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Pipenv will not create a virtual environment for Python 3.8, but will for 3.7

See original GitHub issue

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Issue description

When I try to create a pipenv virtual environment with Python 3.8, it fails, with the error message, ModuleNotFoundError: No module name 'distutils.spawn'

Here is the full context:

➜ pipenv --python 3.8                   
Creating a virtualenv for this project…
Pipfile: /home/james/learning/cs-python/Pipfile
Using /usr/bin/python3.8 (3.8.0) to create virtualenv…
⠙ Creating virtual environment...Running virtualenv with interpreter /usr/bin/python3.8

✘ Failed creating virtual environment 
[pipenv.exceptions.VirtualenvCreationException]:   File "/home/james/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pipenv/vendor/click/decorators.py", line 17, in new_func
[pipenv.exceptions.VirtualenvCreationException]:       return f(get_current_context(), *args, **kwargs)
[pipenv.exceptions.VirtualenvCreationException]:   File "/home/james/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pipenv/cli/command.py", line 208, in cli
[pipenv.exceptions.VirtualenvCreationException]:       clear=state.clear,
[pipenv.exceptions.VirtualenvCreationException]:   File "/home/james/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pipenv/core.py", line 574, in ensure_project
[pipenv.exceptions.VirtualenvCreationException]:       pypi_mirror=pypi_mirror,
[pipenv.exceptions.VirtualenvCreationException]:   File "/home/james/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pipenv/core.py", line 506, in ensure_virtualenv
[pipenv.exceptions.VirtualenvCreationException]:       python=python, site_packages=site_packages, pypi_mirror=pypi_mirror
[pipenv.exceptions.VirtualenvCreationException]:   File "/home/james/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pipenv/core.py", line 935, in do_create_virtualenv
[pipenv.exceptions.VirtualenvCreationException]:       extra=[crayons.blue("{0}".format(c.err)),]
[pipenv.exceptions.VirtualenvCreationException]: Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/james/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/virtualenv.py", line 24, in <module>
    import distutils.spawn
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'distutils.spawn'

Failed to create virtual environment.

When I run `pipenv --python 3.8`, it works!

Expected result

The virtual environment should be created correctly.

When possible, provide the verbose output (--verbose), especially for locking and dependencies resolving issues.

Steps to replicate

Provide the steps to replicate (which usually at least includes the commands and the Pipfile).

Please run $ pipenv --support, and paste the results here. Don’t put backticks (`) around it! The output already contains Markdown formatting.

$ pipenv --support

Pipenv version: '2018.11.26'

Pipenv location: '/home/james/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pipenv'

Python location: '/usr/bin/python3'

Python installations found:

3.8.0: /usr/bin/python3.8
3.7.5: /usr/bin/python3.7
3.7.5: /usr/bin/python3.7m
3.6.8: /usr/bin/python3
3.6.8: /usr/bin/python3.6m
2.7.15: /usr/bin/python

PEP 508 Information:

{'implementation_name': 'cpython',
 'implementation_version': '3.6.8',
 'os_name': 'posix',
 'platform_machine': 'x86_64',
 'platform_python_implementation': 'CPython',
 'platform_release': '5.0.0-29-generic',
 'platform_system': 'Linux',
 'platform_version': '#31~18.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Thu Sep 12 18:29:21 UTC 2019',
 'python_full_version': '3.6.8',
 'python_version': '3.6',
 'sys_platform': 'linux'}

System environment variables:

XDG_SEAT
XDG_SESSION_ID
WINDOWPATH
LC_IDENTIFICATION
DISPLAY
GJS_DEBUG_TOPICS
COLORTERM
GNOME_TERMINAL_SERVICE
GNOME_DESKTOP_SESSION_ID
DEFAULTS_PATH
LOGNAME
TEXTDOMAIN
LC_TIME
SHELL
PAPERSIZE
PATH
LC_NUMERIC
LC_PAPER
IM_CONFIG_PHASE
TEXTDOMAINDIR
CLUTTER_IM_MODULE
QT4_IM_MODULE
XMODIFIERS
XDG_MENU_PREFIX
GNOME_SHELL_SESSION_MODE
XAUTHORITY
XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP
GDMSESSION
QT_IM_MODULE
SSH_AUTH_SOCK
LC_ADDRESS
LC_MEASUREMENT
XDG_CONFIG_DIRS
MANDATORY_PATH
USERNAME
DESKTOP_SESSION
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR
GTK_IM_MODULE
USER
GTK_MODULES
PWD
VTE_VERSION
LC_MONETARY
HOME
QT_ACCESSIBILITY
SSH_AGENT_PID
XDG_DATA_DIRS
LANGUAGE
LANG
LC_NAME
GNOME_TERMINAL_SCREEN
GPG_AGENT_INFO
SHLVL
GJS_DEBUG_OUTPUT
XDG_VTNR
XDG_SESSION_TYPE
DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS
XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP
TERM
SESSION_MANAGER
LC_TELEPHONE
OLDPWD
LS_COLORS
SPACESHIP_VERSION
SPACESHIP_ROOT
NVM_DIR
NVM_CD_FLAGS
NVM_BIN
EDITOR
_
PIP_DISABLE_PIP_VERSION_CHECK
PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE
PIP_SHIMS_BASE_MODULE
PIP_PYTHON_PATH
PYTHONFINDER_IGNORE_UNSUPPORTED

Pipenv–specific environment variables:

Debug–specific environment variables:

PATH: /home/james/.local/bin:/home/james/.nvm/versions/node/v12.9.0/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/snap/bin:/usr/lib/cuda/bin:/snap/bin
SHELL: /usr/bin/zsh
EDITOR: emacs -nw
LANG: en_US.UTF-8
PWD: /home/james/learning/cs-python