AWS Lambda

Last modified: November 19, 2024

Introduction

The AWS Lambda connector provides a way for your app to trigger AWS Lambda functions.

Typical Use Cases

AWS Lambda is a serverless, event-driven compute service that lets you run code for virtually any type of application or backend service without provisioning or managing servers. You can trigger Lambda from over 200 AWS services and software as a service (SaaS) applications, and only pay for what you use.

Prerequisites

The AWS Lambda connector requires Mendix Studio Pro 9.18.0 or above.

To authenticate with Amazon Web Service (AWS), you must also install and configure the AWS authentication connector. If you are using the Amazon Lambda connector version 2.0 or higher, it requires the AWS Authentication connector version 3.0 or higher. It is crucial for the Amazon S3 connector to function correctly For more information about installing and configuring the AWS Authentication connector, see AWS Authentication.

Licensing and Cost

This connector is available as a free download from the Mendix Marketplace, but the AWS service to which is connects may incur a usage cost. For more information, refer to AWS documentation.

Depending on your use case, your deployment environment, and the type of app that you want to build, you may also need a license for your Mendix app. For more information, refer to Licensing Apps.

Installation

Follow the instructions in How to Use Marketplace Content to import the AWS Lambda connector into your app.

Configuration

After you install the connector, you can find it in the App Explorer, in the AWSLambdaConnector section. The connector provides a domain model and several activities which you can use to quickly configure the Lambda connector for your use case. Each activity can be implemented by using it in a microflow. To ensure that your app can connect to the AWS service, you must also configure AWS authentication for the connector.

Configuring AWS Authentication

In order to use the AWS Lambda service, you must authenticate with AWS. To do so, you must set up a configuration profile in your Mendix app. After you set up the configuration profile, the connector module handles the authentication internally.

As of version 3.0.0 of the AWS Authentication Connector, all the resources and logic required to set up authentication are centralized inside the AWS Authentication Connector module.

The AWS Authentication Connector supports both static credentials and temporary credentials. For more information and detailed instructions please refer to the AWS Authentication Connector documentation page.

Configuring a Microflow for an AWS Service

To quickly configure the connection to AWS Lambda by configuring a microflow, perform the following steps:

  1. In the App Explorer, in App > Marketplace modules > AWSAuthentication > ConnectionDetails, configure the required authentication credentials. For more information about the difference between static and temporary credentials, see AWS Authentication.

  2. Create a new microflow.

  3. In AWSLambdaConnector > Operations, find the microflow activity for the operation you want to perform. For example, if you want to get the list of available Lambda functions, find the ListFunctions activity and drag it to your microflow. For more information about the activities that the microflows can perform, see Technical Reference.

  4. Configure the required parameters:

    1. For the ListFunctionsRequest parameter, create a new ListFunctionsRequest object at the start of the microflow and pass it to the ListFunctions activity.
    2. In the Toolbox, depending on the type of credentials you want to use, search for the GetStaticCredentials activity or the GetTemporaryCredentials activity and drag it to the start of your microflow. Then select it as the value for the Credentials parameter of the ListFunctions activity.
    3. For the ENUM_Region parameter, choose a Region from the AWSAuthentication.ENUM_Region enumeration. For example, AWSAuthentication.ENUM_Region.us_east_1 for the US_East_1 Region.
    4. The ListFunctions activity will return a ListFunctionsResponse with details about the retrieved lambda functions.

Technical Reference

The module includes technical reference documentation for the available entities, enumerations, activities, and other items that you can use in your application. You can view the information about each object in context by using the Documentation pane in Studio Pro.

The Documentation pane displays the documentation for the currently selected element. To view it, perform the following steps:

  1. In the View menu of Studio Pro, select Documentation.

  2. Click on the element for which you want to view the documentation.