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Version: Python

How to install Python packages

This guide discusses how to install Python packages for use with Deephaven. Packages can either be installed for one-time use in a Deephaven instance, or packages can be added to the Deephaven Docker images so that they are available every time Deephaven is launched.

Deephaven has several Docker images available pre-built for AI in Python. Refer to the choose a deployment section of the quickstart guide to see what's currently available.

Once a package is installed, it can be imported and used like any other Python package. For an index of available Python packages and for more information on Python packages, visit the Python Package Index or check out our choosing the right Python package cheat sheet.

List all available Python packages

The packages available to Python can be listed by using Python's help function. To see a list of all available Python packages, run the following command from a Python session.

help("modules")

Install packages from within a Python script

Python packages can be installed using pip from within a Python script or from within the Deephaven Python console.

danger

If this method is used with Deephaven Docker images, Python package installs do not persist after the Docker container exits. The package installation must be repeated each time the container is started.

Run the following command:

import os

os.system("pip install package_name")

In this example, we install the Python Pendulum package, import the package, and use it to print the current time in Paris.

import os

os.system("pip install Pendulum")

import pendulum

now = pendulum.now("Europe/Paris")

print(now)

Now you can use any pip installed Python package with Deephaven.

Install packages in a running Docker container from the command line

Python packages can be installed using pip via docker exec.

danger

If this method is used with Deephaven Docker images, Python package installs do not persist after the Docker container exits. The package installation must be repeated each time the container is started.

Here docker exec is used to run a pip install on the running Deephaven Docker image, which is named core_server_1.

docker compose exec server pip install Pendulum

After installing the Pendulum package, we can use it within our script to print the current time in Paris.

import pendulum

now = pendulum.now("Europe/Paris")

print(now)

Add packages to a custom Docker image

In this section, we add the same Pendulum package from the previous section to a custom Dockerfile and reference it from Deephaven so that we can use it in more than one session.

In order to use packages more than once, you can create a custom Docker image, and then use that image in Deephaven. The steps for accomplishing this differ slightly depending on how you launch Deephaven. Let's start with the steps that are common between both.

Prerequisites

Before a custom Docker image can be built, you must acquire the necessary base images. This process differs based upon how you launch Deephaven:

docker compose pull

Create a custom Dockerfile

To begin with, create a new directory. This directory should not be in a Deephaven deployment directory. You can name it whatever you'd like. For this guide, we'll name ours deephaven-custom.

mkdir deephaven-custom
cd deephaven-custom

Now, in this directory, create a file called Dockerfile. Dockerfile should use ghcr.io/deephaven/server as the base image and should contain a recipe for installing the new package. When adding Pendulum, it looks like this:

FROM ghcr.io/deephaven/server
RUN pip3 install pendulum

Create a custom Docker image

Now that we have the Dockerfile in place, we need to create the custom Docker image. To do so, run a command from the directory with Dockerfile that looks like:

docker build --tag <user>/server-<custom> .

This will create a new Docker image called <user>/server-<custom>. For this guide, we will call the image guide/server-pendulum:

docker build --tag guide/server-pendulum .

When the command finishes running, you can see the new image in your system:

docker image ls

Reference the new image

To put it all together, we now need to reference this new image in the docker-compose file we use to launch Deephaven. The file name depends on how you build and launch Deephaven:

In The Docker Compose file, there are three lines of text that look like:

services:
server:
image: <IMAGE_NAME>

The image used by default depends on how you build and launch Deephaven. Regardless, this line is where you need to insert your custom image name. Modify the image line to use your new image:

services:
server:
image: guide/server-pendulum:latest

Now, when you launch Deephaven again, you can use the package!

caution

When base images are updated by rebuilding source code or redownloading pre-built images, custom images must be rebuilt to incorporate the base image changes.