3.Configure Python

3.1.Build Requirements

Features and minimum versions required to build CPython:

  • AC11 compiler.Optional C11featuresare not required.

  • On Windows, Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 or later is required.

  • Support forIEEE 754floating-point numbers andfloating-point Not-a-Number (NaN).

  • Support for threads.

  • OpenSSL 1.1.1 is the minimum version and OpenSSL 3.0.9 is the recommendedminimum version for thessl andhashlib extension modules.

  • SQLite 3.15.2 for thesqlite3 extension module.

  • Tcl/Tk 8.5.12 for thetkinter module.

  • Autoconf 2.71 and aclocal 1.16.5 are required to regenerate theconfigure script.

Changed in version 3.1:Tcl/Tk version 8.3.1 is now required.

Changed in version 3.5:On Windows, Visual Studio 2015 or later is now required.Tcl/Tk version 8.4 is now required.

Changed in version 3.6:Selected C99 features are now required, like<stdint.h> andstaticinline functions.

Changed in version 3.7:Thread support and OpenSSL 1.0.2 are now required.

Changed in version 3.10:OpenSSL 1.1.1 is now required.Require SQLite 3.7.15.

Changed in version 3.11:C11 compiler, IEEE 754 and NaN support are now required.On Windows, Visual Studio 2017 or later is required.Tcl/Tk version 8.5.12 is now required for thetkinter module.

Changed in version 3.13:Autoconf 2.71, aclocal 1.16.5 and SQLite 3.15.2 are now required.

See alsoPEP 7 “Style Guide for C Code” andPEP 11 “CPython platformsupport”.

3.2.Generated files

To reduce build dependencies, Python source code contains multiple generatedfiles. Commands to regenerate all generated files:

makeregen-allmakeregen-stdlib-module-namesmakeregen-limited-abimakeregen-configure

TheMakefile.pre.in file documents generated files, their inputs, and tools usedto regenerate them. Search forregen-* make targets.

3.2.1.configure script

Themakeregen-configure command regenerates theaclocal.m4 file andtheconfigure script using theTools/build/regen-configure.sh shellscript which uses an Ubuntu container to get the same tools versions and have areproducible output.

The container is optional, the following command can be run locally:

autoreconf-ivf-Werror

The generated files can change depending on the exactautoconf-archive,aclocal andpkg-config versions.

3.3.Configure Options

List allconfigure script options using:

./configure--help

See also theMisc/SpecialBuilds.txt in the Python source distribution.

3.3.1.General Options

--enable-loadable-sqlite-extensions

Support loadable extensions in the_sqlite extension module (defaultis no) of thesqlite3 module.

See thesqlite3.Connection.enable_load_extension() method of thesqlite3 module.

Added in version 3.6.

--disable-ipv6

Disable IPv6 support (enabled by default if supported), see thesocket module.

--enable-big-digits=[15|30]

Define the size in bits of Pythonint digits: 15 or 30 bits.

By default, the digit size is 30.

Define thePYLONG_BITS_IN_DIGIT to15 or30.

Seesys.int_info.bits_per_digit.

--with-suffix=SUFFIX

Set the Python executable suffix toSUFFIX.

The default suffix is.exe on Windows and macOS (python.exeexecutable),.js on Emscripten node,.html on Emscripten browser,.wasm on WASI, and an empty string on other platforms (pythonexecutable).

Changed in version 3.11:The default suffix on WASM platform is one of.js,.htmlor.wasm.

--with-tzpath=<listofabsolutepathsseparatedbypathsep>

Select the default time zone search path forzoneinfo.TZPATH.See theCompile-time configuration of thezoneinfo module.

Default:/usr/share/zoneinfo:/usr/lib/zoneinfo:/usr/share/lib/zoneinfo:/etc/zoneinfo.

Seeos.pathsep path separator.

Added in version 3.9.

--without-decimal-contextvar

Build the_decimal extension module using a thread-local context ratherthan a coroutine-local context (default), see thedecimal module.

Seedecimal.HAVE_CONTEXTVAR and thecontextvars module.

Added in version 3.9.

--with-dbmliborder=<listofbackendnames>

Override order to check db backends for thedbm module

A valid value is a colon (:) separated string with the backend names:

  • ndbm;

  • gdbm;

  • bdb.

--without-c-locale-coercion

Disable C locale coercion to a UTF-8 based locale (enabled by default).

