Introduction

AWS Lambda is a serverless computing platform that allows developers to run code without having to manage or provision any servers. It is a great way to quickly deploy applications and services without having to worry about the underlying infrastructure. One of the key features of AWS Lambda is the ability to set environment variables. Environment variables are key-value pairs that can be used to store configuration information for your application. In this lesson, we will explore how to use AWS Lambda environment variables and how they can be used to configure your application.

What are Environment Variables?

Environment variables are key-value pairs that can be used to store configuration information for your application. They are typically used to store information such as database connection strings, API keys, and other sensitive information. Environment variables are stored in the Lambda function’s environment and can be accessed from within the code.

How to Set Environment Variables

There are several ways to set environment variables for your Lambda function. The most common way is to use the AWS Console. To do this, navigate to the Lambda function in the AWS Console and select the “Configuration” tab. On this page, you will see a section for “Environment Variables”. Here, you can add key-value pairs for your environment variables.

Another way to set environment variables is to use the AWS CLI. To do this, you can use the aws lambda update-function-configuration command. This command takes a JSON file as an argument that contains the environment variables you want to set.

How to Access Environment Variables

Once you have set your environment variables, you can access them from within your code. In Node.js, you can access environment variables using the process.env object. For example, if you have set an environment variable called API_KEY, you can access it using process.env.API_KEY.

Using Environment Variables with AWS CDK

AWS CDK is a software development framework for defining cloud infrastructure as code. It allows you to define your infrastructure using familiar programming languages such as TypeScript and Python. You can also use environment variables with AWS CDK. To do this, you can use the @aws-cdk/aws-lambda.Function class. This class has a environment property that takes an object containing key-value pairs for your environment variables.

Using Environment Variables with AWS CLI

You can also use environment variables with the AWS CLI. To do this, you can use the --environment flag with the aws lambda invoke command. This flag takes a JSON object containing key-value pairs for your environment variables.

Conclusion

In this lesson, we explored how to use AWS Lambda environment variables. We looked at how to set environment variables using the AWS Console and the AWS CLI. We also looked at how to access environment variables from within your code and how to use them with AWS CDK. Environment variables are a great way to store configuration information for your application and can be used to make your application more secure.