1.. _built-dist: 2 3**************************** 4Creating Built Distributions 5**************************** 6 7A "built distribution" is what you're probably used to thinking of either as a 8"binary package" or an "installer" (depending on your background). It's not 9necessarily binary, though, because it might contain only Python source code 10and/or byte-code; and we don't call it a package, because that word is already 11spoken for in Python. (And "installer" is a term specific to the world of 12mainstream desktop systems.) 13 14A built distribution is how you make life as easy as possible for installers of 15your module distribution: for users of RPM-based Linux systems, it's a binary 16RPM; for Windows users, it's an executable installer; for Debian-based Linux 17users, it's a Debian package; and so forth. Obviously, no one person will be 18able to create built distributions for every platform under the sun, so the 19Distutils are designed to enable module developers to concentrate on their 20specialty---writing code and creating source distributions---while an 21intermediary species called *packagers* springs up to turn source distributions 22into built distributions for as many platforms as there are packagers. 23 24Of course, the module developer could be his own packager; or the packager could 25be a volunteer "out there" somewhere who has access to a platform which the 26original developer does not; or it could be software periodically grabbing new 27source distributions and turning them into built distributions for as many 28platforms as the software has access to. Regardless of who they are, a packager 29uses the setup script and the :command:`bdist` command family to generate built 30distributions. 31 32As a simple example, if I run the following command in the Distutils source 33tree:: 34 35 python setup.py bdist 36 37then the Distutils builds my module distribution (the Distutils itself in this 38case), does a "fake" installation (also in the :file:`build` directory), and 39creates the default type of built distribution for my platform. The default 40format for built distributions is a "dumb" tar file on Unix, and a simple 41executable installer on Windows. (That tar file is considered "dumb" because it 42has to be unpacked in a specific location to work.) 43 44Thus, the above command on a Unix system creates 45:file:`Distutils-1.0.{plat}.tar.gz`; unpacking this tarball from the right place 46installs the Distutils just as though you had downloaded the source distribution 47and run ``python setup.py install``. (The "right place" is either the root of 48the filesystem or Python's :file:`{prefix}` directory, depending on the options 49given to the :command:`bdist_dumb` command; the default is to make dumb 50distributions relative to :file:`{prefix}`.) 51 52Obviously, for pure Python distributions, this isn't any simpler than just 53running ``python setup.py install``\ ---but for non-pure distributions, which 54include extensions that would need to be compiled, it can mean the difference 55between someone being able to use your extensions or not. And creating "smart" 56built distributions, such as an RPM package or an executable installer for 57Windows, is far more convenient for users even if your distribution doesn't 58include any extensions. 59 60The :command:`bdist` command has a :option:`!--formats` option, similar to the 61:command:`sdist` command, which you can use to select the types of built 62distribution to generate: for example, :: 63 64 python setup.py bdist --format=zip 65 66would, when run on a Unix system, create :file:`Distutils-1.0.{plat}.zip`\ 67---again, this archive would be unpacked from the root directory to install the 68Distutils. 69 70The available formats for built distributions are: 71 72+-------------+------------------------------+---------+ 73| Format | Description | Notes | 74+=============+==============================+=========+ 75| ``gztar`` | gzipped tar file | (1),(3) | 76| | (:file:`.tar.gz`) | | 77+-------------+------------------------------+---------+ 78| ``ztar`` | compressed tar file | \(3) | 79| | (:file:`.tar.Z`) | | 80+-------------+------------------------------+---------+ 81| ``tar`` | tar file (:file:`.tar`) | \(3) | 82+-------------+------------------------------+---------+ 83| ``zip`` | zip file (:file:`.zip`) | (2),(4) | 84+-------------+------------------------------+---------+ 85| ``rpm`` | RPM | \(5) | 86+-------------+------------------------------+---------+ 87| ``pkgtool`` | Solaris :program:`pkgtool` | | 88+-------------+------------------------------+---------+ 89| ``sdux`` | HP-UX :program:`swinstall` | | 90+-------------+------------------------------+---------+ 91| ``wininst`` | self-extracting ZIP file for | \(4) | 92| | Windows | | 93+-------------+------------------------------+---------+ 94| ``msi`` | Microsoft Installer. | | 95+-------------+------------------------------+---------+ 96 97 98Notes: 99 100(1) 101 default on Unix 102 103(2) 104 default on Windows 105 106(3) 107 requires external utilities: :program:`tar` and possibly one of :program:`gzip`, 108 :program:`bzip2`, or :program:`compress` 109 110(4) 111 requires either external :program:`zip` utility or :mod:`zipfile` module (part 112 of the standard Python library since Python 1.6) 113 114(5) 115 requires external :program:`rpm` utility, version 3.0.4 or better (use ``rpm 116 --version`` to find out which version you have) 117 118You don't have to use the :command:`bdist` command with the :option:`!