What PyInstaller Does and How It Does It

This section covers the basic ideas of PyInstaller. These ideas apply to all platforms. Options and special cases are covered below, under Using PyInstaller.

PyInstaller reads a Python script written by you. It analyzes your code to discover every other module and library your script needs in order to execute. Then it collects copies of all those files – including the active Python interpreter! – and puts them with your script in a single folder, or optionally in a single executable file.

For the great majority of programs, this can be done with one short command,

pyinstaller myscript.py

or with a few added options, for example a windowed application as a single-file executable,

pyinstaller --onefile --windowed myscript.py

You distribute the bundle as a folder or file to other people, and they can execute your program. To your users, the app is self-contained. They do not need to install any particular version of Python or any modules. They do not need to have Python installed at all.

Note

The output of PyInstaller is specific to the active operating system and the active version of Python. This means that to prepare a distribution for:

• a different OS

• a different version of Python

• a 32-bit or 64-bit OS

you run PyInstaller on that OS, under that version of Python. The Python interpreter that executes PyInstaller is part of the bundle, and it is specific to the OS and the word size.

Analysis: Finding the Files Your Program Needs

What other modules and libraries does your script need in order to run? (These are sometimes called its “dependencies”.)

To find out, PyInstaller finds all the import statements in your script. It finds the imported modules and looks in them for import statements, and so on recursively, until it has a complete list of modules your script may use.

PyInstaller understands the “egg” distribution format often used for Python packages. If your script imports a module from an “egg”, PyInstaller adds the egg and its dependencies to the set of needed files.

PyInstaller also knows about many major Python packages, including the GUI packages Qt (imported via PyQt or PySide), WxPython, TkInter, matplotlib, and other major packages. For a complete list, see Supported Packages.

Some Python scripts import modules in ways that PyInstaller cannot detect: for example, by using the __import__() function with variable data, using importlib.import_module(), or manipulating the sys.path value at run time. If your script requires files that PyInstaller does not know about, you must help it:

• You can give additional files on the pyinstaller command line.

• You can give additional import paths on the command line.

• You can edit the myscript.spec file that PyInstaller writes the first time you run it for your script. In the spec file you can tell PyInstaller about code modules that are unique to your script.

• You can write “hook” files that inform PyInstaller of hidden imports. If you create a “hook” for a package that other users might also use, you can contribute your hook file to PyInstaller.

If your program depends on access to certain data files, you can tell PyInstaller to include them in the bundle as well. You do this by modifying the spec file, an advanced topic that is covered under Using Spec Files.

In order to locate included files at run time, your program needs to be able to learn its path at run time in a way that works regardless of whether or not it is running from a bundle. This is covered under Run-time Information.

PyInstaller does not include libraries that should exist in any installation of this OS. For example in GNU/Linux, it does not bundle any file from /lib or /usr/lib, assuming these will be found in every system.

Bundling to One Folder

When you apply PyInstaller to myscript.py the default result is a single folder named myscript. This folder contains all your script’s dependencies, and an executable file also named myscript (myscript.exe in Windows).

You compress the folder to myscript.zip and transmit it to your users. They install the program simply by unzipping it. A user runs your app by opening the folder and launching the myscript executable inside it.

It is easy to debug problems that occur when building the app when you use one-folder mode. You can see exactly what files PyInstaller collected into the folder.

Another advantage of a one-folder bundle is that when you change your code, as long as it imports exactly the same set of dependencies, you could send out only the updated myscript executable. That is typically much smaller than the entire folder. (If you change the script so that it imports more or different dependencies, or if the dependencies are upgraded, you must redistribute the whole bundle.)

A small disadvantage of the one-folder format is that the one folder contains a large number of files. Your user must find the myscript executable in a long list of names or among a big array of icons. Also your user can create a problem by accidentally dragging files out of the folder.

How the One-Folder Program Works

A bundled program always starts execution in the PyInstaller bootloader. This is the heart of the myscript executable in the folder.

The PyInstaller bootloader is a binary executable program for the active platform (Windows, GNU/Linux, macOS, etc.). When the user launches your program, it is the bootloader that runs. The bootloader creates a temporary Python environment such that the Python interpreter will find all imported modules and libraries in the myscript folder.

