Building a Python Mac OS X distribution
=======================================
The ``build-install.py`` script creates Python distributions, including
certain third-party libraries as necessary. It builds a complete
framework-based Python out-of-tree, installs it in a funny place with
$DESTROOT, massages that installation to remove .pyc files and such, creates
an Installer package from the installation plus other files in ``resources``
and ``scripts`` and placed that on a ``.dmg`` disk image.
For Python 3.4.0, PSF practice is to build two installer variants
for each release.
1. 32-bit-only, i386 and PPC universal, capable on running on all machines
supported by Mac OS X 10.5 through (at least) 10.9::
/path/to/bootstrap/python2.7 build-installer.py \
--sdk-path=/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.5.sdk \
--universal-archs=32-bit \
--dep-target=10.5
- builds the following third-party libraries
* NCurses 5.9 (http://bugs.python.org/issue15037)
* SQLite 3.8.11
* XZ 5.0.5
- uses system-supplied versions of third-party libraries
* readline module links with Apple BSD editline (libedit)
- requires ActiveState ``Tcl/Tk 8.4`` (currently 8.4.20) to be installed for building
- recommended build environment:
* Mac OS X 10.5.8 Intel or PPC
* Xcode 3.1.4
* ``MacOSX10.5`` SDK
* ``MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=10.5``
* Apple ``gcc-4.2``
* bootstrap non-framework Python 2.7 for documentation build with
Sphinx (as of 3.4.1)
- alternate build environments:
* Mac OS X 10.6.8 with Xcode 3.2.6
- need to change ``/System/Library/Frameworks/{Tcl,Tk}.framework/Version/Current`` to ``8.4``
* Note Xcode 4.* does not support building for PPC so cannot be used for this build
2. 64-bit / 32-bit, x86_64 and i386 universal, for OS X 10.6 (and later)::
/path/to/bootstrap/python2.7 build-installer.py \
--sdk-path=/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.6.sdk \
--universal-archs=intel \
--dep-target=10.6
- builds the following third-party libraries
* NCurses 5.9 (http://bugs.python.org/issue15037)
* SQLite 3.8.11
* XZ 5.0.5
- uses system-supplied versions of third-party libraries
* readline module links with Apple BSD editline (libedit)
- requires ActiveState Tcl/Tk 8.5.15.1 (or later) to be installed for building
- recommended build environment:
* Mac OS X 10.6.8 (or later)
* Xcode 3.2.6
* ``MacOSX10.6`` SDK
* ``MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=10.6``
* Apple ``gcc-4.2``
* bootstrap non-framework Python 2.7 for documentation build with
Sphinx (as of 3.4.1)
- alternate build environments:
* none. Xcode 4.x currently supplies two C compilers.
``llvm-gcc-4.2.1`` has been found to miscompile Python 3.3.x and
produce a non-functional Python executable. As it appears to be
considered a migration aid by Apple and is not likely to be fixed,
its use should be avoided. The other compiler, ``clang``, has been
undergoing rapid development. While it appears to have become
production-ready in the most recent Xcode 5 releases, the versions
available on the deprecated Xcode 4.x for 10.6 were early releases
and did not receive the level of exposure in production environments
that the Xcode 3 gcc-4.2 compiler has had.
