Find an available port from Python script

find_available_port.py

#!/usr/bin/env python3
""" for use from shell, returns on STDOUT a free port number.
Yes, there is a slight race condition where between end of this program and start of your shell program,
another program could grab this port.

Useful for scripts with SSH port forwarding for example, where you have one or more hops before the final host.

reference: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1365265/on-localhost-how-to-pick-a-free-port-number

Michael Hirsch
"""

from socket import socket

s = socket()
s.bind(('',0))
print(s.getsockname()[1])  #stdout
s.close()