Ambientes reproduzíveis com Docker para aprendizado de máquina
Os alunos escreverão um Dockerfile que instala Python e bibliotecas de aprendizado de máquina com versões fixadas e copia um script de treinamento; em seguida, criarão e executarão o contêiner para confirmar a reprodutibilidade bit a bit.
Ambientes reproduzíveis com Docker para aprendizado de máquina é uma aula grátis de Machine Learning Academy no CoddyKit. Esta é a aula 2 de 4. Você pode ler a aula completa abaixo gratuitamente — depois pratica ao vivo no navegador com um editor de código integrado e um tutor de IA 24/7. Faz parte do caminho de aprendizado de Machine Learning Academy, e seu progresso é sincronizado entre a web e o app CoddyKit. O curso de Machine Learning Academy inclui 4 aulas no total.
Partes desta aula ainda não foram traduzidas e aparecem em inglês.
The Reproducibility Problem in ML
A model trained on your laptop may produce different results on a colleague's machine because of different Python versions, library versions, or system libraries. Docker solves this by packaging your entire environment — Python, ML libraries, and your training script — into a container that runs identically on any machine. Containerised ML training is the foundation of reproducible research and reliable CI/CD pipelines.
Docker Concepts: Image, Container, Layer
A Docker image is a read-only template defined by a Dockerfile. It consists of stacked layers: each instruction in the Dockerfile adds a layer. A container is a running instance of an image. Images are portable and versioned via tags like my-ml-image:v1.2. The key insight is that the same image tag produces bitwise-identical runtime environments everywhere, from your laptop to cloud GPU instances.
# Basic Docker commands for ML workflows
# Build an image from Dockerfile in current directory
# docker build -t my-ml-trainer:v1 .
# Run a training script inside the container
# docker run --rm --gpus all my-ml-trainer:v1 python train.py
# List running containers
# docker ps
# Inspect image layers (shows what changed at each step)
# docker history my-ml-trainer:v1Writing a Dockerfile for ML Training
A Dockerfile is a text file with sequential instructions that Docker executes to build an image. Start from an official Python base image, set the working directory, copy a requirements.txt, install dependencies, then copy your training code. The FROM instruction specifies the base image; for GPU training use NVIDIA's CUDA-enabled base images.
# Dockerfile
# FROM python:3.11-slim
#
# WORKDIR /app
#
# # Copy and install dependencies first (layer caching)
# COPY requirements.txt .
# RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
#
# # Copy training code
# COPY train.py .
# COPY data/ data/
#
# # Default command
# CMD ['python', 'train.py']
print('Dockerfile structure shown above (Python comment).')Pinning Dependencies in requirements.txt
Reproducibility requires pinned versions in requirements.txt. Use exact version specifiers (==) rather than minimum versions (>=). Generate a complete pinned requirements file with pip freeze > requirements.txt after testing your environment. For ML projects, always pin scikit-learn, numpy, pandas, and any framework versions, as minor version changes can alter model behaviour.
# requirements.txt (pinned versions for reproducibility)
# scikit-learn==1.4.2
# numpy==1.26.4
# pandas==2.2.1
# matplotlib==3.8.4
# mlflow==2.13.0
# torch==2.3.0
# transformers==4.40.2
# xgboost==2.0.3
# lightgbm==4.3.0
# imbalanced-learn==0.12.2
# joblib==1.4.2
# Generate from your current environment:
# pip freeze > requirements.txtDocker Layer Caching for Fast Rebuilds
Docker builds each instruction as a separate cached layer. If a layer's inputs have not changed, Docker reuses the cached layer instead of re-executing the instruction. This means that placing COPY requirements.txt and RUN pip install before COPY . . (copying all code) ensures that changing code files does not trigger a slow re-installation of packages. Good Dockerfile order dramatically speeds up iterative development.
