@Marvin I'm running a prefect deployment using

.serve()

in docker on Render. It says it is using an ephemeral profile and crashes after it can't find any flow runs ready for execution. What is an ephemeral profile and what are the alternatives?

An ephemeral profile in Prefect is a temporary configuration used immediately after installation. It has minimal settings, allowing Prefect to run without an explicitly started server process. This is particularly useful for quick setups or testing environments. However, it might not be suitable for production or long-term deployments, as it lacks persistent configurations and can lead to issues like the one you encountered. To transition from an ephemeral profile to a more stable setup, you can create and manage profiles using the Prefect CLI. Profiles allow you to define different environments, such as local development or production, and store their configurations in a

profiles.toml

file. You can create a new profile using the CLI command

prefect profile create

, and configure it to point to your desired API URL and settings. For more details on profiles, you can refer to the Prefect documentation on settings and profiles. Additionally, when serving flows in a Docker container, ensure that your Prefect setup is correctly configured for a long-lived environment. You can find guidance on setting up a Docker container for Prefect in the static infrastructure examples for Docker. If you have further questions or need help with specific configurations, feel free to ask.

@Marvin In the link you sent (https://docs-3.prefect.io/v3/deploy/static-infrastructure-examples/docker), I don't see any mention of profiles. Which profile should I choose and how do I set it up for a long lived docker container?

To set up a profile for a long-lived Docker container deployment with Prefect, you need to define a profile that suits your deployment environment. Here’s a concise guide on how to do this: 1. Create a Profile: Use the Prefect CLI to create a new profile. This profile will store your configuration settings, such as API URLs and authentication details. You can create a profile with:

bash
   prefect profile create my-docker-profile

2. Configure the Profile: After creating the profile, you need to configure it to match your deployment needs. This might include setting the API URL to point to your Prefect Cloud or Prefect Server instance, and configuring any necessary environment variables. 3. Set the Profile in Docker: When running your Docker container, ensure that it uses the correct profile. You can do this by setting the

PREFECT_PROFILE

environment variable in your Dockerfile or when starting the container:

dockerfile
   ENV PREFECT_PROFILE=my-docker-profile

4. Build and Run the Docker Container: Follow the steps to build your Docker image and run the container. Ensure your Dockerfile includes all necessary dependencies and configurations. For more detailed guidance on Docker deployments, you can refer to the Prefect documentation on Docker infrastructure examples. This setup ensures that your Prefect deployment within Docker is configured with a stable and persistent profile, avoiding issues associated with ephemeral profiles. If you have further questions or need specific examples, feel free to ask.