The Config File =============== All paths in the config file are relative to the directory where the config file is located, unless noted otherwise. Application section ------------------- .. describe:: name The user-readable name of your application. This will be used for various display purposes in the installer, and for shortcuts and the folder in 'Program Files'. .. describe:: version The version number of your application. .. describe:: entry_point The function to launch your application, in the format ``module:function``. Dots are allowed in the module part. pynsist will create a script like this, plus some boilerplate:: from module import function function() .. describe:: script (optional) Path to the Python script which launches your application, as an alternative to ``entry_point``. Ensure that this boilerplate code is at the top of your script:: #!python3.3 import sys sys.path.insert(0, 'pkgs') The first line tells it which version of Python to run with. If you use binary packages, packages compiled for Python 3.3 won't work with Python 3.4. The other lines make sure it can find the packages installed along with your application. .. describe:: target (optional) parameters (optional) Lower level definition of a shortcut, to create start menu entries for help pages or other non-Python entry points. You shouldn't normally use this for Python entry points. .. note:: Either ``entry_point``, ``script`` or ``target`` must be specified, but not more than one. Specifying ``entry_point`` is normally easiest and most reliable. .. describe:: icon (optional) Path to a ``.ico`` file to be used for shortcuts to your application. Pynsist has a default generic icon, but you probably want to replace it. .. describe:: console (optional) If ``true``, shortcuts will be created using the ``py`` launcher, which opens a console for the process. If ``false``, or not specified, they will use the ``pyw`` launcher, which doesn't create a console. .. describe:: extra_preamble (optional) Path to a file containing extra Python commands to be run before your code is launched, for example to set environment variables needed by pygtk. This is only valid if you use ``entry_point`` to specify how to launch your application. If you use the Python API, this parameter can also be passed as a file-like object, such as :class:`io.StringIO`. .. _shortcut_config: Shortcut sections ----------------- One shortcut will always be generated for the application. You can add extra shortcuts by defining sections titled :samp:`Shortcut {Name}`. For example: .. code-block:: ini [Shortcut IPython Notebook] entry_point=IPython.html.notebookapp:launch_new_instance icon=scripts/ipython_nb.ico console=true .. describe:: entry_point script (optional) icon (optional) console (optional) target (optional) parameters (optional) extra_preamble (optional) These options all work the same way as in the Application section. .. versionadded:: 0.2 .. _cfg_python: Python section -------------- .. describe:: version The Python version to download and bundle with your application, e.g. ``3.4.3``. Python 3.3 or later and 2.7 are supported. .. describe:: bitness (optional) ``32`` or ``64``, to use 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) Python. On Windows, this defaults to the version you're using, so that compiled modules will match. On other platforms, it defaults to 32-bit. .. describe:: format (optional) - ``installer`` includes a copy of the Python MSI installer in your application and runs it at install time, setting up Python systemwide. This is the default for now. - ``bundled`` includes an embeddable Python build, which will be installed as part of your application. This is available for Python 3.5 and above. .. _python_bundled: Bundled Python ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .. versionadded:: 1.6 Experimental support for bundling Python into the application. Using ``format = bundled``, an embeddable Python build will be downloaded at build time and packaged along with the application. When the installer runs, it will create a ``Python`` subfolder inside the install directory with the files Python needs to run. This has the advantage of producing smaller, quicker installers (~7.5 MB for a trivial application), and more standalone installations. But it has a number of limitations: - This option is only available for Python 3.5 and above. These versions of Python have dropped support for Windows XP, so your application will only work on Windows Vista and newer. - Installing in Windows Vista to 8.1 (inclusive) may need an internet connection to download the necessary `Visual C++ runtime `__. This isn't needed on Windows 10, which includes the necessary files. - The embeddable Python builds don't include ``tkinter``, to save space. Applications with a tkinter GUI can't easily use bundled Python. Workarounds may be found in the future. - The user cannot easily install extra Python packages in the application's Python. If your application has plugins based on Python packages, this might require extra thought about how and where plugins are installed. Include section --------------- To write these lists, put each value on a new line, with more indentation than the line with the key: .. code-block:: ini key=value1 value2 value3 .. describe:: packages (optional) A list of importable package and module names to include in the installer. Specify only top-level packages, i.e. without a ``.`` in the name. .. describe:: files (optional) Extra files or directories to be installed with your application. You can optionally add ``> destination`` after each file to install it somewhere other than the installation directory. The destination can be: * An absolute path on the target system, e.g. ``C:\\`` (but this is not usually desirable). * A path starting with ``$INSTDIR``, the specified installation directory. * A path starting with any of the `constants NSIS provides `_, e.g. ``$SYSDIR``. The destination can also include ``${PRODUCT_NAME}``, which will be expanded to the name of your application. For instance, to put a data file in the (32 bit) common files directory: .. code-block:: ini [Include] files=mydata.dat > $COMMONFILES .. describe:: exclude (optional) Files to be excluded from your installer. This can be used to include a Python library or extra directory only partially, for example to include large monolithic python packages without their samples and test suites to achieve a smaller installer file. Please note: * The parameter is expected to contain a list of files *relative to the build directory*. Therefore, to include files from a package, you have to start your pattern with ``pkgs//``. * You can use `wildcard characters`_ like ``*`` or ``?``, similar to a Unix shell. * If you want to exclude whole subfolders, do *not* put a path separator (e.g. ``/``) at their end. * The exclude patterns are only applied to packages and to directories specified using the ``files`` option. If your ``exclude`` option directly contradicts your ``files`` or ``packages`` option, the files in question will be included (you can not exclude a full package/extra directory or a single file listed in ``files``). Example: .. code-block:: ini [Include] packages=PySide files=data_dir exclude=pkgs/PySide/examples data_dir/ignoredfile Build section ------------- .. describe:: directory (optional) The build directory. Defaults to ``build/nsis/``. .. describe:: installer_name (optional) The filename of the installer, relative to the build directory. The default is made from your application name and version. .. describe:: nsi_template (optional) The path of a template .nsi file to specify further details of the installer. The default template is `part of pynsist `_. This is an advanced option, and if you specify a custom template, you may well have to update it to work with future releases of Pynsist. See the `NSIS Scripting Reference `_ for details of the NSIS language, and the Jinja2 `Template Designer Docs `_ for details of the template format. Pynsist uses templates with square brackets (``[]``) instead of Jinja's default curly braces (``{}``). .. _wildcard characters: https://docs.python.org/3/library/fnmatch.html