Python Container Tutorials - Azure for Developers

Introduction to Python Containers on Azure

This tutorial series guides you through building, deploying, and managing Python applications within containers on Microsoft Azure. Containers offer a consistent and isolated environment for your applications, simplifying development and deployment workflows.

We'll cover:

Setting up your development environment.
Creating Dockerfiles for your Python applications.
Building and pushing container images to Azure Container Registry.
Deploying containers to Azure Container Instances (ACI) for simple workloads.
Leveraging Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) for scalable container orchestration.
Monitoring and managing your containerized Python applications.

Part 1: Your First Python Docker Container

Learn the fundamentals of Dockerizing a simple Python web application. You'll create a basic Flask app and write a Dockerfile to package it.

Steps:

Create a Python Web App: Write a minimal Flask application.
Write a Dockerfile: Define the steps to build an image for your app.
Build the Docker Image: Use Docker commands to create your image.
Run the Container Locally: Test your containerized app on your machine.

Example Flask App (app.py):

                
import os
from flask import Flask

app = Flask(__name__)

@app.route('/')
def hello():
    return "Hello from a Python Docker Container on Azure!"

if __name__ == "__main__":
    port = int(os.environ.get("PORT", 8080))
    app.run(debug=True, host='0.0.0.0', port=port)
                
            

Example Dockerfile:

                
# Use an official Python runtime as a parent image
FROM python:3.9-slim

# Set the working directory in the container
WORKDIR /app

# Copy the current directory contents into the container at /app
COPY . /app

# Install any needed packages specified in requirements.txt
RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt

# Make port 8080 available to the world outside this container
EXPOSE 8080

# Define environment variable
ENV NAME World

# Run app.py when the container launches
CMD ["python", "app.py"]
                
            

Part 2: Deploying to Azure Container Instances (ACI)

Discover how to deploy your Dockerized Python application to Azure Container Instances, a quick and easy way to run containers without managing virtual machines.

Key Concepts:

Azure Container Registry (ACR) for image storage.
Creating an ACI instance with `az container create`.
Configuring ports, environment variables, and resources.

Part 3: Orchestration with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

For more complex and scalable applications, learn to deploy and manage your Python containers using Azure Kubernetes Service. This section will cover the basics of AKS, deployments, and services.

Learning Objectives:

Setting up an AKS cluster.
Creating Kubernetes deployment manifests (YAML).
Exposing your Python application via Kubernetes Services.
Scaling your application with AKS.

Further Resources

Explore additional resources to deepen your understanding:

Python Container Tutorials on Azure