The bootloader starts a copy of the Python interpreter to execute your script. Everything follows normally from there, provided that all the necessary support files were included.

(This is an overview. For more detail, see The Bootstrap Process in Detail below.)

Bundling to One File

PyInstaller can bundle your script and all its dependencies into a single executable named myscript (myscript.exe in Windows).

The advantage is that your users get something they understand, a single executable to launch. A disadvantage is that any related files such as a README must be distributed separately. Also, the single executable is a little slower to start up than the one-folder bundle.

Before you attempt to bundle to one file, make sure your app works correctly when bundled to one folder. It is is much easier to diagnose problems in one-folder mode.

How the One-File Program Works

The bootloader is the heart of the one-file bundle also. When started it creates a temporary folder in the appropriate temp-folder location for this OS. The folder is named _MEIxxxxxx, where xxxxxx is a random number.

The one executable file contains an embedded archive of all the Python modules used by your script, as well as compressed copies of any non-Python support files (e.g. .so files). The bootloader uncompresses the support files and writes copies into the the temporary folder. This can take a little time. That is why a one-file app is a little slower to start than a one-folder app.

Note

PyInstaller currently does not preserve file attributes. see #3926.

After creating the temporary folder, the bootloader proceeds exactly as for the one-folder bundle, in the context of the temporary folder. When the bundled code terminates, the bootloader deletes the temporary folder.

(In GNU/Linux and related systems, it is possible to mount the /tmp folder with a “no-execution” option. That option is not compatible with a PyInstaller one-file bundle. It needs to execute code out of /tmp. If you know the target environment, --runtime-tmpdir might be a workaround.)

Because the program makes a temporary folder with a unique name, you can run multiple copies of the app; they won’t interfere with each other. However, running multiple copies is expensive in disk space because nothing is shared.

The _MEIxxxxxx folder is not removed if the program crashes or is killed (kill -9 on Unix, killed by the Task Manager on Windows, “Force Quit” on macOS). Thus if your app crashes frequently, your users will lose disk space to multiple _MEIxxxxxx temporary folders.

It is possible to control the location of the _MEIxxxxxx folder by using the --runtime-tmpdir command line option. The specified path is stored in the executable, and the bootloader will create the _MEIxxxxxx folder inside of the specified folder. Please see Defining the Extraction Location for details.

Note

Do not give administrator privileges to a one-file executable on Windows (“Run this program as an administrator”). There is an unlikely but not impossible way in which a malicious attacker could corrupt one of the shared libraries in the temp folder while the bootloader is preparing it. When distributing a privileged program in general, ensure that file permissions prevent shared libraries or executables from being tampered with. Otherwise, an unelevated process which has write access to these files may escalate privileges by modifying them.

Note

Applications that use os.setuid() may encounter permissions errors. The temporary folder where the bundled app runs may not being readable after setuid is called. If your script needs to call setuid, it may be better to use one-folder mode so as to have more control over the permissions on its files.

Using a Console Window

By default the bootloader creates a command-line console (a terminal window in GNU/Linux and macOS, a command window in Windows). It gives this window to the Python interpreter for its standard input and output. Your script’s use of print and input() are directed here. Error messages from Python and default logging output also appear in the console window.

An option for Windows and macOS is to tell PyInstaller to not provide a console window. The bootloader starts Python with no target for standard output or input. Do this when your script has a graphical interface for user input and can properly report its own diagnostics.

As noted in the CPython tutorial Appendix, for Windows a file extension of .pyw suppresses the console window that normally appears. Likewise, a console window will not be provided when using a myscript.pyw script with PyInstaller.

Hiding the Source Code

The bundled app does not include any source code. However, PyInstaller bundles compiled Python scripts (.pyc files). These could in principle be decompiled to reveal the logic of your code.

If you want to hide your source code more thoroughly, one possible option is to compile some of your modules with Cython. Using Cython you can convert Python modules into C and compile the C to machine language. PyInstaller can follow import statements that refer to Cython C object modules and bundle them.