Don’t define thePY_COERCE_C_LOCALE macro.

SeePYTHONCOERCECLOCALE and thePEP 538.

--without-freelists

Disable all freelists except the empty tuple singleton.

Added in version 3.11.

--with-platlibdir=DIRNAME

Python library directory name (default islib).

Fedora and SuSE uselib64 on 64-bit platforms.

Seesys.platlibdir.

Added in version 3.9.

--with-wheel-pkg-dir=PATH

Directory of wheel packages used by theensurepip module(none by default).

Some Linux distribution packaging policies recommend against bundlingdependencies. For example, Fedora installs wheel packages in the/usr/share/python-wheels/ directory and don’t install theensurepip._bundled package.

Added in version 3.10.

--with-pkg-config=[check|yes|no]

Whether configure should usepkg-config to detect builddependencies.

  • check (default):pkg-config is optional

  • yes:pkg-config is mandatory

  • no: configure does not usepkg-config even when present

Added in version 3.11.

--enable-pystats

Turn on internal Python performance statistics gathering.

By default, statistics gathering is off. Usepython3-Xpystats commandor setPYTHONSTATS=1 environment variable to turn on statisticsgathering at Python startup.

At Python exit, dump statistics if statistics gathering was on and notcleared.

Effects:

  • Add-Xpystats command line option.

  • AddPYTHONSTATS environment variable.

  • Define thePy_STATS macro.

  • Add functions to thesys module:

    • sys._stats_on(): Turns on statistics gathering.

    • sys._stats_off(): Turns off statistics gathering.

    • sys._stats_clear(): Clears the statistics.

    • sys._stats_dump(): Dump statistics to file, and clears the statistics.

The statistics will be dumped to a arbitrary (probably unique) file in/tmp/py_stats/ (Unix) orC:\temp\py_stats\ (Windows). If thatdirectory does not exist, results will be printed on stderr.

UseTools/scripts/summarize_stats.py to read the stats.

Statistics:

  • Opcode:

    • Specialization: success, failure, hit, deferred, miss, deopt, failures;

    • Execution count;

    • Pair count.

  • Call:

    • Inlined Python calls;

    • PyEval calls;

    • Frames pushed;

    • Frame object created;

    • Eval calls: vector, generator, legacy, function VECTORCALL, build class,slot, function “ex”, API, method.

  • Object:

    • incref and decref;

    • interpreter incref and decref;

    • allocations: all, 512 bytes, 4 kiB, big;

    • free;

    • to/from free lists;

    • dictionary materialized/dematerialized;

    • type cache;

    • optimization attempts;

    • optimization traces created/executed;

    • uops executed.

  • Garbage collector:

    • Garbage collections;

    • Objects visited;

    • Objects collected.

Added in version 3.11.

--disable-gil

Enablesexperimental support for running Python without theglobal interpreter lock (GIL): free threading build.

Defines thePy_GIL_DISABLED macro and adds"t" tosys.abiflags.

SeeFree-threaded CPython for more detail.

Added in version 3.13.

--enable-experimental-jit=[no|yes|yes-off|interpreter]

Indicate how to integrate theJIT compiler.

  • no - build the interpreter without the JIT.

  • yes - build the interpreter with the JIT.

  • yes-off - build the interpreter with the JIT but disable it by default.

  • interpreter - build the interpreter without the JIT, but with the tier 2 enabled interpreter.

By convention,--enable-experimental-jit is a shorthand for--enable-experimental-jit=yes.

Note

When building CPython with JIT enabled, ensure that your system has Python 3.11 or later installed.

Added in version 3.13.

PKG_CONFIG

Path topkg-config utility.

PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR
PKG_CONFIG_PATH

pkg-config options.

3.3.2.C compiler options

CC

C compiler command.

CFLAGS

C compiler flags.

CPP

C preprocessor command.

CPPFLAGS

C preprocessor flags, e.g.-Iinclude_dir.

3.3.3.Linker options

LDFLAGS

Linker flags, e.g.-Llibrary_directory.

LIBS

Libraries to pass to the linker, e.g.-llibrary.

MACHDEP

Name for machine-dependent library files.

3.3.4.Options for third-party dependencies

Added in version 3.11.

BZIP2_CFLAGS
BZIP2_LIBS

C compiler and linker flags to link Python tolibbz2, used bybz2module, overridingpkg-config.

