testcontainers / testcontainers/testcontainers-python

New Container: DatabricksContainer for Databricks SQL Connector

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#981 3 comments 2 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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🚀 enhancement
Dominant language
Python
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Description

What is the new container you'd like to have?

I propose the addition of a DatabricksContainer module to facilitate testing applications that use the databricks-sql-connector. This would allow developers to run integration and end-to-end tests against a mock Databricks SQL API in an isolated and reproducible manner.

Unlike many services, Databricks does not provide an official local emulator in a Docker container. Therefore, this module would be designed to work with a user-provided Docker image that runs a mock server emulating the Databricks SQL API.

The benefits of having this dedicated container module include:

  • Isolated Testing: Enables hermetic tests without relying on shared, live Databricks workspaces.
  • CI/CD Integration: Simplifies running automated tests in CI/CD pipelines without complex credential management or network configurations.
  • Developer Experience: Provides a simple, Pythonic interface consistent with other testcontainers modules like AzuriteContainer or PostgresContainer.
  • Reliability: Eliminates test flakiness caused by network issues or changes in shared development environments.

Why not just use a generic container for this?

While it is possible to use a generic DockerContainer("my-databricks-mock:latest"), a dedicated DatabricksContainer module would abstract away significant complexity related to configuration and readiness checks.

  1. Complicated Setup and Configuration:

The databricks-sql-connector requires specific connection parameters: server_hostname, http_path, and access_token. A user of DockerContainer would have to manually:

  • Get the container's dynamic IP address and port.
  • Correctly format the server_hostname and http_path.
  • Know which token the mock server expects.
  • This process is cumbersome and error-prone.

Generic DockerContainer approach :

from databricks import sql
from testcontainers.core.container import DockerContainer

with DockerContainer("my-databricks-mock:latest").with_exposed_ports(8080) as mock_container:
    host = mock_container.get_container_host_ip()
    port = mock_container.get_exposed_port(8080)
    
    # User must manually construct connection parameters
    connection = sql.connect(
        server_hostname=host,
        http_path=f"/sql/1.0/warehouses/{port}", # Path might be complex and mock-specific
        access_token="dummy-token"
    )

A dedicated DatabricksContainer would provide helper methods to abstract this away, offering a much cleaner interface.

Proposed DatabricksContainer approach:

from databricks import sql
# from testcontainers.databricks import DatabricksContainer

with DatabricksContainer as databricks_container:
    # Clean, abstracted methods
    connection = sql.connect(
        server_hostname=databricks_container.get_server_hostname(),
        http_path=databricks_container.get_http_path(),
        access_token=databricks_container.get_token()
    )

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reading the existing AzuriteContainer and PostgresContainer modules, then review the DockerContainer API and the databricks.sql connection parameters named in the issue. Done means defining a DatabricksContainer that works with a user-provided mock image, performs readiness handling, and exposes server_hostname, http_path, and token helpers.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
docker, python, sql
Domain
database, testing
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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