install() got an unexpected keyword argument 'root_prefix'

[alessioarena]

I'm trying to build my first distribution using conda constructor, but I'm having issues adding the menu items of a package I developed.

When installing I get the following error

I tried to debug it but I am failing to understand where to look at.
It seems that line 130 in _nsis.py is calling menuinst.install. I then checked the installed version of menuinst as part of the deployment, and this is the last version available (1.4.18) and the install function indeed has a root_prefix keyword.

I also checked every other conda environment I have installed in my development machine and they all have the latest menuinst version.

So, then the questions are:

• How should I exactly reproduce that menu creation step after the installation?
• Is constructor somehow using an embedded version of menuinst? Is this out of date?

[alessioarena]

Digging around it looks like conda constructor is creating a temporary environment to perform the installation, and this uses menuinst 1.4.17 (hence the issue).
I achieved this by changing the _nsis.py to print the version and location of menuinst just before failure.

In Windows this environment is stored in C:/Users/xxx/AppData/Local/Temp/_MEI with 6 digits at the end.
Unfortunately this is deleted automatically and cannot be inspected.

I had a look around in the source code of constructor and cannot find where this is created. I also cannot see any environment file that may be used.
How can you control the specifications for this environment?

[ericpre]

This is most likely because a new build of conda-standalone is required - WIP in conda-forge/conda-standalone-feedstock#24.
In the mean time, you have two possible workarounds:

• use constructor 3.2.1
• disable creating start menu during installation and install the menu after the distribution is installed.

[alessioarena]

Thanks for this. I downgraded to version 3.2.1 and it worked.

I was keen to tackle option 2, but I found the documentation being insufficient for post_install scripts.
For example, are there any available variables to use?

[jaimergp]

@alessioarena - the current docs include more info! :) Closing this for now.