python

To help you build and distribute your Python packges, Python provides distutils. This library knows how to bring together your modules, where to put scripts and how to compile C extensions. The process is driven by a setup.py file, written by the package author or maintainer. Depending on what argument is passed, setup.py can install the package, build an archive or build an installer. To create a Windows installer for a module called wibble.py proceeed as follows.

Create a setup.py file in the same directory as your existing module(s), describing what is to be installed:

from distutils.core import setup
setup(name='Wibble',
      version='1.0',
      description='A utility to deal with underpants and pencils.',
      author='Fred Bloggs',
      author_email='fbloggs@example.org',
      py_modules=['wibble'], # Add more modules as desired
      )

Run the following command:

python setup.py bdist_wininst

This will generate wibble-1.0.win32.exe, which can install Wibble on any Windows PC already having a version of Python. As a bonus the bdist_wininst command doesn’t itself require Windows, so you can create the installer on Linux or Mac OS.