Use the AppDynamics AWS Lambda Extension to Instrument Serverless APM at Runtime

This page explains how to use the Splunk AppDynamics AWS Lambda Extension for Serverless APM (the Splunk AppDynamics Lambda extension), the recommended way to inject the Serverless Tracer at runtime. Use this option to dynamically add a layer to a Node.js or Python application.

Note: The Splunk AppDynamics AWS Lambda extension does not work with the Node.js Serverless Tracer version 23.3.404.
Note: This document is intended to provide information specifically for using the Splunk AppDynamics AWS Lambda Extension for Serverless APM in conjunction with AppDynamics. AWS Lambda is managed by AWS and is a separate product from Splunk AppDynamics solutions.

Before You Begin

After you subscribe to Serverless APM for AWS Lambda and set up your environment variables, you can begin instrumentation. Ensure that your setup meets the following requirements:

  • Existing AWS Lambda functions built with Node.js versions 16.x, 18.x, 20.x or Python 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, Java 17, Java 21

  • Active Serverless APM for AWS Lambda subscription
  • Splunk AppDynamics SaaS Controller version >=4.5.11
  • Supported AWS Regions: eu-central-1, eu-north-1, eu-west-1, eu-west-2, eu-west-3, ap-northeast-1, ap-northeast-2, ap-south-1, ap-southeast-1, ap-southeast-2, ca-central-1, sa-east-1, us-east-1, us-east-2, us-west-1, us-west-2

Use AWS Lambda Layers to Inject the Serverless Tracer at Runtime

To install the Node.js or Python Serverless Tracer, configure your Lambda function to use the layer implementing the Splunk AppDynamics AWS Lambda Extension for Serverless APM. The method for doing this differs, depending on whether your Lambda function is packaged as a zip archive or as a container image.

Add the AWS Lambda Extension to Your Function when packaged as a zip archive

To pull the Cisco AppDynamicslayer from Amazon, add the Amazon Resource Number (ARN) to your Lambda using either the AWS Management Console UI or the AWS CLI.
  1. Add the AWS Lambda extension to your function.
  2. Configure environment variables.

Instrument a Lambda Function using the AWS UI

  1. In the AWS Management Console console, select Compute > Lambda.
  2. From the AWS Lambda panel, select a lambda that you want to instrument.
  3. Select Layers.
  4. Click Add a layer.
  5. Under Choose a layer, select Specify an ARN.
  6. Under Specify an ARN, enter the AWS Layer information:
    CODE 
    arn:aws:lambda:us-west-2:338050622354:layer:appdynamics-lambda-extension:30
    The ARN region changes based on the AWS region where the lambda is deployed. For example, if your lambda isEurope (Frankfurt) eu-central-1, use:
    CODE 
    arn:aws:lambda:eu-central-1:338050622354:layer:appdynamics-lambda-extension:30
  7. Click Add.
  8. To verify the layer is added to the lambda, click Layers.
    Under Layers, the appdynamics-lambda-extension displays.
See Configure environment variables.

Instrument a Lambda Function using AWS CLI

To pull the Splunk AppDynamics layer from Amazon1, using the AWS CLI:

  1. See Configuring a function to use layers.
  2. See Configure environment variables.

Configure Environment Variables

To finish injecting the tracer into AWS Lambda, configure environment variables depending on your programming language and version:

Node 16.x, Node 18.x, Node 20.x, Python 3.9 to 3.13, Java 17 and Java 21

Add the environment variable AWS_LAMBDA_EXEC_WRAPPER with the value: /opt/appdynamics-extension-script:

CODE 
AWS_LAMBDA_EXEC_WRAPPER = /opt/appdynamics-extension-script

Add the AWS Lambda Extension to Your Function when packaged as a container image

When your Lambda functions are deployed as container images, Lambda layers cannot be added via the function configuration. Instead, you must package the extension as part of your container image during the build process. For more details refer to this AWS Blog article.