CURSES_CFLAGS
CURSES_LIBS

C compiler and linker flags forlibncurses orlibncursesw, used bycurses module, overridingpkg-config.

GDBM_CFLAGS
GDBM_LIBS

C compiler and linker flags forgdbm.

LIBB2_CFLAGS
LIBB2_LIBS

C compiler and linker flags forlibb2 (BLAKE2),used byhashlib module, overridingpkg-config.

LIBEDIT_CFLAGS
LIBEDIT_LIBS

C compiler and linker flags forlibedit, used byreadline module,overridingpkg-config.

LIBFFI_CFLAGS
LIBFFI_LIBS

C compiler and linker flags forlibffi, used byctypes module,overridingpkg-config.

LIBMPDEC_CFLAGS
LIBMPDEC_LIBS

C compiler and linker flags forlibmpdec, used bydecimal module,overridingpkg-config.

Note

These environment variables have no effect unless--with-system-libmpdec is specified.

LIBLZMA_CFLAGS
LIBLZMA_LIBS

C compiler and linker flags forliblzma, used bylzma module,overridingpkg-config.

LIBREADLINE_CFLAGS
LIBREADLINE_LIBS

C compiler and linker flags forlibreadline, used byreadlinemodule, overridingpkg-config.

LIBSQLITE3_CFLAGS
LIBSQLITE3_LIBS

C compiler and linker flags forlibsqlite3, used bysqlite3module, overridingpkg-config.

LIBUUID_CFLAGS
LIBUUID_LIBS

C compiler and linker flags forlibuuid, used byuuid module,overridingpkg-config.

PANEL_CFLAGS
PANEL_LIBS

C compiler and linker flags for PANEL, overridingpkg-config.

C compiler and linker flags forlibpanel orlibpanelw, used bycurses.panel module, overridingpkg-config.

TCLTK_CFLAGS
TCLTK_LIBS

C compiler and linker flags for TCLTK, overridingpkg-config.

ZLIB_CFLAGS
ZLIB_LIBS

C compiler and linker flags forlibzlib, used bygzip module,overridingpkg-config.

3.3.5.WebAssembly Options

--with-emscripten-target=[browser|node]

Set build flavor forwasm32-emscripten.

  • browser (default): preload minimal stdlib, default MEMFS.

  • node: NODERAWFS and pthread support.

Added in version 3.11.

--enable-wasm-dynamic-linking

Turn on dynamic linking support for WASM.

Dynamic linking enablesdlopen. File size of the executableincreases due to limited dead code elimination and additional features.

Added in version 3.11.

--enable-wasm-pthreads

Turn on pthreads support for WASM.

Added in version 3.11.

3.3.6.Install Options

--prefix=PREFIX

Install architecture-independent files in PREFIX. On Unix, itdefaults to/usr/local.

This value can be retrieved at runtime usingsys.prefix.

As an example, one can use--prefix="$HOME/.local/" to installa Python in its home directory.

--exec-prefix=EPREFIX

Install architecture-dependent files in EPREFIX, defaults to--prefix.

This value can be retrieved at runtime usingsys.exec_prefix.

--disable-test-modules

Don’t build nor install test modules, like thetest package or the_testcapi extension module (built and installed by default).

Added in version 3.10.

--with-ensurepip=[upgrade|install|no]

Select theensurepip command run on Python installation:

  • upgrade (default): runpython-mensurepip--altinstall--upgradecommand.

  • install: runpython-mensurepip--altinstall command;

  • no: don’t run ensurepip;

Added in version 3.6.

3.3.7.Performance options

Configuring Python using--enable-optimizations--with-lto (PGO + LTO) isrecommended for best performance. The experimental--enable-bolt flag canalso be used to improve performance.

--enable-optimizations

Enable Profile Guided Optimization (PGO) usingPROFILE_TASK(disabled by default).

The C compiler Clang requiresllvm-profdata program for PGO. OnmacOS, GCC also requires it: GCC is just an alias to Clang on macOS.

Disable also semantic interposition in libpython if--enable-shared andGCC is used: add-fno-semantic-interposition to the compiler and linkerflags.

Note

During the build, you may encounter compiler warnings aboutprofile data not being available for some source files.These warnings are harmless, as only a subset of the code is exercisedduring profile data acquisition.To disable these warnings on Clang, manually suppress them by adding-Wno-profile-instr-unprofiled toCFLAGS.

