Installing PyQt5 — PyQt 5.6 Reference Guide

# Installing PyQt5

## Downloading SIP

SIP must be installed before building and using PyQt5. You can get the latest release of the SIP source code from http://www.riverbankcomputing.com/software/sip/download.

The SIP documentation can be found at http://pyqt.sourceforge.net/Docs/sip4/.

## Downloading PyQt5

You can get the latest release of the GPL version of the PyQt5 source code from http://www.riverbankcomputing.com/software/pyqt/download5.

If you are using the commercial version of PyQt5 then you should use the download instructions which were sent to you when you made your purchase. You must also download your license file.

## Configuring PyQt5

After unpacking the source package (either a `.tar.gz` or a `.zip` file depending on your platform) you should then check for any `README` files that relate to your platform.

If you are using the commercial version of PyQt5 then you must copy your license file to the `sip` directory, or to the directory specified by the `--license-dir` option of configure.py.

You need to make sure your environment variables are set properly for your development environment.

In order to configure the build of PyQt5 you need to run the configure.py script as follows:

    python configure.py

This assumes that the Python interpreter is on your path. Something like the following may be appropriate on Windows:

    c:\Python35\python configure.py

If you have multiple versions of Python installed then make sure you use the interpreter for which you wish to build PyQt5 for.

The full set of command line options is:

`--assume-shared```

  Normally Qt is checked to see if it has been built as shared libraries. Some Linux distributions configure their Qt builds to make this check unreliable. This option ignores the result of the check and assumes that Qt has been built as shared libraries.

`--bindir``<DIR>`

  The pyuic5, pyrcc5 and pylupdate5 utilities will be installed in the directory `<DIR>`.

`--concatenate```

  The C++ source files for a Python module will be concatenated. This results in significantly reduced compilation times. Most, but not all, C++ compilers can handle the large files that result. See also the `--concatenate-split` option.

`--concatenate-split``<N>`

  If the `--concatenate` option is used to concatenate the C++ source files then this option determines how many files are created. The default is 1.

`--configuration``<FILE>`

  `<FILE>` contains the configuration of the PyQt5 build to be used instead of dynamically introspecting the system and is typically used when cross-compiling. See Configuring with Configuration Files.

`--confirm-license```

  Using this confirms that you accept the terms of the PyQt5 license. If it is omitted then you will be asked for confirmation during configuration.

`--dbus``<DIR>`

  The `dbus-python.h` header file of the dbus-python package can be found in the directory `<DIR>/dbus`.

`--debug```

  The PyQt5 modules will be built with debugging symbols. On Windows this requires that a debug version of Python is installed.

`--designer-plugindir``<DIR>`

  The Python plugin for Qt Designer will be installed in the directory `<DIR>`.

`--destdir``<DIR>`

  The PyQt5 Python package will be installed in the directory `<DIR>`. The default is the Python installation’s `site-packages` directory. If you use this option then the `PYTHONPATH` environment variable must include `<DIR>`.

`--disable``<MODULE>`

  New in version 5.5.1.

  Normally all PyQt5 modules are enabled and are built if the corresponding Qt library can be found. This option will suppress the check for `<MODULE>>`. The option may be specified any number of times.

`--enable``<MODULE>`

  Normally all PyQt5 modules are enabled and are built if the corresponding Qt library can be found. Using this option only those modules specifically enabled will be checked for and built. The option may be specified any number of times.

`--help````,` `-h```

  Display a help message.

`--license-dir``<DIR>`

  The license files needed by the commercial version of PyQt5 can be found in the directory `<DIR>`.

`--no-designer-plugin```

  The Qt Designer plugin will not be built.

`--no-docstrings```

  The PyQt5 modules will not contain automatically generated docstrings.

`--no-python-dbus```

  The Qt support for the standard Python DBus bindings is disabled.

`--no-qml-plugin```

  The qmlscene plugin will not be built.

`--no-qsci-api```

  The `PyQt5.api` QScintilla API file is not installed even if QScintilla does appear to be installed.

`--no-sip-files```

  The `.sip` files for the PyQt5 modules will not be installed.

`--no-stubs```

  New in version 5.6.

  The PEP 484 type hint stub files for the PyQt5 modules will not be installed. This option is ignored (and the stub files are not installed) for versions of Python earlier than v3.5.

