How to use setuptools to install in a custom directory?

Question

I have a Python package that I need to install in the /usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages or any other specific directory for that matter.

Whenever I run the setup.py script it gives the following output:

root@abc44:~/som_dir/plugins/abc$python setup.py install
running install
running bdist_egg
running egg_info
writing abcNewPlugin.egg-info/PKG-INFO
writing top-level names to abcNewPlugin.egg-info/top_level.txt
writing dependency_links to abcNewPlugin.egg-info/dependency_links.txt
writing entry points to abcNewPlugin.egg-info/entry_points.txt
reading manifest file 'abcNewPlugin.egg-info/SOURCES.txt'
writing manifest file 'abcNewPlugin.egg-info/SOURCES.txt'
installing library code to build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg
running install_lib
warning: install_lib: 'build/lib.linux-x86_64-2.7' does not exist -- no Python modules to install

creating build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg
creating build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg/EGG-INFO
installing scripts to build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg/EGG-INFO/scripts
running install_scripts
running build_scripts
creating build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg/EGG-INFO/scripts
copying build/scripts-2.7/abc_plugin.py -> build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg/EGG-INFO/scripts
changing mode of build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg/EGG-INFO/scripts/abc_plugin.py to 775
copying abcNewPlugin.egg-info/PKG-INFO -> build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg/EGG-INFO
copying abcNewPlugin.egg-info/SOURCES.txt -> build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg/EGG-INFO
copying abcNewPlugin.egg-info/dependency_links.txt -> build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg/EGG-INFO
copying abcNewPlugin.egg-info/entry_points.txt -> build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg/EGG-INFO
copying abcNewPlugin.egg-info/top_level.txt -> build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg/EGG-INFO
zip_safe flag not set; analyzing archive contents...
creating 'dist/abcNewPlugin-0.0-py2.7.egg' and adding 'build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg' to it
removing 'build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg' (and everything under it)
Processing abcNewPlugin-0.0-py2.7.egg
Removing /usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/abcNewPlugin-0.0-py2.7.egg
Copying abcNewPlugin-0.0-py2.7.egg to /usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages
abcNewPlugin 0.0 is already the active version in easy-install.pth
Installing abc_plugin.py script to /usr/local/bin

Installed /usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/abcNewPlugin-0.0-py2.7.egg
Processing dependencies for abcNewPlugin==0.0
Finished processing dependencies for abcNewPlugin==0.0

Is there any way to specify the install directory of the package in setuptools? I tried --install-dir option but it gives an error:

$sudo python setup.py install --install-dir=/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages
usage: setup.py [global_opts] cmd1 [cmd1_opts] [cmd2 [cmd2_opts] ...]
   or: setup.py --help [cmd1 cmd2 ...]
   or: setup.py --help-commands
   or: setup.py cmd --help

error: option --install-dir not recognized

I could not use --prefix option also.

famousgarkin · Accepted Answer · 2015-04-19T04:49:22.623

17

Since the python setup.py install command is just a shortcut to easy_install, try running it directly, it has the --install-dir option:

easy_install . --install-dir /usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages

You can get other available options with python setup.py install -h, in case you need some more, but these are rather cryptic.

edited Apr 19 '15 at 04:49

answered Jul 14 '14 at 21:31

famousgarkin

13,687
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14

On python3 (at least) the flag is now `--prefix` instead of `--install-dir` You can also target the **user site-package** ( '/home/user/.local/lib/python3.5/site-packages' ) by using `--user` – Nande May 17 '17 at 01:57

Jonathan · Answer 2 · 2017-09-10T21:39:55.287

12

--install-lib sets the installation directory for a module

python setup.py install --install-lib /src/lib/

edited Sep 10 '17 at 21:39

answered Sep 10 '17 at 20:25

Jonathan

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score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 18 '21 at 09:29

For some reason --prefix did not work for me. Currently using a Debian/buster system:

% python --version
Python 3.9.2

Doing a quick check:

