This is a simple "swiss-army" tool to facilitate installing Python programs on Linux systems. The following commands are presently implemented, each as an independent plugin.
The latest documentation and code is available at https://github.com/bulletmark/pinstall.
Type pinstall or pinstall -h to view the usage summary:
usage: pinstall [-h]
{project,pyenv,service,status,uv,uvenv,venv,version} ...
Installer/utility tool for Python programs.
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
Commands:
{project,pyenv,service,status,uv,uvenv,venv,version}
project Creates a bare-bones Python pyproject.toml file to
facilitate installation by pipx or pip.
pyenv Updates all pyenv python versions and creates links to
current major versions.
service Installs systemd services and corresponding timers.
status Reports systemctl status of services and timers
installed from the current directory.
uv Installs or updates the uv tool.
uvenv Creates a Python virtual environment using uv.
venv Creates a Python virtual environment using venv + pip.
version Reports this program's version.
Type pinstall <command> -h to see specific help/usage for any
individual command:
usage: pinstall project [-h] [-f REQUIREMENTS_FILE] [-o] [app]
Creates a bare-bones Python pyproject.toml file to facilitate
installation by pipx or pip.
Useful when you have an app.py and it's special package dependencies
specified in requirements.txt and want to install that app.py (as
command "app") using pipx or pip but don't have a pyproject.toml (or old
style setup.py). Run this command in the same directory as the files and
it will create a bare-bones ./pyproject.toml file. This will allow you
to install the app using `pipx install .`, or `pip install .` commands.
Will also parse PEP 723 dependencies from a script tag in the Python
file.
Your app.py must have a main() function to be called when the app is
run.
positional arguments:
app app[.py] or app/ package to create pyproject.toml for.
If not specified then looks for a single .py file in
current directory.
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-f REQUIREMENTS_FILE, --requirements-file REQUIREMENTS_FILE
default="requirements.txt"
-o, --overwrite overwrite existing pyproject.toml file
usage: pinstall pyenv [-h] [-l] [-p] [-m]
Updates all pyenv python versions and creates links to current major versions.
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-l, --list just list latest versions, do not update or purge
-p, --purge just purge old versions if later is installed
-m, --remove-major-symlinks
remove all symlinks to major versions
usage: pinstall service [-h] [-u] [-s] [-e] [-r] [units ...]
Installs systemd services and corresponding timers.
Substitutes template strings within each *.service file in the current
directory (and in any corresponding .timer file); installs the
substituted file[s] to the appropriate systemd system (or user) unit
configuration directory; then enables and starts the service (or the
timer).
Template strings can be any of the following:
HOME : Home directory path of the invoking user
USER : User name of invoking user
USERID : Numeric user ID of the invoking user
GROUPID : Numeric group ID of the invoking user
WORKDIR : Directory path of the service file
PROGDIR : Same as WORKDIR
BASENAME : Directory name of the service file
PROG : Stem name of the service file (i.e. "name" in "name.service")
PROGTITLE : Upper case PROG
Template strings are specified in .service and .timer files by wrapping
them in hash symbols. Installed copies of these source files have all
instances of template strings replaced by their value. E.g. #HOME#
gets replaced by the user's home directory path.
positional arguments:
units systemd service file[s]
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-u, --user install as user service
-s, --no-start do not start service[s]
-e, --no-enable do not enable service[s]
-r, --remove just uninstall and remove service[s]
usage: pinstall status [-h] [-u] [units ...]
Reports systemctl status of services and timers installed from the
current directory.
positional arguments:
units systemd service file[s]
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-u, --user report for user service
usage: pinstall uv [-h] [-r] [-p PREFIX] [-V]
Installs or updates the uv tool.
Read about uv at https://github.com/astral-sh/uv.
If run this as root/sudo, it installs to /usr/bin/uv otherwise it
installs as your user to $HOME/.local/bin/uv. Requires curl to be
installed.
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-r, --remove just remove any existing uv executable
-p PREFIX, --prefix PREFIX
install to /bin under given system prefix path
-V, --version just report version of installed uv executable
usage: pinstall uvenv [-h] [-d DIR] [-p PYTHON] [-u UV]
[-f REQUIREMENTS_FILE] [-r] [-i [PACKAGE ...]] [-R]
[args ...]
Creates a Python virtual environment using uv.
Runs `uv venv` to create a `.venv/` (optionally for the specified Python
name, or path) then installs all package dependencies from 1)
requirements.txt if present, or 2) from pyproject.toml if present.
