Install a Python package into a different directory using pip?

Question

I know the obvious answer is to use virtualenv and virtualenvwrapper, but for various reasons I can't/don't want to do that.

So how do I modify the command

pip install package_name 

to make pip install the package somewhere other than the default site-packages?

Answer 1

The --target switch is the thing you're looking for:

pip install --target=d:\somewhere\other\than\the\default package_name 

But you still need to add d:\somewhere\other\than\the\default to PYTHONPATH to actually use them from that location.

-t, --target <dir>
Install packages into <dir>. By default this will not replace existing files/folders in <dir>.
Use --upgrade to replace existing packages in <dir> with new versions.

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Upgrade pip if target switch is not available:

On Linux or OS X:

pip install -U pip 

On Windows (this works around an issue):

python -m pip install -U pip