dev'
- run: python my_script.py
You can also use several types of ranges that are specified in semver, for instance:
- ranges to download and set up the latest available version of Python satisfying a range:
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
with:
python-version: '>=3.9 <3.10'
- run: python my_script.py
- hyphen ranges to download and set up the latest available version of Python (includes both pre-release and stable versions):
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
with:
python-version: '3.12.0-alpha - 3.12.0'
- run: python my_script.py
- x-ranges to specify the latest stable version of Python (for specified major version):
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
with:
python-version: '3.x'
- run: python my_script.py
Please refer to the Advanced range syntax section of the semver to check other available range syntaxes.
The version of PyPy should be specified in the format pypy<python_version>[-v<pypy_version>]
or pypy-<python_version>[-v<pypy_version>]
.
The -v<pypy_version>
parameter is optional and can be skipped. The latest PyPy version will be used in this case.
pypy3.9 or pypy-3.9 # the latest available version of PyPy that supports Python 3.9
pypy2.7 or pypy-2.7 # the latest available version of PyPy that supports Python 2.7
pypy3.7-v7.3.3 or pypy-3.7-v7.3.3 # Python 3.7 and PyPy 7.3.3
pypy3.7-v7.x or pypy-3.7-v7.x # Python 3.7 and the latest available PyPy 7.x
pypy3.7-v7.3.3rc1 or pypy-3.7-v7.3.3rc1 # Python 3.7 and preview version of PyPy
pypy3.7-nightly or pypy-3.7-nightly # Python 3.7 and nightly PyPy
Download and set up PyPy:
jobs:
build:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
strategy:
matrix:
python-version:
- 'pypy3.7' # the latest available version of PyPy that supports Python 3.7
- 'pypy3.7-v7.3.3' # Python 3.7 and PyPy 7.3.3
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
with:
python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
- run: python my_script.py
More details on PyPy syntax can be found in the Available versions of PyPy section.
The python-version input can get multiple python/pypy versions. The last specified version will be used as a default one.
Download and set up multiple Python versions:
jobs:
build:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
with:
python-version: |
3.8
3.9
3.10
- run: python my_script.py
Download and set up multiple PyPy versions:
jobs:
build:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
with:
python-version: |
pypy-3.7-v7.3.x
pypy3.9-nightly
pypy3.8
- run: python my_script.py
Download and set up multiple Python/PyPy versions:
jobs:
build:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
with:
python-version: |
3.8
3.9
pypy3.9-nightly
pypy3.8
3.10
- run: python my_script.py
Using setup-python
it's possible to use matrix syntax to install several versions of Python or PyPy:
jobs:
build:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
strategy:
matrix:
python-version: [ '2.x', '3.x', 'pypy2.7', 'pypy3.8', 'pypy3.9' ]
name: Python ${{ matrix.python-version }} sample
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Set up Python
uses: actions/setup-python@v4
with:
python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
architecture: x64
- run: python my_script.py
Exclude a specific Python version:
jobs:
build:
runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
strategy:
matrix:
os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
python-version: ['2.7', '3.7', '3.8', '3.9', '3.10', 'pypy2.7', 'pypy3.9']
exclude:
- os: macos-latest
python-version: '3.8'
- os: windows-latest
python-version: '3.6'
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Set up Python
uses: actions/setup-python@v4
with:
python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
- name: Display Python version
run: python --version
setup-python
action can read Python or PyPy version from a version file. python-version-file
input is used for specifying the path to the version file. If the file that was supplied to python-version-file
input doesn't exist, the action will fail with error.
In case both
python-version
andpython-version-file
inputs are supplied, thepython-version-file
input will be ignored due to its lower priority.
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
with:
python-version-file: '.python-version' # Read python version from a file .python-version
- run: python my_script.py
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
with:
python-version-file: 'pyproject.toml' # Read python version from a file pyproject.toml
- run: python my_script.py
The check-latest
flag defaults to false
. Use the default or set check-latest
to false
if you prefer stability and if you want to ensure a specific Python or PyPy
version is always used.
If check-latest
is set to true
, the action first checks if the cached version is the latest one. If the locally cached version is not the most up-to-date, a Python or PyPy
version will then be downloaded. Set check-latest
to true
if you want the most up-to-date Python or PyPy
version to always be used.
