Loading custom libraries with appengine_config.py

[frank....@mycommunity.net]

Hi,

I was trying out custom runtimes / managed vms support [1] with python yesterday with an existing app engine app.

I notice that it does not seem to load my custom libraries with appengine_config.py:

appengine_config.py:

from google.appengine.ext import vendor

vendor.add('lib')

This worked fine in regular app engine, but not in managed vms, it is as if the managed vm runtime is not loading this file.

I know managed runtimes are beta but can anyone confirm that this method of loading libraries is not supported in managed vms?

I'm trying to work out if I have done something wrong or whether my app needs to change. 

Thanks,

Frank

[1] https://cloud.google.com/appengine/docs/python/managed-vms/

[Jon Parrott]

Hi Frank,

The VM runtime doesn't automatically load appengine_config like the non-VM runtime. Here's two things you can do to use third-party packages:

• Import appengine_config at the top of main.py
  
• Take advantage of the Docker container and install everything via pip in your Dockerfile. See this sample dockerfile.

I highly recommend the docker approach.