Installation missing after insstalling with `--target` setting

[USSX-Hares]

Background

I have installed 3.14 via pymanager to a custom directory. Pymanager asked me if I would like to add it to Path and then stopped seing it.

I was forced to reinstall Python3.14 installed from MS store because it landed straight to C:/Python314 which I'm not OK with. All previous versions of Python were installed manually, all with the same set of options:

• Installation directory: C:\Program Files\Python\Python <full version>
• Add to PATH
• Precompile standard library
• Download debugging symbols
• Install documentation
• Install tests, pip, tkinter & IDE
• (Manually) Added symlinks with version suffix: python3.exe, python3.<minor>.exe, python3.<minor>.<micro>.exe

Details

How I have installed it:

pymanager install 3.14.0 -t "C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.14.0" --configure --dry-run
pymanager install 3.14.0 -t "C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.14.0" --dry-run
(permission error) pymanager install 3.14.0 -t "C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.14.0"
(admin) pymanager install 3.14.0 -t "C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.14.0"
(admin) pymanager install 3.14.0 -t "C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.14.0" --configure

List of installations:

PS C:\Users\Hares> pymanager list
Tag      Name                  Managed By  Version  Alias
-- No runtimes. Use 'py install <version>' to install one. --

* These runtimes were found, but cannot be updated or uninstalled. *
3.13  *  Python 3.13 (64-bit)  PythonCore  3.13.5
3.12     Python 3.12 (64-bit)  PythonCore  3.12.10
3.11     Python 3.11 (64-bit)  PythonCore  3.11.9
3.10     Python 3.10 (64-bit)  PythonCore  3.10.4
3.9      Python 3.9 (64-bit)   PythonCore  3.9.12
3.8      Python 3.8 (64-bit)   PythonCore  3.8.10
3.7      Python 3.7 (64-bit)   PythonCore  3.7.9
3.6      Python 3.6 (64-bit)   PythonCore  3.6.8
3.5      Python 3.5            PythonCore  3.5```

What have I tried:

(admin) pymanager install 3.14.0 -t "C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.14.0" --configure
pymanager install 3.14.0 -t "C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.14.0" --configure
pymanager install --refresth

What have I also done:

1. Created symlinks within 3.14's installation directory:

   New-Item -Type SymbolicLink -Name python3.14.0.exe -Target python.exe
   New-Item -Type SymbolicLink -Name python3.14.exe -Target python.exe
   New-Item -Type SymbolicLink -Name python3.exe -Target python.exe
   

2. Manually added installation directory to PATH (pymanager didn't do so)

After all these manipulations and multiple terminal restarts, pymanager still can't find 3.14 even though executable is on PATH:

PS C:\Users\Hares> python3.14 --version
Python 3.14.0
PS C:\Users\Hares> python --version
Python 3.14.0

PS C:\Users\Hares> ${env:PATH}.split(";")
C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.14.0\Scripts\
C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.14.0\
C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.13.5\Scripts\
C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.13.5\
C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.12.10\Scripts\
C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.12.10\
C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.12.1\Scripts\
C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.12.1\
C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.11.9\Scripts\
C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.11.9\
C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.10.4\Scripts\
C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.10.4\
C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.9.12\Scripts\
C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.9.12\
C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.8.10\Scripts\
C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.8.10\
C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.7.9\Scripts\
C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.7.9\
C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.6.8\Scripts\
C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.6.8\
C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.5.4\Scripts\
C:\Program Files\Python\Python 3.5.4\
C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common
C:\Windows\system32
C:\Windows
C:\Windows\System32\Wbem
C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\
C:\Windows\System32\OpenSSH\
C:\Program Files\Microsoft\jdk-11.0.28.6-hotspot\bin
C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2023a\bin
C:\Program Files\Microsoft VS Code\bin
C:\Program Files\WireGuard\
C:\Program Files\jq
C:\Program Files\Git\cmd
C:\Program Files\Git\mingw64\bin
C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin
C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\resources\bin
C:\Program Files\Python\PAGE
C:\Program Files\nodejs\
C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\bin
C:\Users\Hares\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps
C:\Program Files\JetBrains\PyCharm 2023.1\bin
C:\Program Files\JetBrains\PyCharm Community Edition 2023.1\bin
C:\Users\Hares\Python\Python312\Scripts
C:\Users\Hares\AppData\Roaming\Python\Python312\Scripts
C:\Users\Hares\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WinGet\Links
C:\Users\Hares\AppData\Roaming\npm

[USSX-Hares]