Added in version 3.6.

Changed in version 3.10:Use-fno-semantic-interposition on GCC.

PROFILE_TASK

Environment variable used in the Makefile: Python command line arguments forthe PGO generation task.

Default:-mtest--pgo--timeout=$(TESTTIMEOUT).

Added in version 3.8.

Changed in version 3.13:Task failure is no longer ignored silently.

--with-lto=[full|thin|no|yes]

Enable Link Time Optimization (LTO) in any build (disabled by default).

The C compiler Clang requiresllvm-ar for LTO (ar on macOS), as wellas an LTO-aware linker (ld.gold orlld).

Added in version 3.6.

Added in version 3.11:To use ThinLTO feature, use--with-lto=thin on Clang.

Changed in version 3.12:Use ThinLTO as the default optimization policy on Clang if the compiler accepts the flag.

--enable-bolt

Enable usage of theBOLT post-link binary optimizer (disabled bydefault).

BOLT is part of the LLVM project but is not always included in their binarydistributions. This flag requires thatllvm-bolt andmerge-fdataare available.

BOLT is still a fairly new project so this flag should be consideredexperimental for now. Because this tool operates on machine code its successis dependent on a combination of the build environment + the otheroptimization configure args + the CPU architecture, and not all combinationsare supported.BOLT versions before LLVM 16 are known to crash BOLT under some scenarios.Use of LLVM 16 or newer for BOLT optimization is strongly encouraged.

TheBOLT_INSTRUMENT_FLAGS andBOLT_APPLY_FLAGSconfigure variables can be defined to override the default set ofarguments forllvm-bolt to instrument and apply BOLT data tobinaries, respectively.

Added in version 3.12.

BOLT_APPLY_FLAGS

Arguments tollvm-bolt when creating aBOLT optimized binary.

Added in version 3.12.

BOLT_INSTRUMENT_FLAGS

Arguments tollvm-bolt when instrumenting binaries.

Added in version 3.12.

--with-computed-gotos

Enable computed gotos in evaluation loop (enabled by default on supportedcompilers).

--without-mimalloc

Disable the fastmimalloc allocator(enabled by default).

See alsoPYTHONMALLOC environment variable.

--without-pymalloc

Disable the specialized Python memory allocatorpymalloc(enabled by default).

See alsoPYTHONMALLOC environment variable.

--without-doc-strings

Disable static documentation strings to reduce the memory footprint (enabledby default). Documentation strings defined in Python are not affected.

Don’t define theWITH_DOC_STRINGS macro.

See thePyDoc_STRVAR() macro.

--enable-profiling

Enable C-level code profiling withgprof (disabled by default).

--with-strict-overflow

Add-fstrict-overflow to the C compiler flags (by default we add-fno-strict-overflow instead).

3.3.8.Python Debug Build

A debug build is Python built with the--with-pydebug configureoption.

Effects of a debug build:

  • Display all warnings by default: the list of default warning filters is emptyin thewarnings module.

  • Addd tosys.abiflags.

  • Addsys.gettotalrefcount() function.

  • Add-Xshowrefcount command line option.

  • Add-d command line option andPYTHONDEBUG environmentvariable to debug the parser.

  • Add support for the__lltrace__ variable: enable low-level tracing in thebytecode evaluation loop if the variable is defined.

  • Installdebug hooks on memory allocatorsto detect buffer overflow and other memory errors.

  • DefinePy_DEBUG andPy_REF_DEBUG macros.

  • Add runtime checks: code surrounded by#ifdefPy_DEBUG and#endif.Enableassert(...) and_PyObject_ASSERT(...) assertions: don’t settheNDEBUG macro (see also the--with-assertions configureoption). Main runtime checks:

    • Add sanity checks on the function arguments.

    • Unicode and int objects are created with their memory filled with a patternto detect usage of uninitialized objects.

    • Ensure that functions which can clear or replace the current exception arenot called with an exception raised.

    • Check that deallocator functions don’t change the current exception.

    • The garbage collector (gc.collect() function) runs some basic checkson objects consistency.

    • ThePy_SAFE_DOWNCAST() macro checks for integer underflow andoverflow when downcasting from wide types to narrow types.

See also thePython Development Mode and the--with-trace-refs configure option.

Changed in version 3.8:Release builds and debug builds are now ABI compatible: defining thePy_DEBUG macro no longer implies thePy_TRACE_REFS macro (see the--with-trace-refs option).

