在服务器上无限运行 python 脚本

Question

I am building a python script which needs to run infinitely on a server. It will access a Microsoft Exchange server and read mails, process them and trigger automated voice calls.

I have successfully implemented the automated call action. Presently the script runs on my PC. I have three questions.

1. For running the script on a server instead of PC, does the syntax of the code other than connecting to the server needs to change? I mean, the parts where I'm reading mails and triggering calls, does that need to be changed? Or can the same script run on a server? If it does need change, can somebody please attach what changes need to be done.
2. Since I need to run the script on a server, and access a Microsoft Exchange server, can the script be run on the Exchange server itself? If yes, please attach helpful resources.
3. The script does not take any input as such, but it accesses a couple of files that need to edited manually from time to time. How should I achieve that?

Answer 1

1. The distinction between PC and Server doesn't matter. Your script will require a set of resources and may make assumptions about the OS it's running on. Those are the things that matter. As long as the required resources are there, it should run fine. For example, if your script requires Python 3.6+ to run, then you must have Python 3.6+ installed on either the Server/PC. If you are using a particular python package, then it should be installed. If you make assumptions about where files are located on disk, those paths either need to be OS independent, or match the OS of the Server/PC, and those files need to be there. But the syntax of the python shouldn't change.

If your goal is to run the python server as a service on the server, then more information about what type of server (windows/linux) is required. Assuming you are considering running it on an exchange server, I suppose it's most likely you'll want to run on Windows. This has been asked and answered here . In relation to your code, you will want to make sure your script can be handled as a library, and you won't want to call sys.exit inside your code, but should rely on exceptions to pass up errors. My preferred pattern is something like

def main(argv=None):
  # parse arguments if you have them and run the script

if __name__ == '__main__':
  main()

Then in your service you can import and call main(...) without running another executable.

2. See #1. Whether it can run on that server depends on whether all of the required resources and files are available there. There is possibly a question of whether you would WANT to run the script on your exchange server. That answer depends on the load the script takes, how busy/active your server is, Whether you want the extra software installed on your server, etc.

3. Your best solution here will depend on your situation. If you can login and edit the files, then maybe that's what you do. If you want to edit them on your PC and then push them up, then there are solutions for that. All depends on what makes sense for your project/situation.