[IPython-User] HOWTO Installation from source without administrator permission?

[Konrad Hinsen]

On 28 sept. 11, at 03:16, HM wrote:

> The instruction in the web page below indicates one needs  
> administrator permission to install ipython into python path.
> http://ipython.org/ipython-doc/stable/install/install.html
> I would like to install in my home directory as I do not have root/ 
> admin permission. How to?

The simplest solution is the one pointed out by Fernando: add --user  
to the command line.

Another approach is to use virtualenv (http://pypi.python.org/pypi/virtualenv 
) to create a virtual Python installation in your home directory, into  
which you can then install IPython (or anything else) without any  
special precautions. The virtual Python installation consists mostly  
of links to the main Python, so it doesn't take much space.

Virtualenv is probably overkill if all you need is to install a few  
additional packages. It shines when you need different versions of  
some package readily available. For example, I run the IPython  
development branch in a virtualenv environment, whereas the main  
installation contains only official releases of Python packages.

Konrad