Your First AWS Lambda Function In VS Code - 10 Minute Tutorial - For Beginners

❗️ In this video, we will develop and deploy a Lambda Function LOCALLY in VS Code using the AWS Toolkit Extension.
🧠 Developing locally speeds up the development cycle drastically.
If you’ve tried to make a Lambda Function for more than 5 minutes you’ve run into the problem of how to actually develop and debug it. You probably tried to use the IDE in the AWS console, but quickly realized there are some drawbacks.
The good news is that thanks to the AWS toolkit extension it’s actually really easy to develop Lambda functions in VS code then deploy them.
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TIMESTAMPS:
0:00​ Intro
0:10 How I Use Lambda
0:25 The Problem
1:21 Download AWS Toolkit
2:43 Create Lambda Function
4:32 Test
5:20 Deploy To AWS
7:09 Test In AWS
9:05 Conclusion
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WHO AM I: I'm Dylan, a Cloud Engineer living in Oregon. I use my background in tech to make videos about technology that enables and grows businesses.
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🌍 My website / blog -
dylanalbertazzi.com/

[@TAREEBITHETERRIBLE]

Great video! I love the bar at the bottom that shows how much progression is made per concept. Really really useful for following along I wish other tutorials did that!

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Glad you liked it!

[@Chron1cles31098]

Okay so if anyone else had trouble with the sam deploy --guided, there's a big rabbit hole there . First off, you need to download the SAM CLI, which allows you to use SAM. Straightforward download. Then afterwards, you'll need to have IAM roles configured for the SAM deploy to work. You'll need to have the AWS CLI installed. Also another straightforward download. Then you need to create an IAM role on (Good explanations online). And then finally, you can use the AWS CLI to configure the IAM role you created. Which will then grant the permissions necessary for sam to deploy the application.

[@ryanwest8058]

Can't download Sam CLI gave me an error that it's not compatible

[@corygarms5871]

Thanks for the great tutorial, Dylan. This really sped up the configuration process for me. Subscribed!

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Hey Cory, I'm glad it was helpful :)

[@OkiemTaty]

great channel! Love the clarity and common sense with which you explain things and make it accessible to both a newbie and a professional. There is just enough details for both, a newbie can research any problematic areas based on your prompts, such as about docker (I paused and went out to learn more) without making this video too long and covering too broad a range of things.

[@anishgeorge8695]

awesome. Thanks for putting this quick. You are quick to the point 👏👏👏

[@dylanalbertazzi]

You're welcome!

[@powderriverfarrier]

One other thing worth noting ... had to change the user name configured in the ~/.aws/credentials file from what I'd set up to [default]. After the local build it did show up in AWS and the API tested successfully. So thanks a heck of a lot.

[@tai-shanlin615]

I'm running into this issue at the moment. bump.

[@powderriverfarrier]

Had to add the launch via npm within VSCode then reran and did get the expected message ... in case this is of any help to you.

[@redballoon1]

Great content, Dylan! Thank you very much! And just a quick tip, I recommend a lower volume for the music.. it can be a distraction sometimes

[@dylanalbertazzi]

you are so welcome! I’m with ya on the volume, I’ve actually stopped adding background music for that exact volume. thanks for being willing to say something🙂

[@TAREEBITHETERRIBLE]

I thought the music made the video inviting and refreshing!

[@codingmallu]

Great !!! 🙃 I learned Lamda functions within 10 minutes.

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Great job!

[@chrisurf9]

this is awesome! got me hooked up

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Woohoo 🥳

[@dashbird2558]

thanks, Dylan - great video :)

[@dylanalbertazzi]

You're more than welcome, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@geoffreyofmonmouth9796]

Dylan, thank you very much for this. Concise, and super helpful. The only issue I have is is that there is no "Import" option for me when I right-click on a Lambda fucntion.

[@IAMTHEMUSK]

Hi, thank you for this video. How can I do if I just want to edit the online code with studio code without having to do the full zip package procedure for testing the new code? Wich means, replaceing the aws online IDE by studio code without running the lambda locally but online.

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Check out this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/eIO1qYSYiMdsmNE It's an update of the one you watched. You can deploy via serverless framework and invoke the function in the cloud (or locally).

[@__-se3tf]

The lambda function that I’m attempting to involves web scraping and therefore requires the chromedriver executable. How would I go about modifying the docker image so that I can get the executable in the generated container?

