Production Image Best Practices
Use multi-stage builds and non-root users.
Production Image Best Practices is a free Django Academy lesson on CoddyKit — lesson 4 of 4. You can read the complete lesson below for free — then practise it hands-on in the browser with a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor. It is part of the Django Academy learning path, one of 4 lessons in the course, and your progress syncs across the web and the CoddyKit app.
Smaller, Safer Images
A production image should be small and secure. A leaner image ships faster, starts quicker, and offers attackers less to target. 🛡️
Use Multi-Stage Builds
A multi-stage build compiles deps in one stage and copies only the results into a clean final image.
FROM python:3.12 AS builder
FROM python:3.12-slim AS finalCopy Only What You Need
From the builder stage, COPY --from just the installed packages, leaving compilers and build junk behind.
COPY --from=builder /usr/local/lib/python3.12 /usr/local/lib/python3.12Never Run as Root
Create a non-root USER so a compromised process cannot freely modify the container or host.
RUN adduser --disabled-password appuser
USER appuserPin Your Versions
Pin exact versions in requirements.txt so builds are reproducible and never break from a surprise update.
Django==5.0.6
gunicorn==22.0.0Keep Secrets Out of Images
Pass secrets via environment variables at runtime, never bake keys or passwords into the image itself.
SECRET_KEY=${SECRET_KEY}Add a Healthcheck
A HEALTHCHECK lets the orchestrator know if your container is truly alive and serving requests.
HEALTHCHECK CMD curl -f http://localhost:8000/health || exit 1Set DEBUG to False
Always run production with DEBUG=False, so error pages never leak code, settings, or stack traces to users.
DEBUG = FalseTag Your Releases
Tag images with a real version, not just latest, so you always know exactly what is deployed and can roll back.
docker build -t myapp:1.4.0 .Scan for Vulnerabilities
Run a scan on your built image to catch known vulnerabilities in your base and dependencies early.
docker scout cves myapp:1.4.0Layer Order for Caching
Put rarely changing steps first and your code last, so most rebuilds reuse cached layers and finish fast.
Quick Check
Which practice most directly shrinks your final production image?
Recap
You hardened your image: multi-stage builds, a non-root user, pinned versions, runtime secrets, healthchecks, and DEBUG off. Production-ready! 🏁
Frequently asked questions
Is the “Production Image Best Practices” lesson free?
Yes — the full text of “Production Image Best Practices” is free to read here on the web, and the Django Academy course includes 4 lessons in total. To practise it interactively (a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor) and unlock the rest of the Django Academy course, upgrade to CoddyKit PRO.
What will I learn in “Production Image Best Practices”?
Use multi-stage builds and non-root users. You practise Django Academy with hands-on code you run directly in the browser, and a 24/7 AI tutor answers your questions as you work through the lesson.
Do I need any experience to start Django Academy?
No prior experience is required. Django Academy on CoddyKit is structured for beginners through advanced learners; this is — lesson 4 of 4, so you can start here or from the beginning and move at your own pace.
How long does the “Production Image Best Practices” lesson take?
Most CoddyKit lessons take about 5–10 minutes. Each one is bite-sized and interactive, so you make steady progress and pick up exactly where you left off across the web and the app.
Can I write and run code in this Django Academy lesson?
Yes. Every Django Academy lesson includes a built-in code editor, so you write and run real code right in your browser and get instant AI feedback — no local setup required.
All lessons in this course
- Writing a Django Dockerfile
- docker-compose with Postgres and Redis
- Entrypoints, Migrations, and collectstatic
- Production Image Best Practices