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🔨 Executable Build Guide

This guide describes the process of compiling the letsencrypt_regru_api.py Python script into executable files for Linux and Windows using PyInstaller.

📋 Table of Contents

✅ Advantages of Executable Files

Pros:

  • ✅ Single file - easy to distribute and deploy
  • ✅ Standalone - no Python installation required on target system
  • ✅ All dependencies included - requests, cryptography, and certbot modules are bundled
  • ✅ Simple execution - just download and run

Cons:

  • ❌ Large size - ~40-60 MB (including Python runtime and libraries)
  • ❌ Certbot dependency - system certbot is still required
  • ❌ Slow first launch - unpacking takes a few seconds
  • ❌ Rebuild required - code changes require recompilation

🚀 Quick Start

Build for current OS:

make build

Build for all platforms:

make build-all

Full release (build + packages):

make release

📖 Detailed Instructions

1. Install Dependencies

Option A: Automatic Installation

make install-pyinstaller

Option B: Manual Installation

pip install pyinstaller
pip install -r requirements.txt

2. Build for Linux

On Linux system:

make build-linux

Result:

  • File: dist/letsencrypt-regru
  • Size: ~45-55 MB
  • Format: ELF 64-bit executable

Testing:

./dist/letsencrypt-regru --help
sudo ./dist/letsencrypt-regru --check -c /etc/letsencrypt-regru/config.json

3. Build for Windows

On Windows system (PowerShell/CMD):

make build-windows

Result:

  • File: dist/letsencrypt-regru.exe
  • Size: ~40-50 MB
  • Format: PE32+ executable (Windows)

Testing:

.\dist\letsencrypt-regru.exe --help

4. Create Distribution Packages

Linux package (tar.gz):

make package-linux

Package contents:

  • letsencrypt-regru - executable file
  • README.md - documentation
  • systemd/ - systemd unit files
  • config.json.example - configuration example

Result: dist/letsencrypt-regru-linux-x86_64.tar.gz

Windows package (zip):

make package-windows

Result: dist/letsencrypt-regru-windows-x86_64.zip

5. Full Release Cycle

Create release with all artifacts:

make release

What happens:

  1. Clean old artifacts (clean-build)
  2. Install/update PyInstaller
  3. Build for Linux (build-linux)
  4. Build for Windows (build-windows)
  5. Create Linux package (package-linux)
  6. Create Windows package (package-windows)
  7. Generate SHA256 checksums

Result in dist/:

letsencrypt-regru              # Linux executable
letsencrypt-regru.exe          # Windows executable
letsencrypt-regru-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
letsencrypt-regru-windows-x86_64.zip

🔄 Cross-Compilation

⚠️ Important Notes

Not recommended:

  • Building Linux version on Windows
  • Building Windows version on Linux
  • Building macOS version on other OSes

Reasons:

  • System library incompatibility
  • Different executable formats
  • Path and separator issues

Recommendations

For Linux builds:

  1. Use Ubuntu 20.04+ or Debian 10+
  2. Install build-essential
  3. Use Python virtual environment
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y python3 python3-pip build-essential
make build-linux

For Windows builds:

  1. Use Windows 10/11
  2. Install Python 3.8+
  3. Use PowerShell or CMD
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
make build-windows

For both platforms:

Use CI/CD (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI):

# .github/workflows/build.yml
name: Build Releases

on:
  push:
    tags:
      - 'v*'

jobs:
  build-linux:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Build Linux
        run: make build-linux

  build-windows:
    runs-on: windows-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Build Windows
        run: make build-windows

🛠️ All Makefile Commands

Main Commands:

Command Description
make build Build for current OS
make build-linux Build for Linux
make build-windows Build for Windows
make build-all Build for all platforms
make package-linux Create tar.gz package
make package-windows Create zip package
make release Full release cycle

Supporting Commands:

Command Description
make install-pyinstaller Install PyInstaller
make test-build Test built file
make clean-build Clean build artifacts
make build-info Show environment info

