diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 6ecaf40..1259a27 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -114,6 +114,6 @@ github: publish
 	git push origin $(GITHUB_PAGES_BRANCH)
 
 newpost:
-	python $(BASEDIR)/newpost.py
+	python3 $(BASEDIR)/newpost.py
 
 .PHONY: html help clean regenerate serve devserver publish ssh_upload rsync_upload dropbox_upload ftp_upload s3_upload cf_upload github
diff --git a/ansible/vagrant.yml b/ansible/vagrant.yml
index 01dcadf..78e51e7 100644
--- a/ansible/vagrant.yml
+++ b/ansible/vagrant.yml
@@ -10,7 +10,9 @@
       with_items:
         - git
         - ansible
+        - python3
         - python3-dev
+        - python3-pip
         - python-virtualenv
         - libxml2-dev
         - libxslt1-dev
@@ -33,17 +35,17 @@
         ansible-playbook -i hosts site.yml --skip-tags "x11" -c local
         chdir=~/batcave
 
-    - name: create python environment and install packages
+    - name: install blogging packages
       pip:
         name={{ item }}
-        virtualenv=~/env
-        virtualenv_command="virtualenv -p /usr/bin/python3"
+        executable=pip3
       with_items:
         - pelican==3.6.3
         - markdown
         - ipython[notebook]==2.4.1
         - beautifulsoup4
         - cookiecutter
+      sudo: yes
 
     - name: clone pelican-plugins
       git: