Building Python Statically¶

This page describes the steps required to build Python statically, derived from this thread. It presently covers Linux, but many of the same steps apply to other OSs. The goal is to get ldd to say:

$ ldd /path/to/python
not a dynamic executable

Building the python binary is fairly straightforward:

$ ./configure LDFLAGS="-static" --disable-shared
$ make LDFLAGS="-static" LINKFORSHARED=" "

LINKFORSHARED=" " prevents passing -export-dynamic to the linker, which will cause the binary to be built as a dynamically linked executable. You may need additional flags to build successfully.

This will build a static python binary, without any of the libraries normally provided by dynamically loaded modules. To add these modules, edit Modules/Setup.local, and add

*static*

followed by any of the modules that you want to build into your python binary. Any line in Modules/Setup.local with an “=” will be interpreted as a Makefile variable definition rather than a module. For instance, if you wanted to build in the math library, add

math mathmodule.c _math.c # -lm # math library functions, e.g. sin()

Note that the line is not commented (unlike the corresponding line in Modules/Setup). See Modules/Setup for guides on enabling other libraries, further examples and documentation.