🐛 Troubleshooting

Issue: PyInstaller not found

Error:

make: pyinstaller: Command not found

Solution:

make install-pyinstaller
# or
pip install pyinstaller

Issue: Module imports not working

Error:

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'requests'

Solution:

pip install -r requirements.txt
# or add to PyInstaller command:
--hidden-import requests
--hidden-import certbot
--hidden-import cryptography

Issue: Large file size

Size ~100+ MB instead of 40-60 MB

Causes:

  • Extra modules included
  • Not using --onefile
  • Debug symbols included

Solution:

# Use optimization flags:
pyinstaller --onefile \
  --strip \
  --exclude-module tkinter \
  --exclude-module matplotlib \
  letsencrypt_regru_api.py

Issue: Certbot not working in executable

Error:

certbot: command not found

Solution:

Certbot is called via subprocess and must be installed on the system:

Linux:

sudo apt-get install certbot

Windows:

  • Not directly supported
  • Use WSL or Docker

Issue: File permission errors

Error:

Permission denied: /etc/letsencrypt/

Solution:

# Linux/macOS
sudo ./dist/letsencrypt-regru --check

# Or set proper permissions:
sudo chmod +x ./dist/letsencrypt-regru
sudo chown root:root ./dist/letsencrypt-regru

Issue: Slow startup

First launch takes 5-10 seconds

Reason: PyInstaller unpacks files to temporary directory on each run.

Solution:

  • This is normal behavior for --onefile
  • Use --onedir for faster startup (but many files)
  • Temporary directory is cached automatically

Issue: Antivirus blocking file

Windows Defender marks .exe as virus

Reasons:

  • Self-extracting archive looks like malware
  • No digital signature
  • Unknown executable file

Solution:

  1. Add to exclusions:

    • Windows Defender → Settings → Exclusions

  2. Sign file with digital signature:

    # Requires Code Signing certificate
signtool sign /f cert.pfx /p password dist/letsencrypt-regru.exe

  3. Check on VirusTotal:

    • Upload file to virustotal.com
    • Add results to README

📊 Comparison: Python vs Executable

Feature Python Script Executable File
Size ~50 KB ~40-60 MB
Dependencies Requires Python + pip Standalone
Startup Speed Fast (~1 sec) Slow (~5-10 sec)
Updates Just replace .py Requires rebuild
Compatibility Any OS with Python Only target OS
Installation Requires venv setup Download and run
Certbot Via subprocess Via subprocess

🎯 Recommendations

Use Python script if:

  • ✅ Python already installed on system
  • ✅ Frequent code updates needed
  • ✅ Using virtual environment
  • ✅ Working on servers (production)

Use executable file if:

  • ✅ Python not installed
  • ✅ Simple deployment needed
  • ✅ Distributing to end users
  • ✅ Testing on clean systems

📦 Using Built File Examples

Linux:

# Download and extract
wget https://github.com/user/repo/releases/download/v1.0/letsencrypt-regru-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
tar -xzf letsencrypt-regru-linux-x86_64.tar.gz

# Install
sudo mv letsencrypt-regru /usr/local/bin/
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/letsencrypt-regru

# Use
sudo letsencrypt-regru --help
sudo letsencrypt-regru --check -c /etc/letsencrypt-regru/config.json

Windows:

# Download and extract
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://github.com/user/repo/releases/download/v1.0/letsencrypt-regru-windows-x86_64.zip" -OutFile "letsencrypt-regru.zip"
Expand-Archive -Path letsencrypt-regru.zip -DestinationPath "C:\Program Files\LetsEncrypt-RegRu"

# Use
cd "C:\Program Files\LetsEncrypt-RegRu"
.\letsencrypt-regru.exe --help

📝 Additional Resources

📄 License

This project uses the license as specified in the main README.md.

Author: Dmitry Fofanov
Last Updated: October 28, 2025