Use containers for Python development

Table of contents

Prerequisites

Complete Containerize a Python application.

Overview

In this section, you'll learn how to set up a development environment for your containerized application. This includes:

  • Adding a local database and persisting data
  • Configuring Compose to automatically update your running Compose services as you edit and save your code

Get the sample application

You'll need to clone a new repository to get a sample application that includes logic to connect to the database.

  1. Change to a directory where you want to clone the repository and run the following command.

    $ git clone https://github.com/estebanx64/python-docker-dev-example

  2. In the cloned repository's directory, manually create the Docker assets or run docker init to create the necessary Docker assets.

    In the cloned repository's directory, run docker init. Refer to the following example to answer the prompts from docker init.

    $ docker init
Welcome to the Docker Init CLI!

This utility will walk you through creating the following files with sensible defaults for your project:
  - .dockerignore
  - Dockerfile
  - compose.yaml
  - README.Docker.md

Let's get started!

? What application platform does your project use? Python
? What version of Python do you want to use? 3.11.4
? What port do you want your app to listen on? 8001
? What is the command to run your app? python3 -m uvicorn app:app --host=0.0.0.0 --port=8001

    Create a file named .gitignore with the following contents.

    .gitignore
    # Byte-compiled / optimized / DLL files
__pycache__/
*.py[cod]
*$py.class

# C extensions
*.so

# Distribution / packaging
.Python
build/
develop-eggs/
dist/
downloads/
eggs/
.eggs/
lib/
lib64/
parts/
sdist/
var/
wheels/
share/python-wheels/
*.egg-info/
.installed.cfg
*.egg
MANIFEST

# Unit test / coverage reports
htmlcov/
.tox/
.nox/
.coverage
.coverage.*
.cache
nosetests.xml
coverage.xml
*.cover
*.py,cover
.hypothesis/
.pytest_cache/
cover/

# PEP 582; used by e.g. github.com/David-OConnor/pyflow and github.com/pdm-project/pdm
__pypackages__/

# Environments
.env
.venv
env/
venv/
ENV/
env.bak/
venv.bak/

    If you don't have Docker Desktop installed or prefer creating the assets manually, you can create the following files in your project directory.

    Create a file named Dockerfile with the following contents.

    Dockerfile
    # syntax=docker/dockerfile:1

# Comments are provided throughout this file to help you get started.
# If you need more help, visit the Dockerfile reference guide at
# https://docs.docker.com/go/dockerfile-reference/

# Want to help us make this template better? Share your feedback here: https://   forms.gle/ybq9Krt8jtBL3iCk7

ARG PYTHON_VERSION=3.11.4
FROM python:${PYTHON_VERSION}-slim as base

# Prevents Python from writing pyc files.
ENV PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE=1

# Keeps Python from buffering stdout and stderr to avoid situations where
# the application crashes without emitting any logs due to buffering.
ENV PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1

WORKDIR /app

# Create a non-privileged user that the app will run under.
# See https://docs.docker.com/go/dockerfile-user-best-practices/
ARG UID=10001
RUN adduser \
    --disabled-password \
    --gecos "" \
    --home "/nonexistent" \
    --shell "/sbin/nologin" \
    --no-create-home \
    --uid "${UID}" \
    appuser

# Download dependencies as a separate step to take advantage of Docker's    caching.
# Leverage a cache mount to /root/.cache/pip to speed up subsequent builds.
# Leverage a bind mount to requirements.txt to avoid having to copy them into
# into this layer.
RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/pip \
    --mount=type=bind,source=requirements.txt,target=requirements.txt \
    python -m pip install -r requirements.txt

# Switch to the non-privileged user to run the application.
USER appuser

# Copy the source code into the container.
COPY . .

# Expose the port that the application listens on.
EXPOSE 8001

# Run the application.
CMD python3 -m uvicorn app:app --host=0.0.0.0 --port=8001

    Create a file named compose.yaml with the following contents.