* For Python 2.7.x and 3.2.x, the 32-bit-only installer was configured to
support Mac OS X 10.3.9 through (at least) 10.6. Because it is
believed that there are few systems still running OS X 10.3 or 10.4
and because it has become increasingly difficult to test and
support the differences in these earlier systems, as of Python 3.3.0 the PSF
32-bit installer no longer supports them. For reference in building such
an installer yourself, the details are::
/usr/bin/python build-installer.py \
--sdk-path=/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.4u.sdk \
--universal-archs=32-bit \
--dep-target=10.3
- builds the following third-party libraries
* Bzip2
* NCurses
* GNU Readline (GPL)
* SQLite 3
* XZ
* Zlib 1.2.3
* Oracle Sleepycat DB 4.8 (Python 2.x only)
- requires ActiveState ``Tcl/Tk 8.4`` (currently 8.4.20) to be installed for building
- recommended build environment:
* Mac OS X 10.5.8 PPC or Intel
* Xcode 3.1.4 (or later)
* ``MacOSX10.4u`` SDK (later SDKs do not support PPC G3 processors)
* ``MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=10.3``
* Apple ``gcc-4.0``
* system Python 2.5 for documentation build with Sphinx
- alternate build environments:
* Mac OS X 10.6.8 with Xcode 3.2.6
- need to change ``/System/Library/Frameworks/{Tcl,Tk}.framework/Version/Current`` to ``8.4``
General Prerequisites
---------------------
* No Fink (in ``/sw``) or MacPorts (in ``/opt/local``) or other local
libraries or utilities (in ``/usr/local``) as they could
interfere with the build.
* The documentation for the release is built using Sphinx
because it is included in the installer. For 2.7.x and 3.x.x up to and
including 3.4.0, the ``Doc/Makefile`` uses ``svn`` to download repos of
``Sphinx`` and its dependencies. Beginning with 3.4.1, the ``Doc/Makefile``
assumes there is an externally-provided ``sphinx-build`` and requires at
least Python 2.6 to run. Because of this, it is no longer possible to
build a 3.4.1 or later installer on OS X 10.5 using the Apple-supplied
Python 2.5.
* It is safest to start each variant build with an empty source directory
populated with a fresh copy of the untarred source.
* It is recommended that you remove any existing installed version of the
Python being built::
sudo rm -rf /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/n.n
The Recipe
----------
Here are the steps you need to follow to build a Python installer:
* Run ``build-installer.py``. Optionally you can pass a number of arguments
to specify locations of various files. Please see the top of
``build-installer.py`` for its usage.
Running this script takes some time, it will not only build Python itself
but also some 3th-party libraries that are needed for extensions.
* When done the script will tell you where the DMG image is (by default
somewhere in ``/tmp/_py``).
Building other universal installers
...................................
It is also possible to build a 4-way universal installer that runs on
OS X 10.5 Leopard or later::
/usr/bin/python /build-installer.py \
--dep-target=10.5
--universal-archs=all
--sdk-path=/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.5.sdk
This requires that the deployment target is 10.5, and hence
also that you are building on at least OS X 10.5. 4-way includes
``i386``, ``x86_64``, ``ppc``, and ``ppc64`` (G5). ``ppc64`` executable
variants can only be run on G5 machines running 10.5. Note that,
while OS X 10.6 is only supported on Intel-based machines, it is possible
to run ``ppc`` (32-bit) executables unmodified thanks to the Rosetta ppc
emulation in OS X 10.5 and 10.6. The 4-way installer variant must be
built with Xcode 3. It is not regularly built or tested.
Other ``--universal-archs`` options are ``64-bit`` (``x86_64``, ``ppc64``),
and ``3-way`` (``ppc``, ``i386``, ``x86_64``). None of these options
are regularly exercised; use at your own risk.
Testing
-------
Ideally, the resulting binaries should be installed and the test suite run
on all supported OS X releases and architectures. As a practical matter,
that is generally not possible. At a minimum, variant 1 should be run on
a PPC G4 system with OS X 10.5 and at least one Intel system running OS X
10.9, 10.8, 10.7, 10.6, or 10.5. Variant 2 should be run on 10.9, 10.8,
10.7, and 10.6 systems in both 32-bit and 64-bit modes.::
/usr/local/bin/pythonn.n -m test -w -u all,-largefile
/usr/local/bin/pythonn.n-32 -m test -w -u all
Certain tests will be skipped and some cause the interpreter to fail
which will likely generate ``Python quit unexpectedly`` alert messages
to be generated at several points during a test run. These are normal
during testing and can be ignored.
It is also recommend to launch IDLE and verify that it is at least
functional. Double-click on the IDLE app icon in ``/Applications/Python n.n``.
It should also be tested from the command line::
/usr/local/bin/idlen.n
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