3.3.9.Debug options

--with-pydebug

Build Python in debug mode: define thePy_DEBUGmacro (disabled by default).

--with-trace-refs

Enable tracing references for debugging purpose (disabled by default).

Effects:

ThePYTHONDUMPREFS environment variable can be used to dumpobjects and reference counts still alive at Python exit.

Statically allocated objects are not traced.

Added in version 3.8.

Changed in version 3.13:This build is now ABI compatible with release build anddebug build.

--with-assertions

Build with C assertions enabled (default is no):assert(...); and_PyObject_ASSERT(...);.

If set, theNDEBUG macro is not defined in theOPT compilervariable.

See also the--with-pydebug option (debug build) which also enables assertions.

Added in version 3.6.

--with-valgrind

Enable Valgrind support (default is no).

--with-dtrace

Enable DTrace support (default is no).

SeeInstrumenting CPython with DTrace and SystemTap.

Added in version 3.6.

--with-address-sanitizer

Enable AddressSanitizer memory error detector,asan (default is no).

Added in version 3.6.

--with-memory-sanitizer

Enable MemorySanitizer allocation error detector,msan (default is no).

Added in version 3.6.

--with-undefined-behavior-sanitizer

Enable UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer undefined behaviour detector,ubsan(default is no).

Added in version 3.6.

--with-thread-sanitizer

Enable ThreadSanitizer data race detector,tsan(default is no).

Added in version 3.13.

3.3.10.Linker options

--enable-shared

Enable building a shared Python library:libpython (default is no).

--without-static-libpython

Do not buildlibpythonMAJOR.MINOR.a and do not installpython.o(built and enabled by default).

Added in version 3.10.

3.3.11.Libraries options

--with-libs='lib1...'

Link against additional libraries (default is no).

--with-system-expat

Build thepyexpat module using an installedexpat library(default is no).

--with-system-libmpdec

Build the_decimal extension module using an installedmpdecimallibrary, see thedecimal module (default is yes).

Added in version 3.3.

Changed in version 3.13:Default to using the installedmpdecimal library.

Deprecated since version 3.13, will be removed in version 3.15:A copy of thempdecimal library sources will no longer be distributedwith Python 3.15.

--with-readline=readline|editline

Designate a backend library for thereadline module.

  • readline: Use readline as the backend.

  • editline: Use editline as the backend.

Added in version 3.10.

--without-readline

Don’t build thereadline module (built by default).

Don’t define theHAVE_LIBREADLINE macro.

Added in version 3.10.

--with-libm=STRING

Overridelibm math library toSTRING (default is system-dependent).

--with-libc=STRING

Overridelibc C library toSTRING (default is system-dependent).

--with-openssl=DIR

Root of the OpenSSL directory.

Added in version 3.7.

--with-openssl-rpath=[no|auto|DIR]

Set runtime library directory (rpath) for OpenSSL libraries:

  • no (default): don’t set rpath;

  • auto: auto-detect rpath from--with-openssl andpkg-config;

  • DIR: set an explicit rpath.

Added in version 3.10.

3.3.12.Security Options

--with-hash-algorithm=[fnv|siphash13|siphash24]

Select hash algorithm for use inPython/pyhash.c:

  • siphash13 (default);

  • siphash24;

  • fnv.

Added in version 3.4.

Added in version 3.11:siphash13 is added and it is the new default.

--with-builtin-hashlib-hashes=md5,sha1,sha256,sha512,sha3,blake2

Built-in hash modules:

  • md5;

  • sha1;

  • sha256;

  • sha512;

  • sha3 (with shake);

  • blake2.

Added in version 3.9.

--with-ssl-default-suites=[python|openssl|STRING]

Override the OpenSSL default cipher suites string:

  • python (default): use Python’s preferred selection;

  • openssl: leave OpenSSL’s defaults untouched;

  • STRING: use a custom string

See thessl module.

Added in version 3.7.

Changed in version 3.10:The settingspython andSTRING also set TLS 1.2 as minimumprotocol version.

3.3.13.macOS Options

SeeMac/README.rst.

--enable-universalsdk
--enable-universalsdk=SDKDIR

Create a universal binary build.SDKDIR specifies which macOS SDK shouldbe used to perform the build (default is no).

--enable-framework
--enable-framework=INSTALLDIR

Create a Python.framework rather than a traditional Unix install. OptionalINSTALLDIR specifies the installation path (default is no).

