Installation locations for extensions

By default, extensions are installed to a general user-writable location for your operating system. To view the location, run the SHOW EXTPATHS syntax command. The output displays a list of locations, under the heading "Locations for extension commands," for installing extensions. Extensions are installed to the first writable location in the list.

You can override the default location by defining a path with the SPSS_EXTENSIONS_PATH environment variable. For multiple locations, separate each with a semicolon on Windows and a colon on Linux and Mac. The specified location must exist on the target computer. After you set SPSS_EXTENSIONS_PATH, you must restart IBM® SPSS® Statistics for the changes to take effect.

Custom dialogs, contained in extension bundles, are installed to the first writable location in the list under the heading "Locations for custom dialogs" in the output from the SHOW EXTPATHS syntax command. You can override the default location by defining a path with the SPSS_CDIALOGS_PATH environment variable, with the same specifications as for the SPSS_EXTENSIONS_PATH environment variable.

Note: For an extension that is implemented in Python 3, you can specify alternative installation locations with the SPSSEX_EXTENSIONS_PATH and SPSSEX_CDIALOGS_PATH environment variables. The SPSSEX_EXTENSIONS_PATH and SPSSEX_CDIALOGS_PATH variables have the same specifications as SPSS_EXTENSIONS_PATH and SPSS_CDIALOGS_PATH and take precedence over them and over the default installation location for extensions. The SPSSEX_EXTENSIONS_PATH and SPSSEX_CDIALOGS_PATH environment variables apply only in the case that Python 3 is specified as the Python Version for the extension. You can view the Python Version from the Extension Details dialog, which is accessed by clicking More info for the associated extension in the Extension Hub dialog.

To create an environment variable on Windows, from the Control Panel:

Windows 7

  1. Select User Accounts.
  2. Select Change my environment variables.
  3. Click New, enter the name of the environment variable (for instance, SPSS_EXTENSIONS_PATH) in the Variable name field and enter the path or paths in the Variable value field.

Windows 8

  1. Select System.
  2. Select the Advanced tab and click Environment Variables. The Advanced tab is accessed from Advanced system settings.
  3. In the User variables section, click New, enter the name of the environment variable (for instance, SPSS_EXTENSIONS_PATH) in the Variable name field and enter the path or paths in the Variable value field.

Windows 10

  1. Enter envrionment variable in the Windows search field and click the Edit the system environment variables result that is provided. The System Properties dialog opens to the Advanced tab, which provides the Environment Variables... control.
  2. Click Environment Variables... to open the Environment Variables dialog.
  3. In the User variables for <username> section, click New, enter the name of the environment variable (for instance, SPSS_EXTENSIONS_PATH) in the Variable name field and enter the path or paths in the Variable value field.
Important: For users of Windows 7 and later versions of Windows, installing an updated version of an existing extension bundle might require running IBM SPSS Statistics with administrator privileges. You can start IBM SPSS Statistics with administrator privileges by right-clicking the icon for IBM SPSS Statistics and choosing Run as administrator. In particular, if you receive an error message that states that one or more extension bundles could not be installed, then try running with administrator privileges.