[@dylanalbertazzi]

that is a video for another video my friend! I'd suggest trying to find a lambda layer with chrome driver that way you wont have to deal with a custom image. just did a quick google search and this could be relevant to you github.com/jensbodal/lambda-layer-chromedriver or consider using serverless framework

[@skoizumi291101]

Great video! I have problem with installing node module like axios does it have to go to the root folder or the function folder? Where I install I can't my app can't find the module when debugging locally.

[@dylanalbertazzi]

You should install your node modules in whatever directory your package.json is in. Feel free to send me an email at [e-mail] if you need more help.

[@Lzak]

Very helpful, thanks!

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Glad it was helpful!

[@mariodiaz4355]

Thanks, well illustrated

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Hey Mario, Glad it was helpful!

[@ancientelevator9]

Wow, great tutorial. I am surprised I was able to get this working first try for something with so many moving parts

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Great to hear!

[@ancientelevator9]

@@dylanalbertazzi I am working on a different one and now I am getting an error when testing. "Invalid (or missing) template file (path must be workspace-relative, or absolute): ". When I look in the launch.json file, the "templatePath" to the yaml is correct, but somehow vscode wants to use a different path (and of course it's a path that doesn't exist XD ) ...ahh nvm it seems that my launch.json was being appended. The original path was there, just in a different object

[@KarelDebedts]

Can you set a name for the function? Cuz now it’s HelloWorldFunction (and will overwrite the previous function when you have multiple with that name) thx

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Absolutely! You can change the name in the template.yaml file.

[@mpty2022]

great video... how can i debug integrated lambda function, like working with gateway and dynamodb... do i have to create a copy of whole system locally?

[@dylanalbertazzi]

You can hit the live db. Check out my updated 'build your first lambda' video using serverless framework. IMO that is the best way to do it. The video won't go into dynamo but once you have the base setup, there are plenty of docs for hitting a dynamo.

[@emreturanexplomind]

how to install new dependencies after its been deployed on AWS? it tried clicking "deploy "after adding an extra dependency ( in my case requirement.txt for python but it didn't work out?

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Are you using pip?

[@thelonious-dx9vi]

Much appreciated, this is very helpful. But it seems like it spawns a big octopus. I'd love to know if there's a minimalist way of connecting VSCode to Lambda just so we can code our functions, and get out of that console IDE in the browser.

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Check out Serverless Framework. I'm currently working on a video doing just what you're asking for.

[@ameenasif]

What is the Screen + laptop stand you are using ? looking for something than can support laptio and 34 inch screen

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Here's the setup I have. You need the single-arm mount in order to have your laptop flush with your monitor. It's a bit of an investment, but the returns in increased productivity are beyond worth it! Laptop Attachment: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010QZD6I6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Dual Arm Mount: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076B3Q8JR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Single Arm Mount: www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=16243

[@julienjacquet9573]

Thanks for the video. On F5, I get "Cannot read property 'routeKey' of undefined" :(

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Is routeKey defined in the file you're making?

[@JBS439]

Hello sir,great video. Please can you teach me how to upgrade lamnda functions for python 2.6 to 3.0? Thanks so much for your help

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Thank you! It depends… How are you deploying you functions?

[@HKBoba]

Underrated channel!!

[@dylanalbertazzi]

I appreciate you, thanks!

[@ancientelevator9]

You should make another video explaining how to import modules. I was able to test my function locally, but when I deployed it to AWS I received a module not found error.

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Check this one out! kzbin.info/www/bejne/eIO1qYSYiMdsmNE

[@panayiotismenelaou2530]

Excellent video. Thanks a lot for sharing. Something a bit off-topic, I'm missing the 'Import' option when right clicking on already created lambda functions, also verified that same happens if I create a lambda following your instructions. Once again thanks.

[@dylanalbertazzi]

I'm glad to share. That's good to know, there may have been an update. Does it keep you from completing the tutorial?

[@panayiotismenelaou2530]

@@dylanalbertazzi Not really. But it would be handy to update my existing Lambdas from VSCode. Already checked and everything is up to date. I'm on Ubuntu 21.04.

[@TheRedPrometheus]

what does the F5 key do here? Im on Mac and F5 turns on voice over!