--with-universal-archs=ARCH

Specify the kind of universal binary that should be created. This option isonly valid when--enable-universalsdk is set.

Options:

  • universal2 (x86-64 and arm64);

  • 32-bit (PPC and i386);

  • 64-bit (PPC64 and x86-64);

  • 3-way (i386, PPC and x86-64);

  • intel (i386 and x86-64);

  • intel-32 (i386);

  • intel-64 (x86-64);

  • all (PPC, i386, PPC64 and x86-64).

Note that values for this configuration item arenot the same as theidentifiers used for universal binary wheels on macOS. See the PythonPackaging User Guide for details on thepackaging platform compatibilitytags used on macOS

--with-framework-name=FRAMEWORK

Specify the name for the python framework on macOS only valid when--enable-framework is set (default:Python).

--with-app-store-compliance
--with-app-store-compliance=PATCH-FILE

The Python standard library contains strings that are known to triggerautomated inspection tool errors when submitted for distribution bythe macOS and iOS App Stores. If enabled, this option will apply the list ofpatches that are known to correct app store compliance. A custom patchfile can also be specified. This option is disabled by default.

Added in version 3.13.

3.3.14.iOS Options

SeeiOS/README.rst.

--enable-framework=INSTALLDIR

Create a Python.framework. Unlike macOS, theINSTALLDIR argumentspecifying the installation path is mandatory.

--with-framework-name=FRAMEWORK

Specify the name for the framework (default:Python).

3.3.15.Cross Compiling Options

Cross compiling, also known as cross building, can be used to build Pythonfor another CPU architecture or platform. Cross compiling requires a Pythoninterpreter for the build platform. The version of the build Python must matchthe version of the cross compiled host Python.

--build=BUILD

configure for building on BUILD, usually guessed byconfig.guess.

--host=HOST

cross-compile to build programs to run on HOST (target platform)

--with-build-python=path/to/python

path to buildpython binary for cross compiling

Added in version 3.11.

CONFIG_SITE=file

An environment variable that points to a file with configure overrides.

Exampleconfig.site file:

# config.site-aarch64ac_cv_buggy_getaddrinfo=noac_cv_file__dev_ptmx=yesac_cv_file__dev_ptc=no
HOSTRUNNER

Program to run CPython for the host platform for cross-compilation.

Added in version 3.11.

Cross compiling example:

CONFIG_SITE=config.site-aarch64../configure\--build=x86_64-pc-linux-gnu\--host=aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu\--with-build-python=../x86_64/python

3.4.Python Build System

3.4.1.Main files of the build system

  • configure.ac =>configure;

  • Makefile.pre.in =>Makefile (created byconfigure);

  • pyconfig.h (created byconfigure);

  • Modules/Setup: C extensions built by the Makefile usingModule/makesetup shell script;

3.4.2.Main build steps

  • C files (.c) are built as object files (.o).

  • A staticlibpython library (.a) is created from objects files.

  • python.o and the staticlibpython library are linked into thefinalpython program.

  • C extensions are built by the Makefile (seeModules/Setup).

3.4.3.Main Makefile targets

3.4.3.1.make

For the most part, when rebuilding after editing some code orrefreshing your checkout from upstream, all you need to do is executemake, which (per Make’s semantics) builds the default target, thefirst one defined in the Makefile. By tradition (including in theCPython project) this is usually theall target. Theconfigure script expands anautoconf variable,@DEF_MAKE_ALL_RULE@ to describe precisely which targetsmakeall will build. The three choices are:

  • profile-opt (configured with--enable-optimizations)

  • build_wasm (configured with--with-emscripten-target)

  • build_all (configured without explicitly using either of the others)

Depending on the most recent source file changes, Make will rebuildany targets (object files and executables) deemed out-of-date,including runningconfigure again if necessary. Source/targetdependencies are many and maintained manually however, so Makesometimes doesn’t have all the information necessary to correctlydetect all targets which need to be rebuilt. Depending on whichtargets aren’t rebuilt, you might experience a number of problems. Ifyou have build or test problems which you can’t otherwise explain,makeclean&&make should work around most dependency problems, atthe expense of longer build times.

3.4.3.2.make platform

Build thepython program, but don’t build the standard libraryextension modules. This generates a file namedplatform whichcontains a single line describing the details of the build platform,e.g.,macosx-14.3-arm64-3.12 orlinux-x86_64-3.13.

