test.support.find_unused_port()

test.support.find_unused_port(family=socket.AF_INET, socktype=socket.SOCK_STREAM)

Returns an unused port that should be suitable for binding. This is achieved by creating a temporary socket with the same family and type as the sock parameter (default is AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM), and binding it to the specified host address (defaults to 0.0.0.0) with the port set to 0, eliciting an unused ephemeral port from the OS. The temporary socket is then closed and deleted, and the ephemeral port is returned.

Either this method or bind_port() should be used for any tests where a server socket needs to be bound to a particular port for the duration of the test. Which one to use depends on whether the calling code is creating a python socket, or if an unused port needs to be provided in a constructor or passed to an external program (i.e. the -accept argument to openssl’s s_server mode). Always prefer bind_port() over find_unused_port() where possible. Using a hard coded port is discouraged since it can make multiple instances of the test impossible to run simultaneously, which is a problem for buildbots.