How Do I Install Python Modules To The Unified Installer?

Plone's "Unified Installer" installation script compiles its own copy of Python, because many systems do not include an appropriate version. This can create a bit of confusion you want to install additional Python modules for this copy of Python. Here's how to sort it out.

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Using buildout

Just add the name of the eggs you want to the eggs section of the [buildout] part in your buildout.cfg file and run bin/buildout. It's also good to specify a version number. Example, to add python-ldap:

[buildout]

...

eggs =
    Plone
    python-ldap==2.3.10

Working manually with the Python installation provided by the Unified Installer

The easiest way to work with a particular Python for a particular Plone installation is to put that Python first on your PATH:

$ export PATH=/opt/Plone-3.0.4/Python-2.4.4/bin:$PATH
$ which python
/opt/Plone-3.0.4/Python-2.4.4/bin/python

Note that this example is for Plone 3, which runs on Python 2.4. Plone 4 runs on Python 2.6 so, if you're using Plone 4, replace all references to Python 2.4 above and below to Python 2.6.

For python-ldap you should then be able to to:

$ python setup.py install

Note that this is basically the same as this:

$ /opt/Plone-3.0.4/Python-2.4.4/bin/python setup.py install

But manipulating your PATH environment variable just saves you a lot of typing. You can also create aliases in your shell profile (~/.bashrc on linux, ~/.profile on Mac OS X) to make it easier to put a particular Python first on your PATH:

# in your .bashrc or .profile
alias py4prod="export PATH=/opt/Plone-3.0.4/Python-2.4.4/bin:$PATH"
alias py4dev="export PATH=/opt/Plone-3.1/Python-2.4.4/bin:$PATH"

Then on your shell just type:

$ py4prod
$ echo $PATH
$ /opt/Plone-3.0.4/Python-2.4.4/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/X11/bin

Credits

This FAQ is reproduced from a forum message by Kevin Teague. Thanks, Kevin, for all your great, detailed explaining!