[@dylanalbertazzi]

oh haha. f5 runs the debugger.

[@igadget777]

Great video!. I tried following along but I keep getting this Error:" Error: Error building docker image: pull access denied for public.ecr.aws/sam/emulation-nodejs12.x, repository does not exist or may require 'docker login': denied: Your authorization token has expired. Reauthenticate and try again." Docker is running on my local machine.

[@dylanalbertazzi]

I haven't run into that one. Did you have any luck with it?

[@alien-web]

I really surprised dude unbelievable techy tricks 100%.

[@Ramin-Habibi]

Thank you Dylan for your useful video. debugging lambda function in VS Code locally is considered an invoke in AWS billing system?

[@dylanalbertazzi]

It's not, although even if it was it would be extremely cheap. ($0.20 per 1M requests)

[@arunpadikkalathu764]

hey, how do you mount the laptop

[@dylanalbertazzi]

This is the main mount: www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Dual-Monitor-Stand-Height-Adjustable/dp/B076B3Q8JR/ref=sr_1_5?crid=A2FGTQ871YRZ&dchild=1&keywords=dual+monitor+mount+amazon+basics&qid=1592258617&s=electronics&sprefix=dual+monitor+mount+amazon%2Celectronics%2C222&sr=1-5 Then I had to get a second one and slide the second arm at a different height for my laptop. Then bought a piece that can hold the laptop. I did that over time. This is simpler if you want to do it all at once. www.amazon.com/WALI-Monitor-Adjustable-Notebook-Capacity/dp/B072QZ2XZ3/ref=sr_1_5?crid=23BY6I87IU05Z&keywords=monitor+mount+laptop+holder&qid=1641230063&s=electronics&sprefix=monitor+mount+laptop+holde%2Celectronics%2C117&sr=1-5

[@gotstutube]

Dylan, I am confused why you would gloss over a key REQ with Docker and not include that in your video. Also I came to full stop after executing your first command as I needed SAM CLI which you also did not mentioned. Thanks

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Hi Stuart, for the sake of brevity I left these out. Were you able to get your function working? If not I’d be happy to help you :)

[@irfandyjip3246]

How to connect it with REST API? Or does anyone knows better project structure and stuff? I'm new to AWS.

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Use api Gateway. I have an updated vid using serverless framework you can check out.

[@kdclt]

Thank you!!!!

[@dylanalbertazzi]

You're welcome!

[@rvasconcelossilva]

Hey, great video. How do you integrate it with your DEVOPS process? and how do you deploy the packages that might be in other folders?

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Glad you like it! I use SAM for one off functions. if you are building a full fledged application w CI/CD workflow I recommend Serverless Framework. They’re the industry standard😛 The reason I didn’t use Serverless Framework for this vid is because SAM is a little bit easier an the goal was to hear towards absolute beginners. Happy Building!

[@sibonelozaca1390]

@@dylanalbertazzi Great video. I'm a little to aws and I would love to know how exactly can you pull this off on VS Code.

[@bb14742]

Is the Lambda function accessible from the Internet or do you have to add an API Gateway?

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Hi Brian, you'll have to connect to API Gateway to hit from the Internet.

[@ninja-gh]

Error: Failed to create changeset for the stack: sam-app, ex: Waiter ChangeSetCreateComplete failed: Waiter encountered a terminal failure state: For expression "Status" we matched expected path: "FAILED" Status: FAILED. Reason: Template error: instance of Fn::GetAtt references undefined resource HelloWorldFunctionRole I'm getting below error

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Hey, thanks for watching! It looks like the HelloWorldFunctionRole isn't defined. Around 5:55 in the video did you select Y for IAM role creation? If not, give that a try! Let me know if it works :)

[@mrexojo]

Link or track music name?

[@NKomarov]

you could switch to a smaller resolution before capturing so that it would be readable on a phone while playing

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Nikolay, thanks for the feedback!

[@ianaustria8868]

Does deleting the app in lambda clean up all the aws resources associated with it?

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Hi Ian, deleting from the console won't delete associated resources.

[@maxmajki]

Have you figured out the thing at 4:50 where it stops at line 10 at const RAPIDClient = require("./RAPIDClient.js"); ? I'm getting the same thing constantly hahah Great video btw!

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Not yet!

