How to use MinGW's gcc compiler when installing Python package using Pip?

Question

I configured MinGW and distutils so now I can compile extensions using this command:

setup.py install 

MinGW's gcc compiler will be used and package will be installed. For that I installed MinGW and created distutils.cfg file with following content:

[build] compiler = mingw32 

It's cool but now I'd like to use all pip benefits. Is there a way to use the same MinGW's gcc compiler in pip? So that when I run this:

pip install <package name> 

pip will use MinGW's gcc compiler and compile C code if needed?

Currently I get this error: Unable to find vcvarsall.bat. Seems pip doesn't know that I have gcc compiler. How can I configure pip to use gcc compiler?

Answer 1

• install MinGW with C++ Compiler option checked
• add C:\MinGW\bin to your PATH
• in PYTHONPATH\Lib\distutils, create a file distutils.cfg and add these lines:

[build] compiler=mingw32