`--no-tools```

  New in version 5.3.

  The `pyuic5`, `pyrcc5` and `pylupdate5` tools will not be built.

`--no-timestamp```

  Normally the header comments of each generated C/C++ source file includes a timestamp corresponding to when the file was generated. This option suppresses the inclusion of the timestamp.

`--protected-is-public```

  On certain platforms the size of PyQt5 modules can be significantly reduced by redefining the C++ `protected` keyword as `public` during compilation. This option enables this behaviour and is the default on Linux and MacOS/X.

`--protected-not-public```

  The default redefinition of `protected` to `public` during compilation on Linux and MacOS/X is disabled.

`--pyuic5-interpreter``<FILE>`

  `<FILE>` is the name of the Python interpreter used in the pyuic5 wrapper. The default is platform dependent.

`--qmake``<FILE>`

  Qt’s qmake program is used to determine how your Qt installation is laid out. Normally qmake is found on your `PATH`. This option can be used to specify a particular instance of qmake to use.

`--qml-plugindir``<DIR>`

  The Python plugin for qmlscene will be installed in the directory `<DIR>`.

`--qsci-api```

  The `PyQt5.api` QScintilla API file is installed even if QScintilla does not appear to be installed. This option is implied if the `--qsci-api-destdir` option is specified.

`--qsci-api-destdir``<DIR>`

  The QScintilla API file will be installed in the `python` subdirectory of the `api` subdirectory of the directory `<DIR>`.

`--qtconf-prefix``<DIR>`

  New in version 5.6.

  A `qt.conf` file is embedded in the `PyQt5.QtCore` module with `Prefix` set to `<DIR>` which is assumed to be relative to the directory that the `PyQt5.QtCore` module will be installed in.

`--sip``<FILE>`

  The sip program is used to generate PyQt5’s C++ source code. Normally sip is found on your `PATH`. This option can be used to specify a particular instance of sip to use.

`--sip-incdir``<DIR>`

  The `sip.h` header file can be found in the directory `<DIR>`.

`--sipdir``<DIR>`

  The `.sip` files for the PyQt5 modules will be installed in the directory `<DIR>`.

`--spec``<SPEC>`

  The argument `-spec SPEC` will be passed to qmake. The default behaviour is platform specific. On Windows configure.py will choose the value that is correct for the version of Python that is being used. (However if you have built Python yourself then you may need to explicitly specify `<SPEC>`.) On MacOS configure.py will try and avoid `macx-xcode` if possible.)

`--static```

  The PyQt5 modules will be built as static libraries. This is useful when building a custom interpreter with the PyQt5 modules built in to the interpreter.

`--stubdir``<DIR>`

  New in version 5.6.

  The PEP 484 type hint stub files for the PyQt5 modules will be installed in the directory `<DIR>`. By default they will be stored in the same directory as the corresponding extension modules. This option is ignored (and the stub files are not installed) for versions of Python earlier than v3.5.

`--sysroot``<DIR>`

  New in version 5.3.

  `<DIR>` is the name of an optional directory that replaces `sys.prefix` in the names of other directories (specifically those specifying where the various PyQt5 components will be installed and where the Python include and library directories can be found). It is typically used when cross-compiling or when building a static version of PyQt5. See Configuring with Configuration Files.

`--target-py-version``<VERSION>`

  New in version 5.3.

  `<VERSION>` is the major and minor version (e.g. `3.4`) of the version of Python being targetted. By default the version of Python being used to run the configure.py script is used. It is typically used when cross-compiling. See Configuring with Configuration Files.

`--trace```

  The generated PyQt5 modules contain additional tracing code that is enabled using SIP’s `sip.settracemask()` function.

`--verbose```

  Compiler commands and any output issued during configuration is displayed instead of being suppressed. Use this if configure.py is having problems to see what exactly is going wrong.

`--version```

  Display the PyQt5 version number.

Any remaining command line arguments are expected to be in the form `name=value` or `name+=value`. Such arguments are added to any qmake `.pro` file created by configure.py.

## Building PyQt5

The next step is to build PyQt5 by running your platform’s make command. For example:

    make

The final step is to install PyQt5 by running the following command:

    make install

(Depending on your system you may require root or administrator privileges.)

This will install the various PyQt5 components.