3.4.3.3.make profile-opt

Build Python using profile-guided optimization (PGO). You can use theconfigure--enable-optimizations option to make this thedefault target of themake command (makeall or justmake).

3.4.3.4.make clean

Remove built files.

3.4.3.5.make distclean

In addition to the work done bymakeclean, remove filescreated by the configure script.configure will have to be runbefore building again.[1]

3.4.3.6.make install

Build theall target and install Python.

3.4.3.7.make test

Build theall target and run the Python test suite with the--fast-ci option. Variables:

  • TESTOPTS: additional regrtest command-line options.

  • TESTPYTHONOPTS: additional Python command-line options.

  • TESTTIMEOUT: timeout in seconds (default: 10 minutes).

3.4.3.8.make buildbottest

This is similar tomaketest, but uses the--slow-cioption and default timeout of 20 minutes, instead of--fast-ci option.

3.4.3.9.make regen-all

Regenerate (almost) all generated files. These include (but are notlimited to) bytecode cases, and parser generator file.makeregen-stdlib-module-names andautoconf must be runseparately for the remaininggenerated files.

3.4.4.C extensions

Some C extensions are built as built-in modules, like thesys module.They are built with thePy_BUILD_CORE_BUILTIN macro defined.Built-in modules have no__file__ attribute:

>>>importsys>>>sys<module 'sys' (built-in)>>>>sys.__file__Traceback (most recent call last):  File"<stdin>", line1, in<module>AttributeError:module 'sys' has no attribute '__file__'

Other C extensions are built as dynamic libraries, like the_asyncio module.They are built with thePy_BUILD_CORE_MODULE macro defined.Example on Linux x86-64:

>>>import_asyncio>>>_asyncio<module '_asyncio' from '/usr/lib64/python3.9/lib-dynload/_asyncio.cpython-39-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'>>>>_asyncio.__file__'/usr/lib64/python3.9/lib-dynload/_asyncio.cpython-39-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'

Modules/Setup is used to generate Makefile targets to build C extensions.At the beginning of the files, C extensions are built as built-in modules.Extensions defined after the*shared* marker are built as dynamic libraries.

ThePyAPI_FUNC(),PyAPI_DATA() andPyMODINIT_FUNC macros ofInclude/exports.h are defineddifferently depending if thePy_BUILD_CORE_MODULE macro is defined:

  • UsePy_EXPORTED_SYMBOL if thePy_BUILD_CORE_MODULE is defined

  • UsePy_IMPORTED_SYMBOL otherwise.

If thePy_BUILD_CORE_BUILTIN macro is used by mistake on a C extensionbuilt as a shared library, itsPyInit_xxx() function is not exported,causing anImportError on import.

3.5.Compiler and linker flags

Options set by the./configure script and environment variables and used byMakefile.

3.5.1.Preprocessor flags

CONFIGURE_CPPFLAGS

Value ofCPPFLAGS variable passed to the./configure script.

Added in version 3.6.

CPPFLAGS

(Objective) C/C++ preprocessor flags, e.g.-Iinclude_dir if you haveheaders in a nonstandard directoryinclude_dir.

BothCPPFLAGS andLDFLAGS need to contain the shell’svalue to be able to build extension modules using thedirectories specified in the environment variables.

BASECPPFLAGS

Added in version 3.4.

PY_CPPFLAGS

Extra preprocessor flags added for building the interpreter object files.

Default:$(BASECPPFLAGS)-I.-I$(srcdir)/Include$(CONFIGURE_CPPFLAGS)$(CPPFLAGS).

Added in version 3.2.

3.5.2.Compiler flags

CC

C compiler command.

Example:gcc-pthread.

CXX

C++ compiler command.

Example:g++-pthread.

CFLAGS

C compiler flags.

CFLAGS_NODIST

CFLAGS_NODIST is used for building the interpreter and stdlib Cextensions. Use it when a compiler flag shouldnot be part ofCFLAGS once Python is installed (gh-65320).

In particular,CFLAGS should not contain:

  • the compiler flag-I (for setting the search path for include files).The-I flags are processed from left to right, and any flags inCFLAGS would take precedence over user- and package-supplied-Iflags.

  • hardening flags such as-Werror because distributions cannot controlwhether packages installed by users conform to such heightenedstandards.

Added in version 3.5.

