How to deploy Python to Windows users?

Question

I'm soon to launch a beta app and this have the option to create custom integration scripts on Python .

The app will target Mac OS X and Windows, and my problem is with Windows where Python normally is not present.

My actual aproach is silently run the Python 2.6 install. However I face the problem that is not activated by default and the path is not set when use the command line options . And I fear that if Python is installed before and I upgrade to a new version this could break something else...

So, I wonder how this can be done cleanly. Is it OK if I copy the whole Python 2.6 directory, and put it in a sub-directory of my app and install everything there? Or with virtualenv is posible run diferents versions of Python (if Python is already installed in the machine?).

I also play before embedding Python with a DLL, and found it easy but I lost the ability to debug, so I switch to command-line plug-ins.

I execute the plug-ins from command line and read the STDOUT and STDERR output. The app is made with Delphi/Lazarus. I install others modules like JSON and RPC clients, Win32com, ORM, etc. I create the installer with bitrock .

UPDATE: The end-users are small business owners, and the Python scripts are made by developers. I want to avoid any additional step in the deployment, so I want a fully integrated setup.

Answer 1

Copy a Portable Python folder out of your installer, into the same folder as your Delphi/Lazarus app. Set all paths appropriately for that.

Answer 2

You might try using py2exe . It creates a .exe file with Python already included!

Answer 3

Integrate the python interpreter into your Delphi app with P4D . These components actually work, and in both directions too (Delphi classes exposed to Python as binary extensions, and Python interpreter inside Delphi). I also saw a patch for Lazarus compatibility on the Google Code "issues" page, but it seems there might be some unresolved issues there.

Answer 4

I think there's no problem combining .EXE packaging with a tool like PyInstaller or py2exe and Python-written plugins. The created .EXE can easily detect where it's installed and the code inside can then simply import files from some pre-determined plugin directory. Don't forget that once you package a Python script into an executable, it also packages the Python interpreter inside, so there you have it - a full Python environment customized with your own code.