How do I unload (reload) a Python module?

Question

I have a long-running Python server and would like to be able to upgrade a service without restarting the server. What\'s the best way do do this?

if foo.py          


        

Answer 1

It can be especially difficult to delete a module if it is not pure Python.

Here is some information from: How do I really delete an imported module?

You can use sys.getrefcount() to find out the actual number of references.

>>> import sys, empty, os
>>> sys.getrefcount(sys)
9
>>> sys.getrefcount(os)
6
>>> sys.getrefcount(empty)
3

Numbers greater than 3 indicate that it will be hard to get rid of the module. The homegrown "empty" (containing nothing) module should be garbage collected after

>>> del sys.modules["empty"]
>>> del empty

as the third reference is an artifact of the getrefcount() function.