## Co-existence with PyQt4

PyQt5 can be installed alongside PyQt4 using the same Python interpreter without any problems so long as they are built with the same version of SIP.

## Configuring with Configuration Files

The configure.py script normally introspects the Python installation of the interpreter running it in order to determine the names of the various files and directories it needs. This is fine for a native build of PyQt5 but isn’t appropriate when cross-compiling. In this case it is possible to supply a configuration file, specified using the `--configuration` option, which contains definitions of all the required values.

A configuration file is made up of a number of named sections each of which contains a number of configuration items. The format of a configuration file is as follows:

- a section name is a single line with the name enclosed between `[` and `]`
- a configuration item is a single line containing a name/value pair separated by `=`
- values may be extended to lines immediately following if they are indented by at least one space
- a value may include another value by embedding the name of that value enclosed between `%(` and `)`
- comments begin with `#` and continue to the end of the line
- blank lines are ignored.

Those configuration items that appear before the first section name are automatically added to all sections.

A configuration file defines a section for each version of Qt that requires a different configuration. configure.py will choose the most appropriate section according to the version of Qt you are actually using. For example, if a configuration file contains sections for Qt v5.3 and Qt v5.1 and you are using Qt v5.2.1 then the section for Qt v5.1 will be chosen.

configure.py provides the following preset values for a configuration:

`py_major`
  is the major version number of the target Python installation.
`py_minor`
  is the minor version number of the target Python installation.
`sysroot`
  is the name of the system root directory. This is specified with the `--sysroot` option.

The following is an example configuration file:

    # The target Python installation.
    py_platform = linux
    py_inc_dir = %(sysroot)/usr/include/python%(py_major).%(py_minor)
    py_pylib_dir = %(sysroot)/usr/lib/python%(py_major).%(py_minor)/config
    py_pylib_lib = python%(py_major).%(py_minor)mu

    # The target PyQt installation.
    pyqt_module_dir = %(sysroot)/usr/lib/python%(py_major)/dist-packages
    pyqt_bin_dir = %(sysroot)/usr/bin
    pyqt_sip_dir = %(sysroot)/usr/share/sip/PyQt5
    pyuic_interpreter = /usr/bin/python%(py_major).%(py_minor)
    pyqt_disabled_features = PyQt_Desktop_OpenGL PyQt_qreal_double

    # Qt configuration common to all versions.
    qt_shared = True

    [Qt 5.1]
    pyqt_modules = QtCore QtDBus QtDesigner QtGui QtHelp QtMultimedia
        QtMultimediaWidgets QtNetwork QtOpenGL QtPrintSupport QtQml QtQuick
        QtSensors QtSerialPort QtSql QtSvg QtTest QtWebKit QtWebKitWidgets
        QtWidgets QtXmlPatterns _QOpenGLFunctions_ES2

This example contains a section for Qt v5.1. We have defined a number of values before the start of the section as they are not specific to any particular version of Qt. Note that if you use this configuration with a version of Qt earlier than v5.1 then you will get an error.

The following values can be specified in the configuration file:

`qt_shared`
  is set if Qt has been built as shared libraries. The default value is `False`.
`py_platform`
  is the target Python platform.
`py_inc_dir`
  is the target Python include directory, i.e. the directory containing the `Python.h` file.
`py_pylib_dir`
  is the target Python library directory.
`py_pylib_lib`
  is the target Python interpreter library. It should not include any platform-specific prefix or suffix.
`pyqt_disabled_features`
  is the space separated list of features (as defined by SIP’s `%Feature` directive) that should be disabled.
`pyqt_module_dir`
  is the target directory where the PyQt5 modules will be installed. It can be overridden by the `--destdir` option.
`pyqt_modules`
  is the space separated list of PyQt5 modules that will be built. It can be overridden by the `--enable` option.
`pyqt_bin_dir`
  is the name of the target directory where the PyQt5 related executables will be installed. It can be overridden by the `--bindir` option.
`pyqt_sip_dir`
  is the name of the target directory where the PyQt5 `.sip` files will be installed. It can be overridden by the `--sipdir` option.
`pyuic_interpreter`
  is the name of the Python interpreter (as it would be called from the target system) that will be used to run pyuic5. It can be overridden by the `--pyuic5-interpreter` option.