Deploy Node.js Lambda functions with container images

To create a container image from an AWS base image for Node.js

1. Create a directory for the project, and then switch to that directory.

   mkdir example
   cd example

2. Create a new Node.js project with npm. To accept the default options provided in the interactive experience, press Enter.

   npm init

3. Create a new file called index.js. You can add the following sample function code to the file for testing, or use your own.

   Example CommonJS handler

   exports.handler = async (event) => {
       const response = {
           statusCode: 200,
           body: JSON.stringify('Hello from Lambda!'),
       };
       return response;
   };

4. If your function depends on libraries other than the AWS SDK for JavaScript, use npm to add them to your package.

5. Create a new Dockerfile with the following configuration:

   • Set the FROM property to the URI of the base image.

   • Use the COPY command to copy the function code and runtime dependencies to {LAMBDA_TASK_ROOT}, a Lambda-defined environment variable.

   • Set the CMD argument to the Lambda function handler.

   Note that the example Dockerfile does not include a USER instruction. When you deploy a container image to Lambda, Lambda automatically defines a default Linux user with least-privileged permissions. This is different from standard Docker behavior which defaults to the root user when no USER instruction is provided.

   Example Dockerfile

   FROM public.ecr.aws/lambda/nodejs:22
   
   # Copy function code
   COPY index.js ${LAMBDA_TASK_ROOT}
     
   # Set the CMD to your handler (could also be done as a parameter override outside of the Dockerfile)
   CMD [ "index.handler" ]

6. Build the Docker image with the docker build command. The following example names the image docker-image and gives it the test tag. To make your image compatible with Lambda, you must use the --provenance=false option.

   docker buildx build --platform linux/amd64 --provenance=false -t docker-image:test .

   Note

   The command specifies the --platform linux/amd64 option to ensure that your container is compatible with the Lambda execution environment regardless of the architecture of your build machine. If you intend to create a Lambda function using the ARM64 instruction set architecture, be sure to change the command to use the --platform linux/arm64 option instead.

1. Start the Docker image with the docker run command. In this example, docker-image is the image name and test is the tag.

   docker run --platform linux/amd64 -p 9000:8080 docker-image:test

   This command runs the image as a container and creates a local endpoint at localhost:9000/2015-03-31/functions/function/invocations.

   Note

   If you built the Docker image for the ARM64 instruction set architecture, be sure to use the --platform linux/arm64 option instead of --platform linux/amd64.

2. From a new terminal window, post an event to the local endpoint.

   Linux/macOS

   In Linux and macOS, run the following curl command:

   curl "http://localhost:9000/2015-03-31/functions/function/invocations" -d '{}'

   This command invokes the function with an empty event and returns a response. If you're using your own function code rather than the sample function code, you might want to invoke the function with a JSON payload. Example:

   curl "http://localhost:9000/2015-03-31/functions/function/invocations" -d '{"payload":"hello world!"}'

   PowerShell

   In PowerShell, run the following Invoke-WebRequest command:

   Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "http://localhost:9000/2015-03-31/functions/function/invocations" -Method Post -Body '{}' -ContentType "application/json"

   This command invokes the function with an empty event and returns a response. If you're using your own function code rather than the sample function code, you might want to invoke the function with a JSON payload. Example:

   Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "http://localhost:9000/2015-03-31/functions/function/invocations" -Method Post -Body '{"payload":"hello world!"}' -ContentType "application/json"

3. Get the container ID.

   docker ps

4. Use the docker kill command to stop the container. In this command, replace 3766c4ab331c with the container ID from the previous step.

   docker kill 3766c4ab331c

To upload the image to Amazon ECR and create the Lambda function

1. Run the get-login-password command to authenticate the Docker CLI to your Amazon ECR registry.

   • Set the --region value to the AWS Region where you want to create the Amazon ECR repository.

   • Replace 111122223333 with your AWS account ID.

   aws ecr get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin 111122223333.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com

2. Create a repository in Amazon ECR using the create-repository command.

   aws ecr create-repository --repository-name hello-world --region us-east-1 --image-scanning-configuration scanOnPush=true --image-tag-mutability MUTABLE

   Note

   The Amazon ECR repository must be in the same AWS Region as the Lambda function.

   If successful, you see a response like this:

   {
       "repository": {
           "repositoryArn": "arn:aws:ecr:us-east-1:111122223333:repository/hello-world",
           "registryId": "111122223333",
           "repositoryName": "hello-world",
           "repositoryUri": "111122223333.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/hello-world",
           "createdAt": "2023-03-09T10:39:01+00:00",
           "imageTagMutability": "MUTABLE",
           "imageScanningConfiguration": {
               "scanOnPush": true
           },
           "encryptionConfiguration": {
               "encryptionType": "AES256"
           }
       }
   }

3. Copy the repositoryUri from the output in the previous step.

4. Run the docker tag command to tag your local image into your Amazon ECR repository as the latest version. In this command:

   • docker-image:test is the name and tag of your Docker image. This is the image name and tag that you specified in the docker build command.

   • Replace <ECRrepositoryUri> with the repositoryUri that you copied. Make sure to include :latest at the end of the URI.

   docker tag docker-image:test <ECRrepositoryUri>:latest

   Example:

   docker tag docker-image:test 111122223333.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/hello-world:latest

5. Run the docker push command to deploy your local image to the Amazon ECR repository. Make sure to include :latest at the end of the repository URI.

   docker push 111122223333.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/hello-world:latest

6. Create an execution role for the function, if you don't already have one. You need the Amazon Resource Name (ARN) of the role in the next step.

7. Create the Lambda function. For ImageUri, specify the repository URI from earlier. Make sure to include :latest at the end of the URI.

   aws lambda create-function \
     --function-name hello-world \
     --package-type Image \
     --code ImageUri=111122223333.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/hello-world:latest \
     --role arn:aws:iam::111122223333:role/lambda-ex

   Note

   You can create a function using an image in a different AWS account, as long as the image is in the same Region as the Lambda function. For more information, see Amazon ECR cross-account permissions.

8. Invoke the function.

   aws lambda invoke --function-name hello-world response.json

   You should see a response like this:

   {
     "ExecutedVersion": "$LATEST", 
     "StatusCode": 200
   }

9. To see the output of the function, check the response.json file.