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How to Run IronPDF for Java in AWS Lambda

Darrius Serrant
Darrius Serrant
January 22, 2023
Updated October 20, 2024
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Important: Required Settings

  • Zip Deployment is not supported, since IronPDF requires execution of binaries at runtime.
  • You must set PackageType to Image. Because IronPDF for Java only supports Docker deployment.
  • You must use AmazonLinux2 docker image.
  • You must set the following IronPdfEngineWorkingDirectory:
Setting.setIronPdfEngineWorkingDirectory(Paths.get("/tmp/"));
JAVA

Required because it is the only path that AWS allows for execution environment.

  • Increase the /tmp size, Default value is 512 MB. Please set it to at least 1024 MB.
  • Include the ironpdf-engine-linux-x64 dependency to your project:
 <dependency>
    <groupId>com.ironsoftware</groupId>
    <artifactId>ironpdf-engine-linux-x64</artifactId>
    <version>2022.xx.x</version>
</dependency>
XML
  • Set Lambda timeout to 330 seconds due to slow start.
  • Set Lambda memory size to at least 1024 MB.

Quick Start with AWS Toolkit for IntelliJ IDEA (AWS SAM)

  1. Install Tools:

    You may also need the following for local testing:

  2. Create project. (File -> New -> Project...)
How to Run IronPDF for Java in AWS Lambda - Figure 1

  1. Config:
    • Package Type : Image
    • Runtime : java8 or java11
    • SAM Template : Maven
How to Run IronPDF for Java in AWS Lambda - Figure 2

  1. Add the following dependencies to your pom.xml:
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
    <artifactId>slf4j-simple</artifactId>
    <version>2.0.3</version>
</dependency>

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.ironsoftware</groupId>
    <artifactId>ironpdf-engine-linux-x64</artifactId>
    <version>2022.11.1</version>
</dependency>

<dependency>
    <groupId>io.perfmark</groupId>
    <artifactId>perfmark-api</artifactId>
    <version>0.26.0</version>
</dependency>

<dependency>
    <groupId>io.grpc</groupId>
    <artifactId>grpc-okhttp</artifactId>
    <version>1.50.2</version>
</dependency>

<dependency>
    <groupId>io.grpc</groupId>
    <artifactId>grpc-netty-shaded</artifactId>
    <version>1.50.2</version>
</dependency>
XML
  1. Change the handleRequest function code in App.java to:
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.*;
public APIGatewayProxyResponseEvent handleRequest(final APIGatewayProxyRequestEvent input, final Context context) {
        APIGatewayProxyResponseEvent response = new APIGatewayProxyResponseEvent();
        Settings.setDebug(true); //optional
        Settings.setIronPdfEngineWorkingDirectory(Paths.get("/tmp/")); //requried!
        try {
            context.getLogger().log("RENDER PDF");
            PdfDocument pdf = PdfDocument.renderUrlAsPdf("https://www.google.com");
            context.getLogger().log("RENDER PDF SUCCESS");
            pdf.saveAs("/tmp/my-first-pdf.pdf");
            //Done! Now you can do anything with the pdf such as upload this pdf to S3.
            //return something..
            Map<String, String> headers = new HashMap<>();
            headers.put("Content-Type", "application/json");
            headers.put("X-Custom-Header", "application/json");
            APIGatewayProxyResponseEvent response = new APIGatewayProxyResponseEvent()
                    .withHeaders(headers);
            return response
                    .withStatusCode(200)
                    .withBody("ENJOY IRON-PDF!");
        } catch (Exception e) {
            return response
                    .withBody("{" + e.getMessage() + "}")
                    .withStatusCode(500);
        }
    }
JAVA
  1. Set Lambda config at template.yaml:
Globals:
  Function:
    Timeout: 400
    MemorySize: 2048
    EphemeralStorage:
      Size: 1024
#don't touch the other config
YAML
  1. Update Dockerfile to the following:
    • Note: for Java8 please use java8.al2 images because it uses AmazonLinux2, but java8 uses the old AmazonLinux.
FROM public.ecr.aws/sam/build-java8.al2:latest as build-image
WORKDIR "/task"
COPY src/ src/
COPY pom.xml ./
RUN mvn -q clean install
RUN mvn dependency:copy-dependencies -DincludeScope=compile
FROM public.ecr.aws/lambda/java:8.al2
RUN yum update -y
RUN yum install -y pango.x86_64
RUN yum install -y libXcomposite.x86_64
RUN yum install -y libXcursor.x86_64
RUN yum install -y libXdamage.x86_64
RUN yum install -y libXext.x86_64
RUN yum install -y libXi.x86_64
RUN yum install -y libXtst.x86_64
RUN yum install -y cups-libs.x86_64
RUN yum install -y libXScrnSaver.x86_64
RUN yum install -y libXrandr.x86_64
RUN yum install -y GConf2.x86_64
RUN yum install -y alsa-lib.x86_64
RUN yum install -y atk.x86_64
RUN yum install -y gtk3.x86_64
RUN yum install -y ipa-gothic-fonts
RUN yum install -y xorg-x11-fonts-100dpi
RUN yum install -y xorg-x11-fonts-75dpi
RUN yum install -y xorg-x11-utils
RUN yum install -y xorg-x11-fonts-cyrillic
RUN yum install -y xorg-x11-fonts-Type1
RUN yum install -y xorg-x11-fonts-misc
RUN yum install -y glibc-devel.x86_64
RUN yum install -y at-spi2-atk.x86_64
RUN yum install -y mesa-libgbm.x86_64
RUN yum install -y libxkbcommon
RUN yum install -y amazon-linux-extras
RUN amazon-linux-extras install epel -y
RUN yum install -y libgdiplus
RUN chmod 777 /tmp/
COPY --from=build-image /task/target/classes /var/task/
COPY --from=build-image /task/target/dependency /var/task/lib
# Command can be overwritten by providing a different command in the template directly.
CMD ["helloworld.App::handleRequest"]
  1. Build with:
sam build -u
  1. Deploy with:
sam deploy --guided
  1. Enjoy IronPDF in AWS Lambda! Now your function is up at: Access AWS Lambda Console
Darrius Serrant
Darrius Serrant
  Chat with engineering team now
Full Stack Software Engineer (WebOps)

Darrius Serrant holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Miami and works as a Full Stack WebOps Marketing Engineer at Iron Software. Drawn to coding from a young age, he saw computing as both mysterious and accessible, making it the perfect medium for creativity and problem-solving.

At Iron Software, Darrius enjoys creating new things and simplifying complex concepts to make them more understandable. As one of our resident developers, he has also volunteered to teach students, sharing his expertise with the next generation.

For Darrius, his work is fulfilling because it is valued and has a real impact.