Python Modules in Unix Command Line Programs

Question

I wrote a python script that acts as a Unix command line argument (if it's saved in the working directory).

If I downloaded external modules to use in this script, would someone on the same network (who doesn't have this module installed on their computer) still be able to run the script from their computer? If not, how can I get around this?

Thanks in advance... Please let me know if there's anything I can clarify about my question.

Jason S · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-14 15:57:19Z

1

If you import third-party modules in your script, then whoever runs it needs to have those available.

The Python solution would be to make your script into a package that has a setup.py that specifies scripts and also requires your dependencies. When someone installs the package using python setup.py install or a package manager, it will put the script into a directory on the path, make it executable and adjust the shebang line for the local environment.

E.g.:

from setuptools import setup
setup(
    name='name',
    version='1.0.0',
    scripts=['myscript_filename'],
    install_requires=['other_module'],
)

Note that a different system, entry_points is now recommended over scripts but it requires a different format - see the docs.

edited Aug 14, 2014 at 15:57

answered Aug 14, 2014 at 15:51

Jason S

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2 Comments

andrejr Over a year ago

in 'other_module' do I just put the name of the external module used in the script?

Jason S Over a year ago

So for example if it depends on the requests library you would use install_requires=['requests'] You can also specify required versions - see the docs.

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