How to distribute your applications as binaries

It is possible to bundle your app with the web2py binary distribution and distribute them together. The license allows this as long you make clear in the license of your app that you are bundling with web2py and add a link to the web2py.com.

Here we explain how to do it for Windows:

  • Create your app as usual
  • Using admin, bytecode compile your app (one click)
  • Using admin, pack your app compiled (another click)
  • Create a folder “myapp”
  • Download a web2py windows binary distribution
  • Unzip it in folder “myapp” and start it (two clicks)
  • Upload using admin the previously packed and compiled app with the name “init” (one click)
  • Create a file “myapp/start.bat” that contains “web2py/web2py.exe”
  • Create a file “myapp/license” that contains a license for your app and make sure it states that it is being “distributed with an unmodified copy of web2py from web2py.com”
  • Zip the myapp folder into a file “myapp.zip”
  • Distribute and/or sell “myapp.zip”

When users will unzip “myapp.zip” and click “run” they will see your app instead of the “welcome” app. There is no requirement on the user side, not even Python pre-installed.

For Mac binaries the process is the same but there is no need for the “bat” file.