How to make my python 3 desktop application portable?

Question

I have tried portable python but the latest version is 3.2.5. (need 3.6+) I cannot install libraries on it, even the get-pip.py doesn't work.

I'm trying to figure out how to make my project portable on windows systems that do not have python installed.

Also I want the minimum possible libraries(core python modules) to keep the project as lean as possible,

Answer 1

I have found a solution to my own question after a couple of days. I did not want to create an executable for my project but I wanted a portable python folder so that I can add libraries to it as and when I need.

The recent version of portable python is WinPython. I had to delete some unnecessary files out of it though. It's size is about 77 mb after extracting https://winpython.github.io/

https://sourceforge.net/projects/winpython/files/WinPython_3.6/3.6.5.0/WinPython64-3.6.5.0Zero.exe/download

Answer 2

I would go with cx_Freeze - multiplatform module for freezing your Python script in a way that allows you to open it on other Windows machines even if they do not have Python installed. It got very nice and clear documentation also: http://cx-freeze.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ and works a bit better on Windows machines then alternative PyInstaller from my experience (which has interesting option of one-file-package, but in many cases leads to security warnings due to some dirty hacks used to obtain that feature).

However, it may not be enough if you are using some specific modules in your app, as for example matplotlib, dash, etc modules are very hard to pack correctly with Freezer.