% apt-get source python3-openslide
% cd openslide-python-1.1.2
% python setup.py install --prefix /tmp/foo
% find /tmp/foo
/tmp/foo
/tmp/foo/lib
/tmp/foo/lib/python3.9
/tmp/foo/lib/python3.9/site-packages
/tmp/foo/lib/python3.9/site-packages/openslide_python-1.1.2-py3.9-linux-x86_64.egg

instead in my case I had to :

% python setup.py install --root /tmp/bar
% find /tmp/bar
/tmp/bar
/tmp/bar/usr
/tmp/bar/usr/local
/tmp/bar/usr/local/lib
/tmp/bar/usr/local/lib/python3.9
/tmp/bar/usr/local/lib/python3.9/dist-packages
/tmp/bar/usr/local/lib/python3.9/dist-packages/openslide
/tmp/bar/usr/local/lib/python3.9/dist-packages/openslide/__init__.py
/tmp/bar/usr/local/lib/python3.9/dist-packages/openslide/deepzoom.py
/tmp/bar/usr/local/lib/python3.9/dist-packages/openslide/lowlevel.py
/tmp/bar/usr/local/lib/python3.9/dist-packages/openslide/_version.py
/tmp/bar/usr/local/lib/python3.9/dist-packages/openslide/__pycache__
/tmp/bar/usr/local/lib/python3.9/dist-packages/openslide/__pycache__/deepzoom.cpython-39.pyc
/tmp/bar/usr/local/lib/python3.9/dist-packages/openslide/__pycache__/__init__.cpython-39.pyc
/tmp/bar/usr/local/lib/python3.9/dist-packages/openslide/__pycache__/_version.cpython-39.pyc
/tmp/bar/usr/local/lib/python3.9/dist-packages/openslide/__pycache__/lowlevel.cpython-39.pyc
/tmp/bar/usr/local/lib/python3.9/dist-packages/openslide/_convert.cpython-39-x86_64-linux-gnu.so
/tmp/bar/usr/local/lib/python3.9/dist-packages/openslide_python-1.1.2.egg-info
/tmp/bar/usr/local/lib/python3.9/dist-packages/openslide_python-1.1.2.egg-info/PKG-INFO
/tmp/bar/usr/local/lib/python3.9/dist-packages/openslide_python-1.1.2.egg-info/top_level.txt
/tmp/bar/usr/local/lib/python3.9/dist-packages/openslide_python-1.1.2.egg-info/SOURCES.txt
/tmp/bar/usr/local/lib/python3.9/dist-packages/openslide_python-1.1.2.egg-info/dependency_links.txt
/tmp/bar/usr/local/lib/python3.9/dist-packages/openslide_python-1.1.2.egg-info/requires.txt
/tmp/bar/usr/local/lib/python3.9/dist-packages/openslide_python-1.1.2.egg-info/zip-safe

Hola Soy Edu Feliz Navidad · Answer 4 · 2021-11-18T22:27:53.080

3

try using --prefix, like python3 setup.py install --prefix $HOME/destination. Don't forget to update your PYTHONPATH variable

edited Nov 18 '21 at 22:27

answered Nov 12 '21 at 22:26

Hola Soy Edu Feliz Navidad

6,746
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38
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score 1 · Answer 5 · answered May 27 '22 at 09:41

1

I found that keys --root and --prefix complement each other.

python3 setup.py install --root /mydir --prefix subdir

locates all files of the module in /mydir/subdir directory.

answered May 27 '22 at 09:41

aralex

592
4
6

I have installed library (pyqt5 stubs) using this clue. I don't need this library anymore. Is it safety to simply delete corresponding build files in /mydir/subdir/lib/site-packages? If not, what is better way to uninstall it? – gpinigin Feb 04 '23 at 15:56

duanev · Answer 6 · 2023-05-11T18:53:28.487

1

None of the above work today (python 3.10.10 arch). What did is python setup.py build_ext and then set PYTHONPATH=build/lib.linux-x86_64-cpython-310.

Let's hope that when the extension build tools finally settle down there will be a simple python some.py install --prefix ../test for developers.

edited May 11 '23 at 18:53

answered May 11 '23 at 18:45

duanev

936
13
17

How to use setuptools to install in a custom directory?

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