Exe built with cx_Freeze shows error when containing pysftp import

Question

I am trying to compile an executable from a python script that uses pysftp. I'm using cx_Freeze to do that.

Here is my code:

Test.py

import datetime
import time
import os
import pysftp

i = 0
while(i<10):
    tm = datetime.datetime.now()
    print (tm.strftime('%H:%M:%S'))
    time.sleep(1)
    i += 1

Here is the setup:

setup.py

from cx_Freeze import setup, Executable

base = None    

executables = [Executable("Test.py", base=base)]

packages = ["idna", "datetime", "time", "os", "pysftp"]
options = {
    'build_exe': {    
        'packages':packages,
    },    
}

setup(
    name = "<any name>",
    options = options,
    version = "<any number>",
    description = '<any description>',
    executables = executables
)

When I run test.py from the command line, it works fine. But when I run the exe that is built after running the command python setup.py build, test.exe fails and displays this:

C:\Users\cb\Desktop\Python Scripts\Test cx_Freeze install\build\exe.win-amd64-3.7>Test.exe
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\cb\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37\lib\site-packages\cx_Freeze\initscripts\__startup__.py", line 14, in run
    module.run()
  File "C:\Users\cb\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37\lib\site-packages\cx_Freeze\initscripts\Console.py", line 23, in run
    exec(code, {'__name__': '__main__'})
  File "Test.py", line 4, in <module>
  File "C:\Users\cb\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37\lib\site-packages\pysftp\__init__.py", line 12, in <module>
    import paramiko
  File "C:\Users\cb\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37\lib\site-packages\paramiko\__init__.py", line 22, in <module>
    from paramiko.transport import SecurityOptions, Transport
  File "C:\Users\cb\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37\lib\site-packages\paramiko\transport.py", line 90, in <module>
    from paramiko.ed25519key import Ed25519Key
  File "C:\Users\cb\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37\lib\site-packages\paramiko\ed25519key.py", line 17, in <module>
    import bcrypt
  File "C:\Users\cb\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37\lib\site-packages\bcrypt\__init__.py", line 25, in <module>
    from . import _bcrypt
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named '_cffi_backend'

Any suggestions on what I should try?

I have already tried adding "cryptography" and "paramiko" to the packages list. I've looked online and found that I may have to explicitly state the lib I am using for cx_Freeze, but I am not sure what that is.

I'm using python 3.7.3-64bit and windows 10.

Answer 1

1. Try to add "paramiko" and "bcrypt" to the packages list in your setup.py script. If this still does not work, please post the new traceback you should get.

   EDIT: this does not solve the problem according to the OP.

2. Search for a file named _cffi_backend*.* in your C:\Users\cb\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37\lib\site-packages, do you find anything?

   EDIT: according to OP's answer, there is file [Python version]\Lib\site-packages\_cffi_backend.cp37-win_amd64.pyd, and copying this file manually to the lib directory next to the built executable solves the issue.

   You should be able to let cx_Freeze do this additional step automatically by modifying your setup.py script like this:

   import _cffi_backend
   _cffi_backend_file = _cffi_backend.__file__
   include_files = [(_cffi_backend_file, 'lib')]
   options = {
       'build_exe': {
          'include_files': include_files,    
          'packages': packages,
       },    
   }
   

2nd EDIT:

3. Instead of the above proposals, try to simply add _cffi_backend to the includes list of the build_exe options in your setup.py script:

   includes = ['_cffi_backend']
   options = {
       'build_exe': {
          'includes': includes,    
          'packages': packages,
       },    
   }