To add the Cisco AppDynamics Lambda extension to your Lambda container, you will need to use a Dockerfile like those provided below:

Node.js 20
JSON 
FROM amazon/aws-cli:2.2.4 AS downloader
ARG version_number=10
ARG access_key
ARG secret_key
ARG region
ARG cachebust
ENV AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=${access_key}
ENV AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=${secret_key}
ENV AWS_REGION=${region}
ENV VERSION_NUMBER=${version_number}
RUN yum install -y jq curl
RUN echo "Cache Bust: $cachebust"
RUN aws lambda get-layer-version-by-arn --arn arn:aws:lambda:$AWS_REGION:716333212585:layer:appdynamics-lambda-extension:$VERSION_NUMBER | jq -r '.Content.Location' | xargs curl -o extension.zip
FROM public.ecr.aws/lambda/nodejs:20
COPY --from=downloader /aws/extension.zip .
RUN yum install -y unzip && unzip extension.zip -d /opt && rm -f extension.zip
COPY package.json ./
RUN npm install
COPY app.js ./
# You can overwrite command in `serverless.yml` template
CMD ["app.handler"]
Node.js 18
JSON 
FROM amazon/aws-cli:2.2.4 AS downloader
ARG version_number=10
ARG access_key
ARG secret_key
ARG region
ARG cachebust
ENV AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=${access_key}
ENV AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=${secret_key}
ENV AWS_REGION=${region}
ENV VERSION_NUMBER=${version_number}
RUN yum install -y jq curl
RUN echo "Cache Bust: $cachebust"
RUN aws lambda get-layer-version-by-arn --arn arn:aws:lambda:$AWS_REGION:716333212585:layer:appdynamics-lambda-extension:$VERSION_NUMBER | jq -r '.Content.Location' | xargs curl -o extension.zip
FROM public.ecr.aws/lambda/nodejs:18
COPY --from=downloader /aws/extension.zip .
RUN yum install -y unzip && unzip extension.zip -d /opt && rm -f extension.zip
COPY package.json ./
RUN npm install
COPY app.js ./
# You can overwrite command in `serverless.yml` template
CMD ["app.handler"]
Node.js 16
JSON 
FROM amazon/aws-cli:2.2.4 AS downloader
ARG version_number=10
ARG access_key
ARG secret_key
ARG region
ARG cachebust
ENV AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=${access_key}
ENV AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=${secret_key}
ENV AWS_REGION=${region}
ENV VERSION_NUMBER=${version_number}
RUN yum install -y jq curl
RUN echo "Cache Bust: $cachebust"
RUN aws lambda get-layer-version-by-arn --arn arn:aws:lambda:$AWS_REGION:716333212585:layer:appdynamics-lambda-extension:$VERSION_NUMBER | jq -r '.Content.Location' | xargs curl -o extension.zip
FROM public.ecr.aws/lambda/nodejs:16
COPY --from=downloader /aws/extension.zip .
RUN yum install -y unzip && unzip extension.zip -d /opt && rm -f extension.zip
COPY package.json ./
RUN npm install
COPY app.js ./
# You can overwrite command in `serverless.yml` template
CMD ["app.handler"]
Python 3.9
JSON 
FROM amazon/aws-cli:2.2.4 AS downloader
ARG version_number=10
ARG access_key
ARG secret_key
ARG region
ARG cachebust
ENV AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=${access_key}
ENV AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=${secret_key}
ENV AWS_REGION=${region}
ENV VERSION_NUMBER=${version_number}
RUN yum install -y jq curl
RUN echo "Cache Bust: $cachebust"
RUN aws lambda get-layer-version-by-arn --arn arn:aws:lambda:$AWS_REGION:716333212585:layer:appdynamics-lambda-extension:$VERSION_NUMBER | jq -r '.Content.Location' | xargs curl -o extension.zip
FROM public.ecr.aws/lambda/python:3.9
COPY --from=downloader /aws/extension.zip .
RUN yum install -y unzip && unzip extension.zip -d /opt && rm -f extension.zip
COPY app.py ./
# You can overwrite command in `serverless.yml` template
CMD ["app.handler"]
Python 3.10
JSON 
FROM amazon/aws-cli:2.2.4 AS downloader
ARG version_number=10
ARG access_key
ARG secret_key
ARG region
ARG cachebust
ENV AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=${access_key}