    compose.yaml
    # Comments are provided throughout this file to help you get started.
# If you need more help, visit the Docker Compose reference guide at
# https://docs.docker.com/go/compose-spec-reference/

# Here the instructions define your application as a service called "server".
# This service is built from the Dockerfile in the current directory.
# You can add other services your application may depend on here, such as a
# database or a cache. For examples, see the Awesome Compose repository:
# https://github.com/docker/awesome-compose
services:
  server:
    build:
      context: .
    ports:
      - 8001:8001
# The commented out section below is an example of how to define a PostgreSQL
# database that your application can use. `depends_on` tells Docker Compose to
# start the database before your application. The `db-data` volume persists the
# database data between container restarts. The `db-password` secret is used
# to set the database password. You must create `db/password.txt` and add
# a password of your choosing to it before running `docker compose up`.
#     depends_on:
#       db:
#         condition: service_healthy
#   db:
#     image: postgres
#     restart: always
#     user: postgres
#     secrets:
#       - db-password
#     volumes:
#       - db-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
#     environment:
#       - POSTGRES_DB=example
#       - POSTGRES_PASSWORD_FILE=/run/secrets/db-password
#     expose:
#       - 5432
#     healthcheck:
#       test: [ "CMD", "pg_isready" ]
#       interval: 10s
#       timeout: 5s
#       retries: 5
# volumes:
#   db-data:
# secrets:
#   db-password:
#     file: db/password.txt

    Create a file named .dockerignore with the following contents.

    .dockerignore
    # Include any files or directories that you don't want to be copied to your
# container here (e.g., local build artifacts, temporary files, etc.).
#
# For more help, visit the .dockerignore file reference guide at
# https://docs.docker.com/go/build-context-dockerignore/

**/.DS_Store
**/__pycache__
**/.venv
**/.classpath
**/.dockerignore
**/.env
**/.git
**/.gitignore
**/.project
**/.settings
**/.toolstarget
**/.vs
**/.vscode
**/*.*proj.user
**/*.dbmdl
**/*.jfm
**/bin
**/charts
**/docker-compose*
**/compose.y*ml
**/Dockerfile*
**/node_modules
**/npm-debug.log
**/obj
**/secrets.dev.yaml
**/values.dev.yaml
LICENSE
README.md

    Create a file named .gitignore with the following contents.

    .gitignore
    # Byte-compiled / optimized / DLL files
__pycache__/
*.py[cod]
*$py.class

# C extensions
*.so

# Distribution / packaging
.Python
build/
develop-eggs/
dist/
downloads/
eggs/
.eggs/
lib/
lib64/
parts/
sdist/
var/
wheels/
share/python-wheels/
*.egg-info/
.installed.cfg
*.egg
MANIFEST

# Unit test / coverage reports
htmlcov/
.tox/
.nox/
.coverage
.coverage.*
.cache
nosetests.xml
coverage.xml
*.cover
*.py,cover
.hypothesis/
.pytest_cache/
cover/

# PEP 582; used by e.g. github.com/David-OConnor/pyflow and github.com/pdm-project/pdm
__pypackages__/

# Environments
.env
.venv
env/
venv/
ENV/
env.bak/
venv.bak/

Add a local database and persist data

You can use containers to set up local services, like a database. In this section, you'll update the compose.yaml file to define a database service and a volume to persist data.

In the cloned repository's directory, open the compose.yaml file in an IDE or text editor. docker init handled creating most of the instructions, but you'll need to update it for your unique application.

In the compose.yaml file, you need to uncomment all of the database instructions. In addition, you need to add the database password file as an environment variable to the server service and specify the secret file to use .

