Is there a way to compile a python application into static binary?

Python Problem Overview

What I'm trying to do is ship my code to a remote server, that may have different python version installed and/or may not have packages my app requires.

Right now to achieve such portability I have to build relocatable virtualenv with interpreter and code. That approach has some issues (for example, you have to manually copy a bunch of libraries into your virtualenv, since --always-copy doesn't work as expected) and generally slow.

There's (in theory) a way to build python itself statically.

I wonder if I could pack interpreter with my code into one binary and run my application as module. Something like that: ./mypython -m myapp run or ./mypython -m gunicorn -c ./gunicorn.conf myapp.wsgi:application.

Python Solutions

Solution 1 - Python

There are two ways you could go about to solve your problem

Use a static builder, like freeze, or pyinstaller, or py2exe
Compile using cython

This answer explains how you can go about doing it using the second approach, since the first method is not cross platform and version, and has been explained in other answers. Also, using programs like pyinstaller typically results in huge file sizes, while using cython will result in a file that's much smaller

First, install cython.
```
sudo -H pip3 install cython
```
Then, you can use cython to generate a C file out of the Python .py file (in reference to https://stackoverflow.com/a/22040484/5714445)
```
cython example_file.py --embed
```

Use GCC to compile it after getting your current python version (Note: The below assumes you are trying to compile it to Python3)

PYTHONLIBVER=python$(python3 -c 'import sys; print(".".join(map(str, sys.version_info[:2])))')$(python3-config --abiflags)
gcc -Os $(python3-config --includes) example_file.c -o output_bin_file $(python3-config --ldflags) -l$PYTHONLIBVER

You will now have a binary file output_bin_file, which is what you are looking for

Other things to note:

Change example_file.py to whatever file you are actually trying to compile.
Cython is used to use C-Type Variable definitions for static memory allocation to speed up Python programs. In your case however, you will still be using traditional Python definitions.
If you are using additional libraries (like opencv, for example), you might have to provide the directory to them using -L and then specify the name of the library using -l in the GCC Flags. For more information on this, please refer to GCC flags
The above method might not work for anaconda python, as you will likely have to install a version of gcc that is compatible with your conda-python.

Solution 2 - Python

You might wish to investigate Nuitka. It takes python source code and converts it in to C++ API calls. Then it compiles into an executable binary (ELF on Linux). It has been around for a few years now and supports a wide range of Python versions.

You will probably also get a performance improvement if you use it. Recommended.

Solution 3 - Python

You're probably looking for something like Freeze, which is able to compile your Python application with all its libraries into a static binary:

PyPi page of Freeze

Python Wiki page of Freeze

Sourceforge page of Freeze

Solution 4 - Python

If you are on a Mac you can use py2app to create a .app bundle, which starts your Django app when you double-click on it.

I described how to bundle Django and CherryPy into such a bundle at https://moosystems.com/articles/14-distribute-django-app-as-native-desktop-app-01.html

In the article I use pywebview to display your Django site in a local application window.

Solution 5 - Python

Freeze options:

However, your target server should have the environment you want -> you should be able to 'create' it. If it doesn't, you should build your software to match the environment.

I found this handy guide on how to install custom version of python to a virtualenv, assuming you have ssh access: https://stackoverflow.com/a/5507373/5616110

In virtualenv, you should be able to pip install anything and you shouldn't need to worry about sudo privileges. Of course, having those and access to package manager like apt makes everything a lot easier.

Content Type	Original Author	Original Content on Stackoverflow
Question	roboslone	View Question on Stackoverflow
Solution 1 - Python	R. S. Nikhil Krishna	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 2 - Python	Prakhar Agarwal	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 3 - Python	asc11	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 4 - Python	André Aulich	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 5 - Python	iScrE4m	View Answer on Stackoverflow