ENV AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=${secret_key}
ENV AWS_REGION=${region}
ENV VERSION_NUMBER=${version_number}
RUN yum install -y jq curl
RUN echo "Cache Bust: $cachebust"
RUN aws lambda get-layer-version-by-arn --arn arn:aws:lambda:$AWS_REGION:716333212585:layer:appdynamics-lambda-extension:$VERSION_NUMBER | jq -r '.Content.Location' | xargs curl -o extension.zip
FROM public.ecr.aws/lambda/python:3.10
COPY --from=downloader /aws/extension.zip .
RUN yum install -y unzip && unzip extension.zip -d /opt && rm -f extension.zip
COPY app.py ./
# You can overwrite command in `serverless.yml` template
CMD ["app.handler"]
Python 3.11
JSON 
FROM amazon/aws-cli:2.2.4 AS downloader
ARG version_number=10
ARG access_key
ARG secret_key
ARG region
ARG cachebust
ENV AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=${access_key}
ENV AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=${secret_key}
ENV AWS_REGION=${region}
ENV VERSION_NUMBER=${version_number}
RUN yum install -y jq curl
RUN echo "Cache Bust: $cachebust"
RUN aws lambda get-layer-version-by-arn --arn arn:aws:lambda:$AWS_REGION:716333212585:layer:appdynamics-lambda-extension:$VERSION_NUMBER | jq -r '.Content.Location' | xargs curl -o extension.zip
FROM public.ecr.aws/lambda/python:3.11
COPY --from=downloader /aws/extension.zip .
RUN yum install -y unzip && unzip extension.zip -d /opt && rm -f extension.zip
COPY app.py ./
# You can overwrite command in `serverless.yml` template
CMD ["app.handler"]
Python 3.12
JSON 
FROM amazon/aws-cli:2.2.4 AS downloader
ARG version_number=10
ARG access_key
ARG secret_key
ARG region
ARG cachebust
ENV AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=${access_key}
ENV AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=${secret_key}
ENV AWS_REGION=${region}
ENV VERSION_NUMBER=${version_number}
RUN yum install -y jq curl
RUN echo "Cache Bust: $cachebust"
RUN aws lambda get-layer-version-by-arn --arn arn:aws:lambda:$AWS_REGION:716333212585:layer:appdynamics-lambda-extension:$VERSION_NUMBER | jq -r '.Content.Location' | xargs curl -o extension.zip
FROM public.ecr.aws/lambda/python:3.12
COPY --from=downloader /aws/extension.zip .
RUN yum install -y unzip && unzip extension.zip -d /opt && rm -f extension.zip
COPY app.py ./
# You can overwrite command in `serverless.yml` template
CMD ["app.handler"]
Python 3.13
JSON 
FROM amazon/aws-cli:2.2.4 AS downloader
ARG version_number=10
ARG access_key
ARG secret_key
ARG region
ARG cachebust
ENV AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=${access_key}
ENV AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=${secret_key}
ENV AWS_REGION=${region}
ENV VERSION_NUMBER=${version_number}
RUN yum install -y jq curl
RUN echo "Cache Bust: $cachebust"
RUN aws lambda get-layer-version-by-arn --arn arn:aws:lambda:$AWS_REGION:716333212585:layer:appdynamics-lambda-extension:$VERSION_NUMBER | jq -r '.Content.Location' | xargs curl -o extension.zip
FROM public.ecr.aws/lambda/python:3.13
COPY --from=downloader /aws/extension.zip .
RUN yum install -y unzip && unzip extension.zip -d /opt && rm -f extension.zip
COPY app.py ./
# You can overwrite command in `serverless.yml` template
CMD ["app.handler"]

To build the container image containing your code as well as the Cisco AppDynamics Lambda extension, make sure you have the correct Dockerfile in your current directory and use the docker build command; for example:

CODE 
docker build --build-arg version_number=$version_number --build-arg access_key=$(aws configure get aws_access_key_id) --build-arg secret_key=$(aws configure get aws_secret_access_key) --build-arg region=$(aws configure get region) -t <your tag> --build-arg cachebust=$(date +%s) .

Verify your Serverless Tracer Instrumentation

See Verify the Serverless Tracer Instrumentation.

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