[@DevOpsDirective]

"The 🐳with the cargo 📦s rockin' and rolling" 😂

[@dylanalbertazzi]

it’s a good day when docker is rockin 🐳📦😛

[@AAMIRKHANitsaamir]

Dylan, its a great tutorial . Could you please help us to run GLue job locally on vs code?

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Hey Aamir, I'll add it to my like of video ideas. What kind of data are you working with?

[@AAMIRKHANitsaamir]

@@dylanalbertazzi working with data in glue catalog and moving the materialized view into redshift

[@dylanalbertazzi]

@@AAMIRKHANitsaamir Copy that 😎

[@hasanbiyik01]

You look like a pro coder!

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Thanks my man!

[@jinxlop2p]

Could you do a tutorial on how to create a grub guide like app?

[@dylanalbertazzi]

I'll add it to the video idea list!

[@mikebreeden6071]

Nice... Any chance you do C# though. Another thing, this is great but you might want to come up with a use case... That's what can baffle me anyway.

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Hey Mike, my C# experience is limited. The concepts should be similar to get you pointed in the right direction though. I'm with you on the use cases. Is there any in specific that you would be interested in seeing implemented?

[@mikebreeden6071]

@@dylanalbertazzi Hmmmm. I'm in a weird position. I've done .net for a long time and am good at it. I "know" cloud architecture pretty good but I still think in terms of servers, not serverless. Now I'm supposed to take over a huge project made by one smart guy with over 4 years AWS and serverless experience... who leaves after next month... and has no time to work on it now or to explain much. It's a ... 4000+... line lambda. I need a sandbox... at least. Oh yes, I work too many hours a week to have time to learn :) Management panicked after a ransomware event... I think the company has achieved the Peter Principle but hey, "Agile will make it all work". Anyway, what I want to do, I guess is make a simple C# lambda, not to do something, but to zip up, move to S3, install from there. That's how he set it up and what I have to learn. I figure connect an API Gateway so I can trigger the lambda. His YAML script is over 500 lines long. I figure, use a DynamoDB so I can make the Lambda do something. It's a sandbox. I need to work my way up. I just went through his logging module and it has about 25 C# modules in it. Huh? Tough learning curve. As I say, I need a sand box where I can learn the parts. I start early. It's 6:30 PM now. I need to study, but I already feel the fatigue. I don't remember a damn thing I learned yesterday. I need to make a project from end to end so that I can build my understanding by building the project. ... whatever.

[@kaushikdr]

@@mikebreeden6071 I am sure you will do well - it seems like your heart is in the right place :D How have you been doing?

[@christianmorgan3940]

Unable to import or download

[@bitsbard]

Awesome stuff! If this tickles your fancy, I'd recommend a book with similar content. "AWS Unleashed: Mastering Amazon Web Services for Software Engineers" by Harrison Quill

[@djh_king]

What's the song? I like the video.

[@dylanalbertazzi]

I forget off the top of my head. Something off of epidemic sound. Thanks!

[@franciscxjavier]

Great tutorial Dylan, I'd only recommend blurring out your email address. You know, just in case.

[@dylanalbertazzi]

I'm so glad it was helpful!

[@yanjiechg]

I wish the music is not so loud...

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Hi there. Yea, I've heard this a few times and have lowered it in later videos.

[@abdullahsalama9474]

The maximum is not 5 minutes, it is 15 minutes since end 2018 I think, but definitely more than a year

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Hi Abdullah, you're correct, the limit is 15 minutes.

[@robysupertrump]

good topic but low video definition makes it impossible to read, music makes it hard to follow the instruction

[@dylanalbertazzi]

Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback.

[@pasupathydevaraj9671]

little disappointed that this is not in python though :(

[@kirtho07]

Hi could u plz help on the below error... what shall i do to overcome this error? Thank you in advance File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\botocore\auth.py", line 401, in add_auth raise NoCredentialsError() botocore.exceptions.NoCredentialsError: Unable to locate credentials

[@dylanalbertazzi]

It looks like you''re not logged into an aws account. Give something like this a try stackoverflow.com/questions/45981950/how-to-specify-credentials-when-connecting-to-boto3-s3

[@MixterixSeven]

