As a metaframework TurboGears has a lot of dependencies. As version numbers tend to change quickly, manageing packages is crucial, especially when working withs multiple projects.
Installing TurboGears needs basic support by the underlaying python installation. You should have at least setuptools installed. If you do not have setuptools installed, you will have to do a custom python installation. Additionally you will need the virtualenv script. You can install it via your distribution’s package manager or, if you do not have appropriate rights, invoke the script directly.
First you have create a new virtualenv to house your Turbogears installation:
$ virtualenv --no-site-packages tg2env
Virtualenv creates a custom python installation in the directory tg2env. The additional parameter “–no-site-packages” means, that the environment will not use any extensions installed in your operating system’s python installation.
To activate the virtualenv type:
$ source tg2env/bin/activate
Your command prompt should now include “(tg2env)”, which means you are using your custom environment.
Now install TurboGears using:
(tg2env)$ easy_install -i http://www.turbogears.org/2.0/downloads/current/index tg.devtools
This will download all necessary packages and install them into your virtual environment. Virtualenv allows you to have multiple TurboGears versions with different sets of dependencies installed at the same time. If one of your environments breaks, you can delete the directory and start over easily.
You can leave the virtualenv at any time using:
(tg2env)$ deactivate
The easiest way to start a new project is to use the quickstart command:
$ paster quickstart
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