To ensure a clean development and production environment, we will use `virtualenv`. If you have not installed or used it yet, please reffer to the [official documentation](https://pypi.org/project/virtualenv/).
## Starting `virtualenv`
First create a new folder, in which you want to give this project a new home. Then, create a new `virtualenv` via this command in your terminal
```
virtualenv -p python3 .
```
You'll see a few new folders and a config file for your `virtualenv`. You can start the new environment via this command in your terminal, depending on your OS.
Linux/MacOS:
```
source bin/activate
```
Windows
```
Scripts/activate
```
If done correctly, you'll see the name of the virtual environment printed at the beginning of your command promt, eg. in bash:
You can verify that no python libraries are installed in your `virtualenv`, if you enter the following command via terminal. It should not return any modules right now.
```
python -m pip freeze
```
All required dependency, such as Django, will be installed via `pip` and a text file, such as `requirements.txt`. First, switch the current directory via `cd` into the cloned folder. Then, install the dependencies all at once via this command in your terminal.
```
python -m pip install -r requirements.txt
```
## Starting the django web server
To start the web server, change the directory via `cd` in the project folder. Here you will find the `manage.py` script, which will be used to start commands depending on the Django framework. Start the web server via this command in your terminal.
```
python manage.py runserver
```
If successful, you can now see the running server in your browser at `http://127.0.0.1:8000`.