# Optimised Dockerfile layer order
# FROM python:3.11-slim
#
# WORKDIR /app
#
# # Step 1: Install system packages (rarely changes)
# RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y git && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
#
# # Step 2: Install Python deps (changes only when requirements.txt changes)
# COPY requirements.txt .
# RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
#
# # Step 3: Copy code (changes most often -- put last)
# COPY . .
#
# CMD ['python', 'train.py']
print('Layer order shown above.')GPU Support: CUDA Docker Images
For training deep learning models on GPU, use NVIDIA's official CUDA base images from Docker Hub. These images include the CUDA runtime and cuDNN libraries required by PyTorch and TensorFlow. The --gpus all flag when running the container exposes the host GPU to the container. The CUDA version in the image must match the drivers installed on the host machine.
# Dockerfile for GPU training with PyTorch
# FROM nvidia/cuda:12.1-cudnn8-runtime-ubuntu22.04
#
# # Install Python
# RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y python3.11 python3-pip
# RUN ln -s /usr/bin/python3.11 /usr/bin/python
#
# WORKDIR /app
# COPY requirements.txt .
# RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
# COPY train.py .
#
# CMD ['python', 'train.py']
# Run with GPU:
# docker run --rm --gpus all my-gpu-trainer:v1
print('GPU Dockerfile structure shown above.')Passing Configuration via Environment Variables
Avoid hard-coding hyperparameters in your training script. Instead, read them from environment variables with os.getenv and pass them via -e flags at container run time. This lets you launch the same image with different hyperparameters without rebuilding, making it easy to run hyperparameter sweeps by simply changing the run command.
import os
# In train.py -- read config from environment variables
LEARNING_RATE = float(os.getenv('LEARNING_RATE', '0.001'))
N_ESTIMATORS = int(os.getenv('N_ESTIMATORS', '100'))
MAX_DEPTH = int(os.getenv('MAX_DEPTH', '5'))
OUTPUT_DIR = os.getenv('OUTPUT_DIR', '/app/outputs')
print(f'Training with lr={LEARNING_RATE}, n={N_ESTIMATORS}, depth={MAX_DEPTH}')
# Run with custom config:
# docker run -e LEARNING_RATE=0.01 -e N_ESTIMATORS=200 my-ml-trainer:v1Mounting Volumes for Data and Outputs
Containers are ephemeral — data written inside a container disappears when it stops. Use volume mounts (-v flag) to bind a host directory into the container. Mount your data directory read-only and an output directory read-write. This keeps large datasets outside the image (reducing image size) and ensures model checkpoints and results persist after the container exits.
# Mount host data/ and outputs/ into container
# docker run --rm \
# -v /host/path/data:/app/data:ro \
# -v /host/path/outputs:/app/outputs \
# -e N_ESTIMATORS=200 \
# my-ml-trainer:v1
# In train.py, read from /app/data and write to /app/outputs
import os
data_dir = '/app/data'
output_dir = '/app/outputs'
os.makedirs(output_dir, exist_ok=True)
print('Data dir:', os.listdir(data_dir) if os.path.exists(data_dir) else 'not mounted')Multi-Stage Builds: Slim Production Images
Training images include compilers, header files, and dev tools that are unnecessary for inference. Multi-stage builds use one stage to compile/install everything and a second slim stage that copies only the final artifacts. This can reduce image size from 4 GB to under 200 MB, speeding up pulls and reducing the attack surface in production.
# Multi-stage Dockerfile
# --- Stage 1: Build ---
# FROM python:3.11 AS builder
# WORKDIR /app
# COPY requirements.txt .
# RUN pip install --no-cache-dir --user -r requirements.txt
#
# --- Stage 2: Runtime ---
# FROM python:3.11-slim
# WORKDIR /app
# COPY --from=builder /root/.local /root/.local
# COPY serve.py .
# COPY model/ model/
# ENV PATH=/root/.local/bin:$PATH
#
# CMD ['python', 'serve.py']
print('Multi-stage Dockerfile shown above.')Running MLflow Inside Docker
Combine Docker and MLflow by passing the MLflow tracking URI as an environment variable. The container trains the model, logs parameters and metrics to the remote MLflow server, and saves model artifacts to shared storage. This pattern is the building block of automated retraining pipelines: a scheduler triggers a Docker container that trains, evaluates, and registers a new model version without any manual intervention.
