Setting Up PyPiServer on Ubuntu

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As the Python community continues to evolve, many developers and teams opt to establish their own private Python package index servers to store and manage their Python packages. This not only provides better version control but also ensures the security of software packages.

In this article, we'll use Docker to set up a PyPi Server and run it on Ubuntu.

We assume you've already installed Docker on Ubuntu and are familiar with basic Docker operations.

1. Pull the pypiserver Docker Image

docker pull pypiserver/pypiserver:latest

2. Create a Directory to Store Python Packages

Without further ado, let's create a directory to store Python packages in the home directory.

mkdir ~/packages

3. Set Up htpasswd

htpasswd is a file format used to store usernames and passwords (often used for basic HTTP authentication).

pypiserver uses this file to authenticate users attempting to upload or download packages. It's a simple yet effective way to enhance the security of pypiserver.

To create a .htpasswd file, you need the apache2-utils package:

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 a password for username. After entering the password, the .htpasswd file will be created in your home directory.

Now, you can use the docker run command mentioned above to run pypiserver and authenticate using the .htpasswd file you just created.

4. Mount pypiserver as a Background Service

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

4.1 Install Docker Compose

If you haven't installed Docker Compose yet, install it first by referring to the official Docker Compose installation documentation.

It's worth noting that Docker Compose has undergone significant updates recently, with many changes in usage compared to before. The most obvious change is the shift from using docker-compose commands to docker compose commands.

Following the official documentation, here's how you can install the latest version of Docker Compose:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install docker-compose-plugin

Check if Docker Compose is installed correctly:

docker compose version

4.2 Create Files

Create a docker-compose.yml file somewhere and fill it with the following content:

You can also refer to the template provided by pypiserver: docker-compose.yml

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

• Replace [your_username] with your actual username in the above configuration.
• You can modify the external port mapping here, for example, change it to: "18080:8080".

4.3 Create Systemd Service

Create a configuration file:

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 to the docker-compose.yml file, specifying only the directory, not the filename.
• Make sure your Docker path is correct, you can use which docker to confirm.
• We're using the new docker compose commands instead of docker-compose.

4.4 Start the pypiserver Service

Tell systemd to reload the new service configuration:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload

Start the service:

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

Now, pypiserver will run as a systemd service and automatically start each time the host boots up.

5. Check Status

If you want to check the current status of the service, you can use:

sudo systemctl status pypiserver.service

This will display the current status of the pypiserver service, including whether it's running and recent log outputs.

6. Using pypiserver

Now, you can use pip to install and upload packages.

6.1 Upload Packages

First, you need a packaged Python software package (usually in .whl or .tar.gz format). Suppose you already have a package named example_package-0.1-py3-none-any.whl.

To upload the software package to your pypiserver, use twine:

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

• Ensure that localhost:8080 is the address and port of your pypiserver service.

6.2 Install Packages

To install packages, use pip and specify the address and port of your pypiserver service:

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

6.3 Use Basic Authentication

If your pypiserver is configured with basic authentication (which may be done for security reasons), you need to provide authentication information when uploading or downloading:

• Uploading packages:

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

• Installing packages:

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

6.4 Configure pip.conf for Long-Term Use

If you frequently install packages from this server, you may not want to specify --index-url every time you use pip install. In this case, you can set default package index sources in pip.conf.

First, find or create a pip.conf file. Here are the files that might exist on your machine in order of precedence:

• Priority 1: Site-level configuration file:

  • /home/[your_username]/.pyenv/versions/3.8.18/envs/main/pip.conf

• Priority 2: User-level configuration files:

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

• Priority 3: Global-level configuration files:

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

So make sure to clarify which Python environment is using which file, and once you've found or created the file, add the following content:

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

Again, ensure to replace [your_server_IP]:8080 with the correct address and port of your pypiserver.

From now on, when you use pip install [package_name], pip will automatically use the server address configured in pip.conf as the package source.

7. Conclusion

Congratulations! You've successfully set up your own private PyPI server and learned how to upload and download packages.

With pypiserver, you can efficiently manage your Python packages and ensure they're in a secure environment. I hope this article proves to be practically helpful for you.