--formats` 119option; you can also use the command that directly implements the format you're 120interested in. Some of these :command:`bdist` "sub-commands" actually generate 121several similar formats; for instance, the :command:`bdist_dumb` command 122generates all the "dumb" archive formats (``tar``, ``ztar``, ``gztar``, and 123``zip``), and :command:`bdist_rpm` generates both binary and source RPMs. The 124:command:`bdist` sub-commands, and the formats generated by each, are: 125 126+--------------------------+-----------------------+ 127| Command | Formats | 128+==========================+=======================+ 129| :command:`bdist_dumb` | tar, ztar, gztar, zip | 130+--------------------------+-----------------------+ 131| :command:`bdist_rpm` | rpm, srpm | 132+--------------------------+-----------------------+ 133| :command:`bdist_wininst` | wininst | 134+--------------------------+-----------------------+ 135| :command:`bdist_msi` | msi | 136+--------------------------+-----------------------+ 137 138The following sections give details on the individual :command:`bdist_\*` 139commands. 140 141 142.. _creating-dumb: 143 144Creating dumb built distributions 145================================= 146 147.. XXX Need to document absolute vs. prefix-relative packages here, but first 148 I have to implement it! 149 150 151.. _creating-rpms: 152 153Creating RPM packages 154===================== 155 156The RPM format is used by many popular Linux distributions, including Red Hat, 157SuSE, and Mandrake. If one of these (or any of the other RPM-based Linux 158distributions) is your usual environment, creating RPM packages for other users 159of that same distribution is trivial. Depending on the complexity of your module 160distribution and differences between Linux distributions, you may also be able 161to create RPMs that work on different RPM-based distributions. 162 163The usual way to create an RPM of your module distribution is to run the 164:command:`bdist_rpm` command:: 165 166 python setup.py bdist_rpm 167 168or the :command:`bdist` command with the :option:`!--format` option:: 169 170 python setup.py bdist --formats=rpm 171 172The former allows you to specify RPM-specific options; the latter allows you to 173easily specify multiple formats in one run. If you need to do both, you can 174explicitly specify multiple :command:`bdist_\*` commands and their options:: 175 176 python setup.py bdist_rpm --packager="John Doe <jdoe@example.org>" \ 177 bdist_wininst --target-version="2.0" 178 179Creating RPM packages is driven by a :file:`.spec` file, much as using the 180Distutils is driven by the setup script. To make your life easier, the 181:command:`bdist_rpm` command normally creates a :file:`.spec` file based on the 182information you supply in the setup script, on the command line, and in any 183Distutils configuration files. Various options and sections in the 184:file:`.spec` file are derived from options in the setup script as follows: 185 186+------------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------+ 187| RPM :file:`.spec` file option or section | Distutils setup script option | 188+==========================================+==============================================+ 189| Name | ``name`` | 190+------------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------+ 191| Summary (in preamble) | ``description`` | 192+------------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------+ 193| Version | ``version`` | 194+------------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------+ 195| Vendor | ``author`` and ``author_email``, | 196| | or --- & ``maintainer`` and | 197| | ``maintainer_email`` | 198+------------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------+ 199| Copyright | ``license`` | 200+------------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------+ 201| Url | ``url`` | 202+------------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------+ 203| %description (section) | ``long_description`` | 204+------------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------+ 205 206Additionally, there are many options in :file:`.spec` files that don't have 207corresponding options in the setup script. Most of these are handled through 208options to the :command:`bdist_rpm` command as follows: 209 210+-------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------+ 211| RPM :file:`.spec` file option | :command:`bdist_rpm` option | default value | 212| or section | | | 213+===============================+=============================+=========================+ 214| Release | ``release`` | "1" | 215+-------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------+ 216| Group | ``group`` | "Development/Libraries" | 217+-------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------+ 218| Vendor | ``vendor`` | (see above) | 219+-------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------+ 220| Packager | ``packager`` | (none) | 221+-------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------+ 222| Provides | ``provides`` | (none) | 223+-------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------+ 224| Requires | ``requires`` | (none) | 225+-------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------+ 226| Conflicts | ``conflicts`` | (none) | 227+-------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------+ 228| Obsoletes | ``obsoletes`` | (none) | 229+-------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------+ 230| Distribution | ``distribution_name`` | (none) | 231+-------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------+ 232| BuildRequires | ``build_requires`` | (none) | 233+-------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------+ 234| Icon | ``icon`` | (none) | 235+-------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------+ 236 237Obviously, supplying even a few of these options on the command-line would be 238tedious and error-prone, so it's usually best to put them in the setup 239configuration file, :file:`setup.cfg`\ ---see section :ref:`setup-config`. If 240you distribute or package many Python module distributions, you might want to 241put options that apply to all of them in your personal Distutils configuration 242file (:file:`~/.pydistutils.cfg`). If you want to temporarily disable 243this file, you can pass the --no-user-cfg option to setup.py. 244 245There are three steps to building a binary RPM package, all of which are 246handled automatically by the Distutils: 247 248#. create a :file:`.spec` file, which describes the package (analogous to the 249 Distutils setup script; in fact, much of the information in the setup script 250 winds up in the :file:`.spec` file) 251 252#. create the source RPM 253 254#. create the "binary" RPM (which may or may not contain binary code, depending 255 on whether your module distribution contains Python extensions) 256 257Normally, RPM bundles the last two steps together; when you use the Distutils, 258all three steps are typically bundled together. 259 260If you wish, you can separate these three steps. You can use the 261:option:`!--spec-only` option to make :command:`bdist_rpm` just create the 262:file:`.spec` file and exit; in this case, the :file:`.spec` file will be 263written to the "distribution directory"---normally :file:`dist/`, but 264customizable with the :option:`!--dist-dir` option. (Normally, the :file:`.spec` 265file winds up deep in the "build tree," in a temporary directory created by 266:command:`bdist_rpm`.) 267 268.. % \XXX{this isn't implemented yet---is it needed?!} 269.. % You can also specify a custom \file{.spec} file with the 270.. % \longprogramopt{spec-file} option; used in conjunction with 271.. % \longprogramopt{spec-only}, this gives you an opportunity to customize 272.. % the \file{.spec} file manually: 273.. % 274.. % \ begin{verbatim} 275.. % > python setup.py bdist_rpm --spec-only 276.. % # ...edit dist/FooBar-1.0.spec 277.. % > python setup.py bdist_rpm --spec-file=dist/FooBar-1.0.spec 278.. % \ end{verbatim} 279.. % 280.. % (Although a better way to do this is probably to override the standard 281.. % \command{bdist\_rpm} command with one that writes whatever else you want 282.. % to the \file{.spec} file.) 283 284 285.. _creating-wininst: 286 287Creating Windows Installers 288=========================== 289 290Executable installers are the natural format for binary distributions on 291Windows. They display a nice graphical user interface, display some information 292about the module distribution to be installed taken from the metadata in the 293setup script, let the user select a few options, and start or cancel the 294installation. 295 296Since the metadata is taken from the setup script, creating Windows installers 297is usually as easy as running:: 298 299 python setup.py bdist_wininst 300 301or the :command:`bdist` command with the :option:`!--formats` option:: 302 303 python setup.py bdist --formats=wininst 304 305If you have a pure module distribution (only containing pure Python modules and 306packages), the resulting installer will be version independent and have a name 307like :file:`foo-1.0.win32.exe`. These installers can even be created on Unix 308platforms or Mac OS X. 309 310If you have a non-pure distribution, the extensions can only be created on a 311Windows platform, and will be Python version dependent. The installer filename 312will reflect this and now has the form :file:`foo-1.0.win32-py2.0.exe`. You 313have to create a separate installer for every Python version you want to 314support. 315 316The installer will try to compile pure modules into :term:`bytecode` after installation 317on the target system in normal and optimizing mode. If you don't want this to 318happen for some reason, you can run the :command:`bdist_wininst` command with 319the :option:`!--no-target-compile` and/or the :option:`!--no-target-optimize` 320option. 321 322By default the installer will display the cool "Python Powered" logo when it is 323run, but you can also supply your own 152x261 bitmap which must be a Windows 324:file:`.bmp` file with the :option:`!--bitmap` option. 325 326The installer will also display a large title on the desktop background window 327when it is run, which is constructed from the name of your distribution and the 328version number. This can be changed to another text by using the 329:option:`!