Py2app: Operation not permitted

Question

I want to create an application called 'dodgeball' and I have my main script (which uses pygame), and my setup.py script. I need an image named ball.bmp that I need as well.

Inside my setup.py script I have the following code: from setuptools import setup

APP = ['dodgeball.py']
DATA_FILES = ["ball.bmp"]
OPTIONS = {'argv_emulation': True}

setup(
    app=APP,
    data_files=DATA_FILES,
    options={'py2app': OPTIONS},
    setup_requires=['py2app'],
)

Whenever I try to make the application using the following stuff in Terminal:

python setup.py py2app

everything works up to

*** creating application bundle: dodgeball ***

then it returns an error:

error: [Errno 1] Operation not permitted: '/Users/**********/Desktop/Dodgeball/dist/dodgeball.app/Contents/MacOS/dodgeball'

If it helps, I'm on Mac OS X El Capitan (10.11). I'm aware that El Capitan, like any Apple update, will have new software and features that may break stuff like this.

QUESTION

How do I fix this error and then allow py2app to make a fully functionable app?

Ictus

Maybe you should try running your command with sudo – Foreconscious

Thanks! It doesn't have the error anymore, but now when I try to open it it says "dodgeball error". :( – Ictus

see also forums.developer.apple.com/thread/6987 – Mal

Answer 1

After I upgraded my operating system to OS X El Capitan (10.11.2), I got similar error when packaging my app using py2app:

*** creating application bundle: MyApp ***
error: [Errno 1] Operation not permitted: '/Users/jake/work/my-app/dist/MyApp.app/Contents/MacOS/MyApp'

I did some research and found a solution: 1) disable SIP; 2) remove restricted file flag on Python.framework. It worked for me.

Disable SIP

1. Restart your Mac.

2. Before OS X starts up, hold down Command+R and keep it held down until you see an Apple icon and a progress bar. Release. This boots you into Recovery.

3. From the Utilities menu, select Terminal.

4. At the prompt type the following:

   csrutil status
   csrutil disable
   reboot
   

You can re-enable SIP by following the above steps, but using:

csrutil enable

References:

• http://osxdaily.com/2015/10/05/disable-rootless-system-integrity-protection-mac-os-x/
• http://www.macworld.com/article/2986118/security/how-to-modify-system-integrity-protection-in-el-capitan.html

Remove Restricted File Flag

sudo chflags -R norestricted /System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework

As it's mentioned in https://forums.developer.apple.com/thread/6987

Interosculate

Answer 2

I had the same problem. Instead of running

python setup.py py2app

I tried

python3 setup.py py2app

and it worked just fine. Hope this helps.

Synder

Answer 3

Don't use the system provided py2app. Running this fixed the issue for me:

pip install --user --ignore-installed py2app

(I'm usually wary of things that require me to disable System Integrity Protection)

Hinson

This is the better solution. I'd prefer not to disable SIP. This worked great for me. – Freely

Answer 4

Solution: Install with -U flag!

Since all of you will have installed py2app already, start by uninstalling it.

pip3 uninstall py2app

After this point, it's crucial that you reinstall it using the -U flag! 📦

pip3 install -U py2app
py2applet --make-setup YourApp.py
python3 setup.py py2app -A

Look in your dist/ folder, there should now be a runnable application.

Then you can rebuild it using python3 setup.py py2app

Verified on OS X Catalina, Mojave, Big Sur

Auriga

Answer 5

This doesn't happen if you build and install your own py2app rather than depending on the OS-bundled one.

Inside your virtualenv, install Mercurial (if needed), then:

pip install hg+https://bitbucket.org/ronaldoussoren/py2app/

py2app should then work without issue.

Merriott

Edited my answer to clarify. – Merriott

Answer 6

I had this same error on my Mac, version Sierra 10.12. My inspiration came from @Nicholas Riley's answer.

The context of my issue:

• building a simple app using pandas and easygui
• working in a virtualenv
• setup.py was already generated by running $ py2applet --make-setup MyApplication.py
• py2app was installed globally, but not yet in my virtualenv
• virtualenv was not active

My solution:

activate the virtualenv

Spievats-MacBook-Pro:EasyGuiTest user$ source bin/activate

install py2app in the virtualenv

(EasyGuiTest) Spievats-MacBook-Pro:EasyGuiTest brady$ pip install py2app

run py2app again

(EasyGuiTest) Spievats-MacBook-Pro:EasyGuiTest brady$ python setup.py py2app -A

This worked perfectly! I hope it helps someone else.

Bruce