COMPILEALL_OPTS

Options passed to thecompileall command line when building PYC filesinmakeinstall. Default:-j0.

Added in version 3.12.

EXTRA_CFLAGS

Extra C compiler flags.

CONFIGURE_CFLAGS

Value ofCFLAGS variable passed to the./configurescript.

Added in version 3.2.

CONFIGURE_CFLAGS_NODIST

Value ofCFLAGS_NODIST variable passed to the./configurescript.

Added in version 3.5.

BASECFLAGS

Base compiler flags.

OPT

Optimization flags.

CFLAGS_ALIASING

Strict or non-strict aliasing flags used to compilePython/dtoa.c.

Added in version 3.7.

CCSHARED

Compiler flags used to build a shared library.

For example,-fPIC is used on Linux and on BSD.

CFLAGSFORSHARED

Extra C flags added for building the interpreter object files.

Default:$(CCSHARED) when--enable-shared is used, or an emptystring otherwise.

PY_CFLAGS

Default:$(BASECFLAGS)$(OPT)$(CONFIGURE_CFLAGS)$(CFLAGS)$(EXTRA_CFLAGS).

PY_CFLAGS_NODIST

Default:$(CONFIGURE_CFLAGS_NODIST)$(CFLAGS_NODIST)-I$(srcdir)/Include/internal.

Added in version 3.5.

PY_STDMODULE_CFLAGS

C flags used for building the interpreter object files.

Default:$(PY_CFLAGS)$(PY_CFLAGS_NODIST)$(PY_CPPFLAGS)$(CFLAGSFORSHARED).

Added in version 3.7.

PY_CORE_CFLAGS

Default:$(PY_STDMODULE_CFLAGS)-DPy_BUILD_CORE.

Added in version 3.2.

PY_BUILTIN_MODULE_CFLAGS

Compiler flags to build a standard library extension module as a built-inmodule, like theposix module.

Default:$(PY_STDMODULE_CFLAGS)-DPy_BUILD_CORE_BUILTIN.

Added in version 3.8.

PURIFY

Purify command. Purify is a memory debugger program.

Default: empty string (not used).

3.5.3.Linker flags

LINKCC

Linker command used to build programs likepython and_testembed.

Default:$(PURIFY)$(CC).

CONFIGURE_LDFLAGS

Value ofLDFLAGS variable passed to the./configure script.

Avoid assigningCFLAGS,LDFLAGS, etc. so users can usethem on the command line to append to these values without stomping thepre-set values.

Added in version 3.2.

LDFLAGS_NODIST

LDFLAGS_NODIST is used in the same manner asCFLAGS_NODIST. Use it when a linker flag shouldnot be part ofLDFLAGS once Python is installed (gh-65320).

In particular,LDFLAGS should not contain:

  • the compiler flag-L (for setting the search path for libraries).The-L flags are processed from left to right, and any flags inLDFLAGS would take precedence over user- and package-supplied-Lflags.

CONFIGURE_LDFLAGS_NODIST

Value ofLDFLAGS_NODIST variable passed to the./configurescript.

Added in version 3.8.

LDFLAGS

Linker flags, e.g.-Llib_dir if you have libraries in a nonstandarddirectorylib_dir.

BothCPPFLAGS andLDFLAGS need to contain the shell’svalue to be able to build extension modules using thedirectories specified in the environment variables.

LIBS

Linker flags to pass libraries to the linker when linking the Pythonexecutable.

Example:-lrt.

LDSHARED

Command to build a shared library.

Default:@LDSHARED@$(PY_LDFLAGS).

BLDSHARED

Command to buildlibpython shared library.

Default:@BLDSHARED@$(PY_CORE_LDFLAGS).

PY_LDFLAGS

Default:$(CONFIGURE_LDFLAGS)$(LDFLAGS).

PY_LDFLAGS_NODIST

Default:$(CONFIGURE_LDFLAGS_NODIST)$(LDFLAGS_NODIST).

Added in version 3.8.

PY_CORE_LDFLAGS

Linker flags used for building the interpreter object files.

Added in version 3.8.

Footnotes

[1]

gitclean-fdx is an even more extreme way to “clean” yourcheckout. It removes all files not known to Git.When bug hunting usinggitbisect, this isrecommended between probesto guarantee a completely clean build.Use with care, as itwill delete all files not checked into Git, including yournew, uncommitted work.