import os
import mlflow
from sklearn.ensemble import RandomForestClassifier
# Read from environment (set by docker run -e)
MLFLOW_URI = os.getenv('MLFLOW_TRACKING_URI', 'http://localhost:5000')
mlflow.set_tracking_uri(MLFLOW_URI)
mlflow.set_experiment('docker_training')
with mlflow.start_run():
n_est = int(os.getenv('N_ESTIMATORS', '100'))
mlflow.log_param('n_estimators', n_est)
clf = RandomForestClassifier(n_estimators=n_est, random_state=42)
# clf.fit(X_train, y_train) -- assume data is mounted
# acc = accuracy_score(y_test, clf.predict(X_test))
# mlflow.log_metric('accuracy', acc)
# mlflow.sklearn.log_model(clf, 'model')
print('Logged to:', MLFLOW_URI)Pushing Images to a Registry
To share Docker images with your team or deploy them to cloud infrastructure, push them to a container registry. Docker Hub is the public registry; AWS ECR, Google GCR, and Azure ACR are popular private alternatives. Tag your image with the registry URL and your image name, then push. CI/CD pipelines typically build a new image on every commit and push it with the commit SHA as the tag for full traceability.
# Tag and push to Docker Hub
# docker tag my-ml-trainer:v1 yourusername/my-ml-trainer:v1
# docker push yourusername/my-ml-trainer:v1
# Tag and push to AWS ECR
# aws ecr get-login-password --region eu-west-1 | \
# docker login --username AWS --password-stdin 123456789.dkr.ecr.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com
# docker tag my-ml-trainer:v1 123456789.dkr.ecr.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/my-ml-trainer:v1
# docker push 123456789.dkr.ecr.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/my-ml-trainer:v1
print('Registry push commands shown above.')Quick Check
Test your understanding of Machine Learning with Python concepts from this lesson.
Lesson Recap
In this lesson you learned: Docker containers package the entire Python environment ensuring identical training results on any machine, layer caching makes builds fast by placing requirements installation before code copies, and volume mounts keep large datasets outside the image and persist outputs after the container exits. Next up we explore the MLflow Model Registry for promoting models through staging and production lifecycle stages.
Perguntas Frequentes
A aula “Ambientes reproduzíveis com Docker para aprendizado de máquina” é grátis?
Sim — o texto completo de “Ambientes reproduzíveis com Docker para aprendizado de máquina” é grátis para ler aqui na web. Para praticá-la interativamente (um editor de código integrado e um tutor de IA 24/7) e desbloquear o restante do curso de Machine Learning Academy, atualize para CoddyKit PRO. O curso de Machine Learning Academy inclui 4 aulas no total.
O que vou aprender em “Ambientes reproduzíveis com Docker para aprendizado de máquina”?
Os alunos escreverão um Dockerfile que instala Python e bibliotecas de aprendizado de máquina com versões fixadas e copia um script de treinamento; em seguida, criarão e executarão o contêiner para c… Você pratica Machine Learning Academy com código prático que executa diretamente no navegador, e um tutor de IA 24/7 responde suas dúvidas enquanto trabalha na aula.
Preciso ter experiência prévia para começar Machine Learning Academy?
Nenhuma experiência prévia é necessária. Machine Learning Academy no CoddyKit é estruturado para alunos iniciantes até avançados, então você pode começar aqui ou desde o início e aprender no seu ritmo. Esta é a aula 2 de 4.
Quanto tempo leva a aula “Ambientes reproduzíveis com Docker para aprendizado de máquina”?
A maioria das aulas CoddyKit leva cerca de 5–10 minutos. Cada uma é compacta e interativa, então você faz progresso constante e retoma exatamente de onde parou entre web e app.
Posso escrever e executar código nesta aula de Machine Learning Academy?
Sim. Cada aula de Machine Learning Academy inclui um editor de código integrado, então você escreve e executa código real direto no navegador e recebe feedback de IA instantaneamente — nenhuma configuração local necessária.
Todas as aulas deste curso
- Acompanhamento de experimentos com MLflow: registro de parâmetros, métricas e artefatos
- Ambientes reproduzíveis com Docker para aprendizado de máquina
- Registro de modelos: preparação, produção e arquivamento
- Pipelines automatizados de retreinamento com GitHub Actions