Installing Python 3.12 on Ubuntu 24.04

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As of July 2025, Python 3.12 is the latest stable and recommended version for production use. This guide walks you through installing it from source on Ubuntu 24.04.

Step-by-Step Installation Instructions

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Update the System

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sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Install Required Dependencies

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sudo apt install -y software-properties-common build-essential \
zlib1g-dev libncurses5-dev libgdbm-dev libnss3-dev libssl-dev \
libreadline-dev libffi-dev curl libsqlite3-dev wget llvm \
libbz2-dev tk-dev

Download Python 3.12 Source Code

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cd /usr/src
sudo wget https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.12.4/Python-3.12.4.tgz
sudo tar -xf Python-3.12.4.tgz
cd Python-3.12.4

Compile and Install Python

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sudo ./configure --enable-optimizations
sudo make -j$(nproc)
sudo make altinstall

⚠️ Use make altinstall instead of make install to avoid overwriting the system's default python3.

Verify the Installation

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python3.12 --version

Output:

Python 3.12.4