To set up a new testing environment: 1. Create a python virtual environment: python3 -m venv /path/to/your/venv --system-site-packages 2. Checkout a copy of the utils project. git clone ssh://git@git.house/usr/local/git/base/python_utils.git Your SSH identity will need to be authorized by the git@git.house user. 3. Make the virtual environment "exclusive" by editing bin/activate to clear PYTHONPATH, if set, by adding this: if [ -n "${PYTHONPATH}" ] ; then unset PYTHONPATH fi export PYTHONPATH=/ 4. Install the dependencies: cd / for file in $( cat ./requirements.txt ); do pip install $file done 5. Run the unittests to make sure they all work: cd //tests ./run_tests -a 6. Create a local git branch git checkout -b your_dev 7. Install git pre-commit hooks from master: [s]cp /home/scott/lib/python_modules/.git/hooks/pre-commit . That's it.