Dylan Albertazzi, thank you the video is a good tutorial and very well explained, but I have reached the point where it says SAM configuration environment [default]: and when I press enter I get the following error and I can not find a solution. Could you give me some hint or clue please? Traceback (most recent call last): File "runpy.py", line 194, in _run_module_as_main File "runpy.py", line 87, in _run_code File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\samcli\__main__.py", line 12, in cli(prog_name="sam") File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\click\core.py", line 829, in __call__ return self.main(*args, **kwargs) File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\click\core.py", line 782, in main rv = self.invoke(ctx) File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\click\core.py", line 1259, in invoke return _process_result(sub_ctx.command.invoke(sub_ctx)) File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\click\core.py", line 1066, in invoke return ctx.invoke(self.callback, **ctx.params) File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\click\core.py", line 610, in invoke return callback(*args, **kwargs) File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\samcli\lib\cli_validation\image_repository_validation.py", line 76, in wrapped return func(*args, **kwargs) File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\click\decorators.py", line 73, in new_func return ctx.invoke(f, obj, *args, **kwargs) File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\click\core.py", line 610, in invoke return callback(*args, **kwargs) File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\samcli\lib\telemetry\metric.py", line 153, in wrapped raise exception # pylint: disable=raising-bad-type File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\samcli\lib\telemetry\metric.py", line 122, in wrapped return_value = func(*args, **kwargs) File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\samcli\lib\utils\version_checker.py", line 42, in wrapped actual_result = func(*args, **kwargs) File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\samcli\cli\main.py", line 90, in wrapper return func(*args, **kwargs) File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\samcli\commands\deploy\command.py", line 206, in cli do_cli( File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\samcli\commands\deploy\command.py", line 291, in do_cli guided_context.run() File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\samcli\commands\deploy\guided_context.py", line 351, in run self.guided_prompts(_parameter_override_keys) File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\samcli\commands\deploy\guided_context.py", line 176, in guided_prompts s3_bucket = manage_stack(profile=self.profile, region=region) File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\samcli\lib\bootstrap\bootstrap.py", line 22, in manage_stack outputs: StackOutput = manage_cloudformation_stack( File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\samcli\lib\utils\managed_cloudformation_stack.py", line 86, in manage_stack return _create_or_get_stack(cloudformation_client, stack_name, template_body, parameter_overrides) File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\samcli\lib\utils\managed_cloudformation_stack.py", line 97, in _create_or_get_stack ds_resp = cloudformation_client.describe_stacks(StackName=stack_name) File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\botocore\client.py", line 386, in _api_call return self._make_api_call(operation_name, kwargs) File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\botocore\client.py", line 691, in _make_api_call http, parsed_response = self._make_request( File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\botocore\client.py", line 711, in _make_request return self._endpoint.make_request(operation_model, request_dict) File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\botocore\endpoint.py", line 102, in make_request return self._send_request(request_dict, operation_model) File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\botocore\endpoint.py", line 132, in _send_request request = self.create_request(request_dict, operation_model) File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\botocore\endpoint.py", line 115, in create_request self._event_emitter.emit(event_name, request=request, File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\botocore\hooks.py", line 356, in emit return self._emitter.emit(aliased_event_name, **kwargs) File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\botocore\hooks.py", line 228, in emit return self._emit(event_name, kwargs) File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\botocore\hooks.py", line 211, in _emit response = handler(**kwargs) File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\botocore\signers.py", line 90, in handler return self.sign(operation_name, request) File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\botocore\signers.py", line 162, in sign auth.add_auth(request) File "C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSSAMCLI untime\lib\site-packages\botocore\auth.py", line 373, in add_auth raise NoCredentialsError() botocore.exceptions.NoCredentialsError: Unable to locate credentials

[@dylanalbertazzi]

It looks like your not logged into an aws account Check this out: docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/cli-chap-configure.html

[@MixterixSeven]

@@dylanalbertazzi Okay, I'll try again and let you know. Thanks

[@MixterixSeven]

@@dylanalbertazzi You are right, after doing the configuration, I was able to continue doing the steps in the video. Thank you 👍

[@DevanFischer]

Great content Dylan! I am also a web developer in Bend. Currently working for Mazama Media. I’d love to chat with you about your experience with AWS certs as I find myself using more and more aws services in our development. I’ll head over to your site and submit a contact me so you have my information.

[@dylanalbertazzi]

No way, that's awesome! Yes please do.