The following is the updated compose.yaml file.

services:
  server:
    build:
      context: .
    ports:
      - 8001:8001
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_SERVER=db
      - POSTGRES_USER=postgres
      - POSTGRES_DB=example
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD_FILE=/run/secrets/db-password
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
    secrets:
      - db-password
  db:
    image: postgres
    restart: always
    user: postgres
    secrets:
      - db-password
    volumes:
      - db-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_DB=example
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD_FILE=/run/secrets/db-password
    expose:
      - 5432
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "pg_isready"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
volumes:
  db-data:
secrets:
  db-password:
    file: db/password.txt

Note

To learn more about the instructions in the Compose file, see Compose file reference.

Before you run the application using Compose, notice that this Compose file specifies a password.txt file to hold the database's password. You must create this file as it's not included in the source repository.

In the cloned repository's directory, create a new directory named db and inside that directory create a file named password.txt that contains the password for the database. Using your favorite IDE or text editor, add the following contents to the password.txt file.

mysecretpassword

Save and close the password.txt file.

You should now have the following contents in your python-docker-dev-example directory.

├── python-docker-dev-example/
│ ├── db/
│ │ └── password.txt
│ ├── app.py
│ ├── config.py
│ ├── requirements.txt
│ ├── .dockerignore
│ ├── .gitignore
│ ├── compose.yaml
│ ├── Dockerfile
│ ├── README.Docker.md
│ └── README.md

Now, run the following docker compose up command to start your application.

$ docker compose up --build

Now test your API endpoint. Open a new terminal then make a request to the server using the curl commands:

Let's create an object with a post method

$ curl -X 'POST' \
  'http://localhost:8001/heroes/' \
  -H 'accept: application/json' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "id": 1,
  "name": "my hero",
  "secret_name": "austing",
  "age": 12
}'

You should receive the following response:

{
  "age": 12,
  "id": 1,
  "name": "my hero",
  "secret_name": "austing"
}

Let's make a get request with the next curl command:

curl -X 'GET' \
  'http://localhost:8001/heroes/' \
  -H 'accept: application/json'

You should receive the same response as above because it's the only one object we have in database.

{
  "age": 12,
  "id": 1,
  "name": "my hero",
  "secret_name": "austing"
}

Press ctrl+c in the terminal to stop your application.

Automatically update services

Use Compose Watch to automatically update your running Compose services as you edit and save your code. For more details about Compose Watch, see Use Compose Watch.

Open your compose.yaml file in an IDE or text editor and then add the Compose Watch instructions. The following is the updated compose.yaml file.

services:
  server:
    build:
      context: .
    ports:
      - 8001:8001
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_SERVER=db
      - POSTGRES_USER=postgres
      - POSTGRES_DB=example
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD_FILE=/run/secrets/db-password
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
    secrets:
      - db-password
    develop:
      watch:
        - action: rebuild
          path: .
  db:
    image: postgres
    restart: always
    user: postgres
    secrets:
      - db-password
    volumes:
      - db-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_DB=example
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD_FILE=/run/secrets/db-password
    expose:
      - 5432
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "pg_isready"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
volumes:
  db-data:
secrets:
  db-password:
    file: db/password.txt

Run the following command to run your application with Compose Watch.

$ docker compose watch

In a terminal, curl the application to get a response.

$ curl http://localhost:8001
Hello, Docker!

Any changes to the application's source files on your local machine will now be immediately reflected in the running container.

Open python-docker-dev-example/app.py in an IDE or text editor and update the Hello, Docker! string by adding a few more exclamation marks.

-    return 'Hello, Docker!'
+    return 'Hello, Docker!!!'

Save the changes to app.py and then wait a few seconds for the application to rebuild. Curl the application again and verify that the updated text appears.

$ curl http://localhost:8001
Hello, Docker!!!

Press ctrl+c in the terminal to stop your application.

Summary

In this section, you took a look at setting up your Compose file to add a local database and persist data. You also learned how to use Compose Watch to automatically rebuild and run your container when you update your code.

Related information:

Next steps

In the next section, you'll take a look at how to set up a CI/CD pipeline using GitHub Actions.

Configure CI/CD for your Python application »