Python Deployment

Coding
1

I’m about to deploy Python to user boxes and farm nodes and wanted some feedback on what others have included in their deployments, keeping python updated, adding modules and any issues you’ve faced?

Our network is 72 machines, mostly on winXP32.
15 newer user boxes are on WinXP64.

3dsMax 9
BackBurner 2007
Combustion 4

Current Planned Deploy:
ActiveState Python-2.5.1.1-win32-x86
PIL-1.1.6.win32-py2.5
Pyro-3.8-beta.win32
wxPython2.8-win32-unicode-2.8.7.1-py25
XMLObject-0.3.win32
RPyC 3.00 RC1
Twisted_8.1.0.win32-py2.5
MySQL-python-1.2.2.win32-py2.5

There seems to be some overlap with Pyro and Twisted… I’ve just scratched the surface working with Pyro, should I install both?

Thanks in Advance…

oxygen vaporizer

2

I would suggest installing or copying over the Python.NET files too.

3

Yeah, you probably don’t need both Pyro and Twisted. They’re both networking libraries, along with RPyC.

Unless you need every one of those for existing tools I’d suggest keeping it down to just what you need. As long as you have a method to push out new extensions later that is. But that’s completely personal taste.

One thing I’ve wanted to try is installing EasyInstall and use that as the method of deploying/updating extensions on studio machines. Rather than pushing the post-install files like we do today. It would need to handle failures when contacting the servers and retry until an update succeeded, but otherwise could be easy to manage that way. I’ve only used EasyInstall locally so far, however.

4

Working with my IT guy, his concern is that installing python on all the machines opens a pretty big security issue. It’s a programming framework with full access to just about everything.

I’m now looking at py2exe to create complete packages per script, but this will lead to alot of redundant information.

I assume it’s better to just have it on each system, but how are you dealing with the security issues?

Thanks!

television news

5

I’m almost inclined to say that if they know what they’re doing with python, then not much your IT guy is going to be able to do will stop them, with or without python :slight_smile: So its maybe more of a personnel issue?

6

If a user is logged in and working, they’re presumably permissioned enough to mess their own workstations up pretty badly. So access to Python present on their machines is really not making anything worse.

As long as non-priviledged employees are unable to distribute new scripts to the studio that run automatically, I’m not sure what the concern would be.

7

ha ha… yeah… i agree it’s a personal issue… I’m having an issue with a security freak that is fearful of that he does not know…

Thanks for you thoughts!

volcano vaporizer classic

8

Wouldn’t you want pyWin as well? Or are that functions implemented in some other package… don’t know all of those listed that well.

-Johan

9

Here’s the list of extension packages we currently push to all devs here. We do this mainly so TAs can count on them being present on all machines, and not resort to py2exe, etc.

Win32
wxPython
P4Python
PyExcelerator
PIL
pymssql
WMI
vLib (in-house Python library)

The pushing is done with an in-house tools deploy/update utility called vInstaller. That’s fired up via another python script that runs at login.