Python
When using the new off-host execution feature, available Python versions are defined in a separate configuration file. For an overview of this feature, please see the Execution Environments appendix. An appropriate image is selected from the set of configured images based on the version of Python that is requested by the content being deployed.
Posit Connect offers a flexible way of deploying Python APIs, web apps such as Dash and Streamlit, Jupyter Notebooks, and reticulated R content against a variety of Python versions.
A compatible version of Python is identified when content is deployed. That Python installation is used any time Python is needed for that content. Package installation and rendering content that utilized Python will use the version of Python discovered at deploy-time.
Posit Connect allows different content to rely on different versions of Python. For example, Alice’s Flask API may require version 3.7.4 of Python while Bob’s Shiny application with reticulate needs Python version 3.8.1. Those two deployments using different Python versions can coexist in Posit Connect without conflict.
This chapter discusses how to install Python, how Posit Connect can be configured to support one or more versions of Python, how Python version compatibility is determined, and other configuration settings relevant to Python support in Posit Connect.
Available Python installations are analyzed at startup. Posit Connect logs the provided Python versions and whether it can use each installation.
Changing any of the configuration items discussed in this chapter requires a restart of Posit Connect.
Additional Requirements
Each Python installation is required to have the pip
package installed. The Python venv
module is used to create content-specific environments and pip
is used to install Python packages.
Enabling Python Support
Python support is disabled by default but can be enabled by setting the Python.Enabled
property to true
.
; /etc/rstudio-connect/rstudio-connect.gcfg
[Python]
Enabled = true
Posit Connect also needs to be configured to use a specific Python installation in order to fully support Python content.
The Python.Executable
property is used to specify locations for Python installations. Specify this property once for each Python installation directory.
; /etc/rstudio-connect/rstudio-connect.gcfg
[Python]
Enabled = true
Executable = /shared/Python/3.7.6/bin/python3
Executable = /shared/Python/3.8.1/bin/python3
The Python.Executable
property is permitted to be a symbolic link to a Python installation.
Installing Python
The minimum Python version supported is 3.7.0
.
See Installing Python to learn how to install Python.
We do not recommend installing Python with a package manager like apt
, yum
, or zypper
.
Once you have Python installed on the server, it is important to understand how Connect discovers Python and chooses the Python version that an asset will use. Python Version Matching explains more about this process.
Upgrading Python
We strongly recommend supporting multiple versions of Python instead of upgrading and maintaining a single version of Python. Supporting multiple versions of Python is the best way to ensure applications or reports published with specific package dependencies will continue to run.
After installing another Python version:
Add an additional
Python.Executable
property to the configuration file that points to the newly built Python installation.
Following an upgrade, content dependent on Python is rebuilt on-demand. For example, during the next execution of a scheduled Jupyter Notebook, Posit Connect will automatically reinstall and rebuild all of the necessary packages before rendering the report, if needed. During the package updates, Posit Connect will present a message and spinner indicating to the end user that the rendered Jupyter Notebook is available once the packages are successfully installed and built for the new version of Python.
Rebuilding and restoring packages can take a significant amount of time and may delay or prevent the rendering of a report or the availability of applications. You can proactively rebuild Python or R content using the rsconnect content build
command included with the rsconnect-python
Python package.
Not all packages can be reinstalled and rebuilt on newer versions of Python. Rebuilding and restoring packages can take a significant amount of time and could delay or prevent the rendering of a Jupyter Notebook or reticulated R content.
Python Version Matching
Posit Connect attempts to find a Python installation that is appropriate for your content. By default, it applies a “major-minor” matching approach. This algorithm attempts to find a version of Python to use with your content. More deployments will succeed but not always with the same version of Python that is used by the author.
If you would prefer a strict association between authored and deployed Python versions, you can choose to use an “exact” matching approach.
The “major-minor” algorithm requires exact MAJOR.MINOR
matching but is flexible about the patch level. This is a useful option when your desktop and server may occasionally have different update cycles when installing bug fix releases. For example, if content was deployed with Python 3.10.0 and Posit Connect is configured with Python 3.10.1, then Python 3.10.1 will be used as the MAJOR.MINOR
numbers match (3.10
and 3.10
) but if Posit Connect is configured with only Python 3.7.4 then the content will fail to deploy as the MAJOR.MINOR
versions are different (3.10
vs. 3.7
).
An inconsistent version of Python occasionally causes problems when installing package dependencies. For the best results, make sure that Posit Connect has access to the same versions of Python used to author content.
The Python version matching approach is controlled with the Python.VersionMatching
configuration setting.
- major-minor
-
Find a Python installation with an exact
MAJOR.MINOR
version match that is close to the version used when authoring the content. If a compatible version cannot be found, content will fail to deploy.Use exact version match.
If there are matching
MAJOR.MINOR
releases, use least-greater version.If there are matching
MAJOR.MINOR
releases, use latest of these.
- exact
-
Finds a Python installation that exactly matches the version of Python used when authoring the content. If a matching version cannot be found, content will fail to deploy.
Examples
The table below shows some examples of how the matching algorithm takes the version of Python used in your development environment and chooses an appropriate Python version from the ones available to Posit Connect.
Matching Algorithm | Development Version | Server Versions | Used Version | Reason |
---|---|---|---|---|
major-minor |
3.9.6 | 3.9.4, 3.9.6, 3.9.9 | 3.9.6 | Chose exact match |
major-minor |
3.9.3 | 3.9.1, 3.9.5, 3.9.6 | 3.9.5 | Chose lowest 3.9.X release after 3.9.3 |
major-minor |
3.8.10 | 3.8.4, 3.8.9, 3.9.2 | 3.8.9 | Chose the latest 3.8.X release since all are before 3.8.10 |
exact |
3.9.6 | 3.9.6, 3.9.7 | 3.9.6 | Chose exact match |
exact |
3.9.6 | 3.9.4, 3.9.7 | error | no match |