/Doc/distutils/builtdist.rst

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