[uv](https://github.com/astral-sh/uv) is a new Python installation tool
which is more efficient and **much** faster than `python -m venv` and
`pip`. You can use the `uvenv` command pretty much in place of `venv`
and it will work similarly. At the moment the `uvenv` command is
experimental but if the `uv` tool succeeds, `uvenv` will likely replace
`venv`.
positional arguments:
args optional arguments to `uv venv` command(add by
starting with "--"). See options in `uv venv -h`
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-d DIR, --dir DIR directory name to create, default=".venv"
-p PYTHON, --python PYTHON
python executable (or venv dir), default="python3"
-u UV, --uv UV path to uv executable, default="uv"
-f REQUIREMENTS_FILE, --requirements-file REQUIREMENTS_FILE
default="requirements.txt"
-r, --no-require don't pip install requirements/dependencies
-i [PACKAGE ...], --install [PACKAGE ...]
also install (1 or more) given packages
-R, --remove just remove any existing venv and finish
usage: pinstall venv [-h] [-d DIR] [-p PYTHON] [-f REQUIREMENTS_FILE] [-r]
[-u] [-i [PACKAGE ...]] [-w] [-W] [-R] [-v]
[args ...]
Creates a Python virtual environment using venv + pip.
Runs `python -m venv` to create a `.venv/` (optionally for the specified
Python name, or path); adds a .gitignore to it to be automatically
ignored by git; upgrades the venv with the latest pip + setuptools +
wheel; then installs all package dependencies from 1) requirements.txt
if present, or 2) from pyproject.toml if present.
positional arguments:
args optional arguments to python -m venv (add by starting
with "--"). See options in `python -m venv -h`
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-d DIR, --dir DIR directory name to create, default=".venv"
-p PYTHON, --python PYTHON
python executable (or venv dir), default="python3"
-f REQUIREMENTS_FILE, --requirements-file REQUIREMENTS_FILE
default="requirements.txt"
-r, --no-require don't pip install requirements/dependencies
-u, --no-upgrade don't upgrade pip/setuptools in venv
-i [PACKAGE ...], --install [PACKAGE ...]
also install (1 or more) given packages
-w, --without-pip don't install pip or requirements in venv (i.e. pass
--without-pip to python -m venv)
-W, --no-wheel don't install wheel in venv
-R, --remove just remove any existing venv and finish
-v, --verbose verbose pip install (can add multiple times to
increase verbosity)
usage: pinstall version [-h]
Reports this program's version.
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
Pyenv gives you the handy ability to
install multiple versions of Python. However, there is no easy/quick way
to update all those versions unless you update each manually. So
pinstall offers a pyenv command to do this. Just run pinstall pyenv
which will check your versions and update any which have a newer minor
version. E.g. if you have 3.7.3 installed and 3.7.4 is available then
pinstall pyenv will invoke pyenv to install 3.7.4. You can also run
pinstall pyenv -p to automatically purge any older/superceded
versions, i.e. to remove 3.7.3 in this example.
pinstall pyenv also does something else each time you run it. It
creates or updates major version links. E.g. after installing 3.7.4 as
in the above example, pinstall pyenv will also create a link in your
pyenv versions directory 3.7 -> 3.7.4. This allows you to create a
virtual environment in either of two ways:
-
pinstall venv -p ~/.pyenv/versions/3.7.4/bin/pythonwill create a virtual environment using 3.7.4 permanently, or: -
pinstall venv -p ~/.pyenv/versions/3.7/bin/pythonwill create a virtual environment using the link 3.7 which initially points to 3.7.4 but will automatically use 3.7.5 when/if the minor version gets updated (i.e. after you have done a laterpinstall pyenvto find and install a new 3.7.5). Note that python minor (i.e. maintenance) version updates are always backwards compatible.
uv is a new Python installation tool
which is more efficient and much faster than python -m venv and
pip. You can use the uvenv command pretty much in place of venv
and it will work similarly. At the moment the uvenv command is
experimental but if the uv tool succeeds, uvenv will likely replace
venv.
Arch Linux users can install pinstall from the AUR.
Python 3.8 or later is required and the sudo
program must be installed (to use the service command).
Note pinstall is on PyPI so just
ensure that pipx is installed then
type the following:
$ pipx install pinstall
To upgrade:
$ pipx upgrade pinstall
Command line shell tab
completion is
automatically enabled on pinstall commands and options using
argcomplete. You may need to
first (once-only) activate argcomplete global
completion.
Copyright (C) 2023 Mark Blakeney. This program is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License. This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or any later version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ for more details.