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
with:
python-version: '3.7'
check-latest: true
- run: python my_script.py
Setting
check-latest
totrue
has performance implications as downloadingPython or PyPy
versions is slower than using cached versions.
Caching pipenv dependencies:
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
with:
python-version: '3.9'
cache: 'pipenv'
- name: Install pipenv
run: curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pypa/pipenv/master/get-pipenv.py | python
- run: pipenv install
Caching poetry dependencies:
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Install poetry
run: pipx install poetry
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
with:
python-version: '3.9'
cache: 'poetry'
- run: poetry install
- run: poetry run pytest
Using a list of file paths to cache dependencies
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
with:
python-version: '3.9'
cache: 'pipenv'
cache-dependency-path: |
server/app/Pipfile.lock
__test__/app/Pipfile.lock
- name: Install pipenv
run: curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pypa/pipenv/master/get-pipenv.py | python
- run: pipenv install
Using wildcard patterns to cache dependencies
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
with:
python-version: '3.9'
cache: 'pip'
cache-dependency-path: '**/requirements-dev.txt'
- run: pip install -r subdirectory/requirements-dev.txt
Using a list of wildcard patterns to cache dependencies
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
with:
python-version: '3.10'
cache: 'pip'
cache-dependency-path: |
**/setup.cfg
**/requirements*.txt
- run: pip install -e . -r subdirectory/requirements-dev.txt
Caching projects that use setup.py:
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
with:
python-version: '3.11'
cache: 'pip'
cache-dependency-path: setup.py
- run: pip install -e .
# Or pip install -e '.[test]' to install test dependencies
Using python-version output it's possible to get the installed by action Python or PyPy version. This output is useful when the input python-version
is given as a range (e.g. 3.8.0 - 3.10.0 ), but down in a workflow you need to operate with the exact installed version (e.g. 3.10.1).
jobs:
build:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
id: cp310
with:
python-version: "3.8.0 - 3.10.0"
- run: echo '${{ steps.cp310.outputs.python-version }}'
python-path output is available with the absolute path of the Python or PyPy interpreter executable if you need it:
jobs:
build:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
id: cp310
with:
python-version: "3.10"
- run: pipx run --python '${{ steps.cp310.outputs.python-path }}' nox --version
cache-hit output is available with a boolean value that indicates whether a cache hit occurred on the primary key:
jobs:
build:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
id: cp310
with:
python-version: "3.8.0"
cache: "poetry"
- run: echo '${{ steps.cp310.outputs.cache-hit }}' # true if cache-hit occurred on the primary key
These environment variables become available after setup-python action execution:
Env.variable | Description |
---|---|
pythonLocation | Contains the absolute path to the folder where the requested version of Python or PyPy is installed |
Python_ROOT_DIR | https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/module/FindPython.html#module:FindPython |
Python2_ROOT_DIR | https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/module/FindPython2.html#module:FindPython2 |
Python3_ROOT_DIR | https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/module/FindPython3.html#module:FindPython3 |
The update-environment
flag defaults to true
.
With this setting, the action will add/update environment variables (e.g. PATH
, PKG_CONFIG_PATH
, pythonLocation
) for Python or PyPy to just work out of the box.
If update-environment
is set to false
, the action will not add/update environment variables.
This can prove useful if you want the only side-effect to be to ensure Python or PyPy is installed and rely on the python-path
output to run executable.
Such a requirement on side-effect could be because you don't want your composite action messing with your user's workflows.
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
id: cp310
with:
python-version: '3.10'
update-environment: false
- run: ${{ steps.cp310.outputs.python-path }} my_script.py
setup-python
is able to configure Python from two sources:
- Preinstalled versions of Python in the tool cache on GitHub-hosted runners.
- For detailed information regarding the available versions of Python that are installed, see Supported software.
- For every minor version of Python, expect only the latest patch to be preinstalled.
- If
3.8.1
is installed for example, and3.8.2
is released, expect3.8.1
to be removed and replaced by3.8.2
in the tool cache. - If the exact patch version doesn't matter to you, specifying just the major and minor versions will get you the latest preinstalled patch version. In the previous example, the version spec
3.8
will use the3.8.2
Python version found in the cache. - Use
-dev
instead of a patch number (e.g.,3.12-dev
) to install the latest patch version release for a given minor version, alpha and beta releases included.