Output of pymanager list with -vv (extra verbose) option:

PS C:\Users\Hares> pymanager list -vv
Loading configuration from C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\PythonSoftwareFoundation.PythonManager_25.0.240.0_x64__qbz5n2kfra8p0\pymanager.json
# Setting config install to {'fallback_source': 'file:///C:/Program Files/WindowsApps/PythonSoftwareFoundation.PythonManager_25.0.240.0_x64__qbz5n2kfra8p0/bundled/fallback-index.json', 'default_install_tag': '3'}
# Setting config list to {}
# Setting config registry_override_key to 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\Software\\Policies\\Python\\PyManager'
# Setting config shebang_can_run_anything_silently to False
# Setting config install_dir to C:\Users\Hares\AppData\Local\Python
# Setting config download_dir to C:\Users\Hares\AppData\Local\Python\_cache
# Setting config global_dir to C:\Users\Hares\AppData\Local\Python\bin
# Setting config bundled_dir to C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\PythonSoftwareFoundation.PythonManager_25.0.240.0_x64__qbz5n2kfra8p0\bundled
# Setting config user_config to C:\Users\Hares\AppData\Roaming\Python\PyManager.json
# Setting config pep514_root to 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\\Python'
# Setting config start_folder to 'Python'
# Setting config launcher_exe to C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\PythonSoftwareFoundation.PythonManager_25.0.240.0_x64__qbz5n2kfra8p0\templates\launcher.exe
# Setting config launcherw_exe to C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\PythonSoftwareFoundation.PythonManager_25.0.240.0_x64__qbz5n2kfra8p0\templates\launcherw.exe
# Setting config welcome_on_update to True
# Setting config _config_files to C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\PythonSoftwareFoundation.PythonManager_25.0.240.0_x64__qbz5n2kfra8p0\pymanager.json
Skipping configuration at C:\Users\Hares\AppData\Roaming\Python\PyManager.json because it does not exist
# Finished processing options for list
Writing logs to C:\Users\Hares\AppData\Local\Temp\python_list_20251107144801_5176.log
Python installation manager 25.0
Copyright (c) Python Software Foundation. All Rights Reserved.

# BEGIN list_command.execute: []
# Get formatter table
# Reading installs from C:\Users\Hares\AppData\Local\Python
# Found 0 installs
# Reading unmanaged installs
# Failed to read PythonCore\3.14 registration
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "manage\pep514utils.py", line 373, in _get_unmanaged_installs
  File "manage\pep514utils.py", line 307, in _read_one_unmanaged_install
ValueError: Registration is incomplete

# Found 9 installs
# Calculating default install
# Filtering installs by tag = 3
# Filter included __unmanaged-PythonCore-3.13
# Filter included __unmanaged-PythonCore-3.12
# Filter included __unmanaged-PythonCore-3.11
# Filter included __unmanaged-PythonCore-3.10
# Filter included __unmanaged-PythonCore-3.9
# Filter included __unmanaged-PythonCore-3.8
# Filter included __unmanaged-PythonCore-3.7
# Filter included __unmanaged-PythonCore-3.6
# Filter included __unmanaged-PythonCore-3.5
# tag '3' matched 9 installs
# - 9 unmanaged install(s) by prefix
# default_platform '-64' matched 0 installs
# Reusing unfiltered list
# Default install will be __unmanaged-PythonCore-3.13
Tag      Name                  Managed By  Version  Alias
-- No runtimes. Use 'py install <version>' to install one. --

* These runtimes were found, but cannot be updated or uninstalled. *
3.13  *  Python 3.13 (64-bit)  PythonCore  3.13.5
3.12     Python 3.12 (64-bit)  PythonCore  3.12.10
3.11     Python 3.11 (64-bit)  PythonCore  3.11.9
3.10     Python 3.10 (64-bit)  PythonCore  3.10.4
3.9      Python 3.9 (64-bit)   PythonCore  3.9.12
3.8      Python 3.8 (64-bit)   PythonCore  3.8.10
3.7      Python 3.7 (64-bit)   PythonCore  3.7.9
3.6      Python 3.6 (64-bit)   PythonCore  3.6.8
3.5      Python 3.5            PythonCore  3.5
# END list_command.execute
PS C:\Users\Hares>

[zooba]

--target is for extracting, rather than installing, runtimes. They need to be registered manually if you want to have them show up in other tools. Usually you'd use it for embedding Python into another app.

See the configuration docs for info on relocating the default install directory. We no longer support custom install directories for each individual install, you'll need to find an alternative installer for that (or build one yourself).