These shell scripts will automatically download, compile and install python 2.7 along with several useful packages (ipython, numpy, matplotlib...) Working example can be found here (world read access): /afs/cern.ch/work/y/ylevinse/public/venv_py27_slc6_gcc You can use this yourself by sourcing the activate script: $ . /afs/cern.ch/work/y/ylevinse/public/venv_py27_slc6_gcc/bin/activate $ python ..INSTALLATION.. The basic setup is: ./build This should in principle build all needed packages.. If you are not Yngve you should set your own PREFIX variable (this is the path where you want the environment installed): PREFIX=$HOME/python27 ./build