Setting Up PyPiServer on Ubuntu with Docker

Recently, I set up a PyPi Server to host my package installation files. I used an Ubuntu system with Docker for the setup, and I’ll document the process here.

Pull the Image​

docker pull pypiserver/pypiserver:latest

Create Directory​

No need for much explanation, simply create a directory under your home directory to store Python packages.

mkdir ~/packages

You can choose your preferred name, but make sure to update the configuration files accordingly.

Set Up htpasswd​

htpasswd is a file format used to store usernames and passwords, which PyPiServer uses for user authentication. This is a simple yet effective way to enhance PyPiServer's security.

First, install apache2-utils:

sudo apt install apache2-utils

Then, use the following command to create a new .htpasswd file:

htpasswd -c ~/.htpasswd [username]

It will prompt you to enter the password for username. After entering the password, the .htpasswd file will be created in your home directory. Once the file is created, we can run pypiserver with the docker run command and use the .htpasswd file for authentication.

Mount as a Background Service​

To run the Docker container as a background service, we will use Docker Compose and Systemd.

If you haven't installed Docker Compose yet, follow the installation instructions:

• Official Docker Compose Installation Guide

Note that Docker Compose has undergone significant updates recently, and many commands have changed. The most notable change is that the previously used docker-compose command is now simply docker compose.

To install the latest version of Docker Compose, follow these steps:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install docker-compose-plugin

Check if Docker Compose is installed correctly:

docker compose version

Create Configuration File​

Create a docker-compose.yml file in a convenient location and add the following content:

version: "3.3"
services:
  pypiserver:
    image: pypiserver/pypiserver:latest
    volumes:
      - /home/[username]/auth:/data/auth
      - /home/[username]/packages:/data/packages
    command: run -P /data/auth/.htpasswd -a update,download,list /data/packages
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"

• Make sure to replace [username] with your actual username.
• You can modify the external port mapping, for example: "18080:8080".

If you don’t want to set up a password for authentication, modify the command line in the docker-compose.yml file as follows:

command: run -a . -P . /data/packages --server wsgiref

Create Systemd Service​

Create a configuration file for the service:

sudo vim /etc/systemd/system/pypiserver.service

Add the following content:

[Unit]
Description=PypiServer Docker Compose
Requires=docker.service
After=docker.service

[Service]
WorkingDirectory=/path/to/your/docker-compose/directory
ExecStart=/usr/bin/docker compose up --remove-orphans
ExecStop=/usr/bin/docker compose down
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

• Make sure to replace /path/to/your/docker-compose/directory with the actual path where your docker-compose.yml file is located, without the filename.
• Verify that the Docker path is correct by using which docker if needed.

Start the Service​

Tell systemd to reload the new service configuration:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload

Start the service:

sudo systemctl enable pypiserver.service
sudo systemctl start pypiserver.service

Check the Status​

To check the current status of the service, use:

sudo systemctl status pypiserver.service

This will show the current status of the pypiserver service, including whether it is running and the most recent log output.

Get Started​

Now, you can start using pip to install and upload packages.

Upload a Package​

Let’s assume we have a package named example_package-0.1-py3-none-any.whl. Use twine to upload the package:

pip install twine
twine upload --repository-url http://localhost:8080/ example_package-0.1-py3-none-any.whl

• Make sure that localhost:8080 is the correct address and port of your PyPiServer.

Download and Install a Package​

To install a package, specify the address and port of your PyPiServer:

pip install --index-url http://localhost:8080/ example_package

Use Basic Authentication​

If you have set up basic authentication for your PyPiServer, you will need to provide credentials when uploading or downloading packages:

• Upload a package:

  twine upload \
    --repository-url http://localhost:8080/ \
    --username [username] \
    --password [password] \
    example_package-0.1-py3-none-any.whl
  

• Install a package:

  pip install \
    --index-url http://[username]:[password]@localhost:8080/ \
    example_package
  

Set Up pip.conf​

If you often install packages from this server, you might not want to specify the --index-url every time you use pip install. Instead, you can add the related configuration to your pip.conf.

Configuration File​

The pip.conf file can exist in several places, and they are checked in the following order of priority:

• Priority 1: Site-level configuration file:

  • /home/[username]/.pyenv/versions/3.x.x/envs/main/pip.conf

• Priority 2: User-level configuration file:

  • /home/[username]/.pip/pip.conf
  • /home/[username]/.config/pip/pip.conf

• Priority 3: Global configuration file:

  • /etc/pip.conf
  • /etc/xdg/pip/pip.conf

Once you identify the correct pip.conf file for your current Python environment, add the following content:

[global]
index-url = http://[server-ip]:8080/
trusted-host = [server-ip]

Make sure to replace [server-ip]:8080 with the correct address and port of your PyPiServer.

After this configuration, whenever you run pip install [package_name], the system will automatically use the server address set in pip.conf as the package source.

Conclusion​

Now, you should have successfully set up your own PyPi server and learned how to upload and download packages.

I hope this article helps resolve your setup issues.