- Downloadable Python versions from GitHub Releases (actions/python-versions).
- All available versions are listed in the version-manifest.json file.
- If there is a specific version of Python that is not available, you can open an issue here
Note: Python versions used in this action are generated in the python-versions repository. For macOS and Ubuntu images, python versions are built from the source code. For Windows, the python-versions repository uses installation executable. For more information please refer to the python-versions repository.
setup-python
is able to configure PyPy from two sources:
-
Preinstalled versions of PyPy in the tool cache on GitHub-hosted runners
- For detailed information regarding the available versions of PyPy that are installed, see Supported software.
- For the latest PyPy release, all versions of Python are cached.
- Cache is updated with a 1-2 week delay. If you specify the PyPy version as
pypy3.7
orpypy-3.7
, the cached version will be used although a newer version is available. If you need to start using the recently released version right after release, you should specify the exact PyPy version usingpypy3.7-v7.3.3
orpypy-3.7-v7.3.3
.
-
Downloadable PyPy versions from the official PyPy site.
- All available versions that we can download are listed in versions.json file.
- PyPy < 7.3.3 are not available to install on-flight.
- If some versions are not available, you can open an issue in https://foss.heptapod.net/pypy/pypy/
setup-python
is able to download GraalPy versions from the official GraalPy repository.
- All available versions that we can download are listed in releases.
GitHub hosted runners have a tool cache that comes with a few versions of Python + PyPy already installed. This tool cache helps speed up runs and tool setup by not requiring any new downloads. There is an environment variable called RUNNER_TOOL_CACHE
on each runner that describes the location of the tool cache with Python and PyPy installed. setup-python
works by taking a specific version of Python or PyPy from this tool cache and adding it to PATH.
Location | |
---|---|
Tool cache Directory | RUNNER_TOOL_CACHE |
Python tool cache | RUNNER_TOOL_CACHE/Python/* |
PyPy tool cache | RUNNER_TOOL_CACHE/PyPy/* |
GitHub runner images are set up in actions/runner-images. During the setup, the available versions of Python and PyPy are automatically downloaded, set up and documented.
- Tool cache setup for Ubuntu: Install-Toolset.ps1 Configure-Toolset.ps1
- Tool cache setup for Windows: Install-Toolset.ps1 Configure-Toolset.ps1
Python distributions are only available for the same environments that GitHub Actions hosted environments are available for. If you are using an unsupported version of Ubuntu such as 19.04
or another Linux distribution such as Fedora, setup-python
may not work.
If you have a supported self-hosted runner and you would like to use setup-python
, there are a few extra things you need to make sure are set up so that new versions of Python can be downloaded and configured on your runner.
- Your runner needs to be running with administrator privileges so that the appropriate directories and files can be set up when downloading and installing a new version of Python for the first time.
- If your runner is configured as a service, make sure the account that is running the service has the appropriate write permissions so that Python can get installed. The default
NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE
should be sufficient. - You need
7zip
installed and added to yourPATH
so that the downloaded versions of Python files can be extracted properly during the first-time setup. - MSI installers are used when setting up Python on Windows. A word of caution as MSI installers update registry settings.
- The 3.8 MSI installer for Windows will not let you install another 3.8 version of Python. If
setup-python
fails for a 3.8 version of Python, make sure any previously installed versions are removed by going to "Apps & Features" in the Settings app.
By default runner downloads and installs tools into the folder set up by
RUNNER_TOOL_CACHE
environment variable. The environment variable calledAGENT_TOOLSDIRECTORY
can be set to change this location for Windows self-hosted runners.
If you are experiencing problems while configuring Python on your self-hosted runner, turn on step debugging to see additional logs.
By default runner downloads and installs tools into the folder set up by RUNNER_TOOL_CACHE
environment variable. The environment variable called AGENT_TOOLSDIRECTORY
can be set to change this location for Linux self-hosted runners:
- In the same shell that your runner is using, type
export AGENT_TOOLSDIRECTORY=/path/to/folder
. - More permanent way of setting the environment variable is to create an
.env
file in the same directory as your runner and to addAGENT_TOOLSDIRECTORY=/path/to/folder
. This ensures the variable is always set if your runner is configured as a service.
If you're using a non-default tool cache directory be sure that the user starting the runner has write permission to the new tool cache directory. To check the current user and group that the runner belongs type ls -l
inside the runner's root directory.
The runner can be granted write access to any directory using a few techniques:
- The user starting the runner is the owner, and the owner has write permission.
- The user starting the runner is in the owning group, and the owning group has write permission.
- All users have write permission.
One quick way to grant access is to change the user and group of the non-default tool cache folder to be the same as the runners using
chown
:sudo chown runner-user:runner-group /path/to/folder
.
If your runner is configured as a service and you run into problems, make sure the user that the service is running as is correct. For more information, you can check the status of your self-hosted runner.
The Python packages for macOS that are downloaded from actions/python-versions
are originally compiled from the source in /Users/runner/hostedtoolcache
. Due to the fixed shared library path, these Python packages are non-relocatable and require to be installed only in /Users/runner/hostedtoolcache
. Before the use of setup-python
on the macOS self-hosted runner:
- Create a directory called
/Users/runner/hostedtoolcache
- Change the permissions of
/Users/runner/hostedtoolcache
so that the runner has write access
You can check the current user and group that the runner belongs to by typing ls -l
inside the runner's root directory.
The runner can be granted write access to the /Users/runner/hostedtoolcache
directory using a few techniques:
- The user starting the runner is the owner, and the owner has write permission
- The user starting the runner is in the owning group, and the owning group has write permission
- All users have write permission.
One quick way to grant access is to change the user and group of
/Users/runner/hostedtoolcache
to be the same as the runners usingchown
:sudo chown runner-user:runner-group /Users/runner/hostedtoolcache
If your runner is configured as a service and you run into problems, make sure the user that the service is running as is correct. For more information, you can check the status of your self-hosted runner.
setup-python
comes pre-installed on the appliance with GHES if Actions is enabled. When dynamically downloading Python distributions, setup-python
downloads distributions from actions/python-versions
on github.com (outside of the appliance). These calls to actions/python-versions
are by default made via unauthenticated requests, which are limited to 60 requests per hour per IP. If more requests are made within the time frame, then you will start to see rate-limit errors during downloading that look like this:
##[error]API rate limit exceeded for YOUR_IP. (But here's the good news: Authenticated requests get a higher rate limit. Check out the documentation for more details.)
To get a higher rate limit, you can generate a personal access token (PAT) on github.com and pass it as the token
input for the action. It is important to understand that this needs to be a token from github.com and not from your GHES instance. If you or your colleagues do not yet have a github.com account, you might need to create one.
Here are the steps you need to follow to avoid the rate limit:
- Create a PAT on any github.com account by using this link after logging into github.com (not your Enterprise instance). This PAT does not need any rights, so make sure all the boxes are unchecked.
- Store this PAT in the repository / organization where you run your workflow, e.g. as
GH_GITHUB_COM_TOKEN
. You can do this by navigating to your repository -> Settings -> Secrets -> Actions -> New repository secret. - To use this functionality, you need to use any version newer than
v4.3
. Also, change python-version as needed.
- name: Set up Python
uses: actions/setup-python@v4
with:
python-version: 3.8
token: ${{ secrets.GH_GITHUB_COM_TOKEN }}
Requests should now be authenticated. To verify that you are getting the higher rate limit, you can call GitHub's rate limit API from within your workflow (example).
If the runner is not able to access github.com, any Python versions requested during a workflow run must come from the runner's tool cache. See "Setting up the tool cache on self-hosted runners without internet access" for more information.
The allow-prereleases
flag defaults to false
.
If allow-prereleases
is set to true
, the action will allow falling back to pre-release versions of Python when a matching GA version of Python is not available.
This allows for example to simplify reuse of python-version
as an input of nox for pre-releases of Python by not requiring manipulation of the 3.y-dev
specifier.
For CPython, allow-prereleases
will only have effect for x.y
version range (e.g. 3.12
).
Let's say that python 3.12 is not generally available, the following workflow will fallback to the most recent pre-release of python 3.12:
jobs:
test:
name: ${{ matrix.os }} / ${{ matrix.python_version }}
runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}-latest
strategy:
fail-fast: false
matrix:
os: [Ubuntu, Windows, macOS]
python_version: ["3.11", "3.12"]
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
with:
python-version: "${{ matrix.python_version }}"
allow-prereleases: true
- run: pipx run nox --error-on-missing-interpreters -s tests-${{ matrix.python_version }}