How to install python on CentOS 8 / RedHat 8

Python is most popular programming language nowadays in the world.

By default RHEL/CentOS 8 doesn’t have an unversioned system-wide python command to avoid locking the users to a specific version of Python. Instead, it gives the user a choice to install, configure, and run a specific Python version. The system tools such as yum use an internal Python binary and libraries.

This guide will walk you through installing Python 3 and Python 2 on CentOS 8.

Installing Python 3 on CentOS 8 / RedHat 8

Enter following command to install Python3

$ sudo dnf install python3 
verify python version
$ python3 --version
Python 3.6.8

Installing Python 2 on CentOS 8 / RedHat 8

Enter the following command to install Python2

$ sudo dnf install python2
verify python version
$ python2 --version
Python 2.7.16

Set Default Python version

Use alternatives command to set default python version

For Python version 3

$ sudo alternatives --set python /usr/bin/python3 

For Python Version 2

$ sudo alternatives --set python /usr/bin/python2