title: How to use setuptools to install in a custom directory?
body: <p>I have a Python package that I need to install in the <code>/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages</code> or any other specific directory for that matter.</p>
  
  <p>Whenever I run the <code>setup.py</code> script it gives the following output:</p>
  
  <pre><code>root@abc44:~/som_dir/plugins/abc$python setup.py install
  running install
  running bdist_egg
  running egg_info
  writing abcNewPlugin.egg-info/PKG-INFO
  writing top-level names to abcNewPlugin.egg-info/top_level.txt
  writing dependency_links to abcNewPlugin.egg-info/dependency_links.txt
  writing entry points to abcNewPlugin.egg-info/entry_points.txt
  reading manifest file 'abcNewPlugin.egg-info/SOURCES.txt'
  writing manifest file 'abcNewPlugin.egg-info/SOURCES.txt'
  installing library code to build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg
  running install_lib
  warning: install_lib: 'build/lib.linux-x86_64-2.7' does not exist -- no Python modules to install
  
  creating build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg
  creating build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg/EGG-INFO
  installing scripts to build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg/EGG-INFO/scripts
  running install_scripts
  running build_scripts
  creating build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg/EGG-INFO/scripts
  copying build/scripts-2.7/abc_plugin.py -&gt; build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg/EGG-INFO/scripts
  changing mode of build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg/EGG-INFO/scripts/abc_plugin.py to 775
  copying abcNewPlugin.egg-info/PKG-INFO -&gt; build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg/EGG-INFO
  copying abcNewPlugin.egg-info/SOURCES.txt -&gt; build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg/EGG-INFO
  copying abcNewPlugin.egg-info/dependency_links.txt -&gt; build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg/EGG-INFO
  copying abcNewPlugin.egg-info/entry_points.txt -&gt; build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg/EGG-INFO
  copying abcNewPlugin.egg-info/top_level.txt -&gt; build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg/EGG-INFO
  zip_safe flag not set; analyzing archive contents...
  creating 'dist/abcNewPlugin-0.0-py2.7.egg' and adding 'build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg' to it
  removing 'build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg' (and everything under it)
  Processing abcNewPlugin-0.0-py2.7.egg
  Removing /usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/abcNewPlugin-0.0-py2.7.egg
  Copying abcNewPlugin-0.0-py2.7.egg to /usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages
  abcNewPlugin 0.0 is already the active version in easy-install.pth
  Installing abc_plugin.py script to /usr/local/bin
  
  Installed /usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/abcNewPlugin-0.0-py2.7.egg
  Processing dependencies for abcNewPlugin==0.0
  Finished processing dependencies for abcNewPlugin==0.0
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Is there any way to specify the install directory of the package in <code>setuptools</code>?
  I tried <code>--install-dir</code> option but it gives an error:</p>
  
  <pre><code>$sudo python setup.py install --install-dir=/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages
  usage: setup.py [global_opts] cmd1 [cmd1_opts] [cmd2 [cmd2_opts] ...]
     or: setup.py --help [cmd1 cmd2 ...]
     or: setup.py --help-commands
     or: setup.py cmd --help
  
  error: option --install-dir not recognized
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I could not use <code>--prefix</code> option also.</p>