--title` option. 330 331The installer file will be written to the "distribution directory" --- normally 332:file:`dist/`, but customizable with the :option:`!--dist-dir` option. 333 334.. _cross-compile-windows: 335 336Cross-compiling on Windows 337========================== 338 339Starting with Python 2.6, distutils is capable of cross-compiling between 340Windows platforms. In practice, this means that with the correct tools 341installed, you can use a 32bit version of Windows to create 64bit extensions 342and vice-versa. 343 344To build for an alternate platform, specify the :option:`!--plat-name` option 345to the build command. Valid values are currently 'win32', 'win-amd64' and 346'win-ia64'. For example, on a 32bit version of Windows, you could execute:: 347 348 python setup.py build --plat-name=win-amd64 349 350to build a 64bit version of your extension. The Windows Installers also 351support this option, so the command:: 352 353 python setup.py build --plat-name=win-amd64 bdist_wininst 354 355would create a 64bit installation executable on your 32bit version of Windows. 356 357To cross-compile, you must download the Python source code and cross-compile 358Python itself for the platform you are targeting - it is not possible from a 359binary installation of Python (as the .lib etc file for other platforms are 360not included.) In practice, this means the user of a 32 bit operating 361system will need to use Visual Studio 2008 to open the 362:file:`PCBuild/PCbuild.sln` solution in the Python source tree and build the 363"x64" configuration of the 'pythoncore' project before cross-compiling 364extensions is possible. 365 366Note that by default, Visual Studio 2008 does not install 64bit compilers or 367tools. You may need to reexecute the Visual Studio setup process and select 368these tools (using Control Panel->[Add/Remove] Programs is a convenient way to 369check or modify your existing install.) 370 371.. _postinstallation-script: 372 373The Postinstallation script 374--------------------------- 375 376Starting with Python 2.3, a postinstallation script can be specified with the 377:option:`!--install-script` option. The basename of the script must be 378specified, and the script filename must also be listed in the scripts argument 379to the setup function. 380 381This script will be run at installation time on the target system after all the 382files have been copied, with ``argv[1]`` set to :option:`!-install`, and again at 383uninstallation time before the files are removed with ``argv[1]`` set to 384:option:`!-remove`. 385 386The installation script runs embedded in the windows installer, every output 387(``sys.stdout``, ``sys.stderr``) is redirected into a buffer and will be 388displayed in the GUI after the script has finished. 389 390Some functions especially useful in this context are available as additional 391built-in functions in the installation script. 392 393 394.. function:: directory_created(path) 395 file_created(path) 396 397 These functions should be called when a directory or file is created by the 398 postinstall script at installation time. It will register *path* with the 399 uninstaller, so that it will be removed when the distribution is uninstalled. 400 To be safe, directories are only removed if they are empty. 401 402 403.. function:: get_special_folder_path(csidl_string) 404 405 This function can be used to retrieve special folder locations on Windows like 406 the Start Menu or the Desktop. It returns the full path to the folder. 407 *csidl_string* must be one of the following strings:: 408 409 "CSIDL_APPDATA" 410 411 "CSIDL_COMMON_STARTMENU" 412 "CSIDL_STARTMENU" 413 414 "CSIDL_COMMON_DESKTOPDIRECTORY" 415 "CSIDL_DESKTOPDIRECTORY" 416 417 "CSIDL_COMMON_STARTUP" 418 "CSIDL_STARTUP" 419 420 "CSIDL_COMMON_PROGRAMS" 421 "CSIDL_PROGRAMS" 422 423 "CSIDL_FONTS" 424 425 If the folder cannot be retrieved, :exc:`OSError` is raised. 426 427 Which folders are available depends on the exact Windows version, and probably 428 also the configuration. For details refer to Microsoft's documentation of the 429 :c:func:`SHGetSpecialFolderPath` function. 430 431 432.. function:: create_shortcut(target, description, filename[, arguments[, workdir[, iconpath[, iconindex]]]]) 433 434 This function creates a shortcut. *target* is the path to the program to be 435 started by the shortcut. *description* is the description of the shortcut. 436 *filename* is the title of the shortcut that the user will see. *arguments* 437 specifies the command line arguments, if any. *workdir* is the working directory 438 for the program. *iconpath* is the file containing the icon for the shortcut, 439 and *iconindex* is the index of the icon in the file *iconpath*. Again, for 440 details consult the Microsoft documentation for the :class:`IShellLink` 441 interface. 442 443 444Vista User Access Control (UAC) 445=============================== 446 447Starting with Python 2.6, bdist_wininst supports a :option:`!--user-access-control` 448option. The default is 'none' (meaning no UAC handling is done), and other 449valid values are 'auto' (meaning prompt for UAC elevation if Python was 450installed for all users) and 'force' (meaning always prompt for elevation). 451