Create a Serverless Slack Bot with AWS Lambda and Python

Introduction

How to Setup a Free AWS Developer Environment

How to Configure EC2 and AWS Workspaces Local Credentials

Configuring Your AWS Environment

Setup a Local Python AWS Lambda Development Environment

Installing Python 3 and Pyenv on MacOS, Windows, and Linux

How to Login to AWS CLI and Configure Default Region

Configuring Your Local Machine

How Our Slack Bot "Dicebot" Will Work

How to Create an AWS S3 Bucket for Lambda Artifacts

How to Code a Lambda Hello World Function with AWS SAM

How to Test AWS Lambda Functions Locally With Docker

The Beginner Guide to AWS Lambda Deployment

Creating Hello-world Lambda

How to Create a Slack Bot

How to Code a Python Dice Rolling Simulator Program

How to Turn Serverless Python Lambda Code Into a Slack Bot

Testing Our Serverless Slack Dicebot with Docker Locally

Cleaning Up Our Serverless Dicebot Deployment

Creating Dicebot Lambda

*Serverless Computing* may sound like a scary topic, but with the rise of AWS Lambda and mature tools supporting it - it's more approachable than ever. In this newline course, we're going to learn what serverless technology is and isn't, and why it belongs in your developer toolbox. We'll see that for certain common projects - like custom chat bot creation - AWS Lambda really shines for it's simplicity, affordability, and ability to integrate with the wider AWS ecosystem. 

Some developers love using serverless tech because it helps them save money, scale quickly, and deliver on reliability goals. While all of those things are possible with Lambda (especially cost savings which are common - but certainly not guaranteed), it's the development agility and reduction of operations overhead that drives my love for the service. It's a relief to be able to get right into the code, without worrying about configuring operating systems, deploying containers, or scaling clusters. Serverless on Lambda gives developers the resources needed to write, deploy, and _maintain_ production-ready software - all without significant operational overhead.

In true newline-fashion, we'll get *rolling* with a practical application right away. RPG players rejoice - we're creating a fully functional, dice-rolling chat bot for Slack! While the example bot will be for Slack, the same idea can be easily adapted to create a bot for Telegram, Discord, or nearly any other chat service with a bot API. 

We will be using Python 3 for this project, but it's worth noting that [AWS Lambda works with other common languages and runtimes](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/latest/dg/lambda-runtimes.html), including NodeJS, Java, ruby, go, and .NET. The basic mechanisms of creating, testing, and deploying your Lambda do not vary significantly based on your runtime choice.

By the end of this course you'll:

* Deploy a Slack Bot that runs on AWS Lambda
* Understand how to keep your AWS account secure
* Be able to deploy custom Lambda functions
* Understand serverless architecture and how it works

In this course we'll build and deploy a Serverless Slack Bot using AWS Lambda and Python. Along the way you'll learn about proper security, how lambda works, and how to deploy your service.

Create a Serverless Slackbot with AWS Lambda and Python

How to deploy a serverless bot into production

Now that our AWS Account is largely configured - it is possible to configure an 

 as the development environment to use for developing for AWS Lambda.

These tools are best used for cases where developers are unable to install the required development software onto their local development machine due to technical limitations or permissions issues. See pricing info before using any of these

AWS Workspaces - Standard with Amazon Linux 2

 provides persistent computer workspaces (complete with a GUI) that can be used from almost any client that has access to internet. AWS provides a free-tier eligible workspace bundle called 

 - and that should work just fine with everything shown in this course. It's possible to connect to Amazon Linux Workspaces from Windows, Mac OS, ChromeOS, Android, and iOS. At this time - Linux can connect to some Amazon Linux 2 Workspaces via Firefox or Chrome - though it can connect to Windows workspaces. Hopefully future updates will resolve that issue. If a remote solution is needed for Linux, consider using 

Workspace Pricing information (Important if not using free-tier!)
: 

https://aws.amazon.com/workspaces/pricing/

Instructions for launching an AWS Workspace
: 

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/workspaces/latest/adminguide/getting-started.html

It is also possible to use a plain Amazon Linux 2 EC2 Instance for developing for Lambda. The setup for this is more complex than for AWS Workspaces, but works fine for users familiar with EC2 already.

Remember to select a free-tier qualifying instance (such as 

) if that is important, and ensure that the instance has an AWS Security group that is locked down tight. A standard GUI will not be available easily when taking this path, but this course is very oriented to terminal usage anyhow. Instructions are provided below for using VSCode over SSH, which is recommended when using this setup.

---
title: How to Configure EC2 and AWS Workspaces Local Credentials
isPublicLesson: true
description: "Here, we'll configure an `AWS Workspace` or `AWS EC2 Instance` as the development environment to use for developing for AWS Lambda."
---

# Configuring Our AWS Workspace

## Remote Workspace - (Optional)

Now that our AWS Account is largely configured - it is possible to configure an `AWS Workspace` or `AWS EC2 Instance` as the development environment to use for developing for AWS Lambda.

**These tools are best used for cases where developers are unable to install the required development software onto their local development machine due to technical limitations or permissions issues. See pricing info before using any of these**

### AWS Workspaces - Standard with Amazon Linux 2

[AWS Workspaces](https://aws.amazon.com/workspaces/) provides persistent computer workspaces (complete with a GUI) that can be used from almost any client that has access to internet. AWS provides a free-tier eligible workspace bundle called `Standard with Amazon Linux 2` - and that should work just fine with everything shown in this course. It's possible to connect to Amazon Linux Workspaces from Windows, Mac OS, ChromeOS, Android, and iOS. At this time - Linux can connect to some Amazon Linux 2 Workspaces via Firefox or Chrome - though it can connect to Windows workspaces. Hopefully future updates will resolve that issue. If a remote solution is needed for Linux, consider using [EC2](#remote-ec2), as shown below

Workspace Pricing information (Important if not using free-tier!)
: <https://aws.amazon.com/workspaces/pricing/>.

Instructions for launching an AWS Workspace
: <https://docs.aws.amazon.com/workspaces/latest/adminguide/getting-started.html>

### AWS EC2 Instance (Amazon Linux 2)

It is also possible to use a plain Amazon Linux 2 EC2 Instance for developing for Lambda. The setup for this is more complex than for AWS Workspaces, but works fine for users familiar with EC2 already.

Remember to select a free-tier qualifying instance (such as `t2.micro`) if that is important, and ensure that the instance has an AWS Security group that is locked down tight. A standard GUI will not be available easily when taking this path, but this course is very oriented to terminal usage anyhow. Instructions are provided below for using VSCode over SSH, which is recommended when using this setup.

Connect VSCode to remote SSH
: <https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/remote/ssh>

Here, we'll configure an `AWS Workspace` or `AWS EC2 Instance` as the development environment to use for developing for AWS Lambda.

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Amelia Wattenberger

Author of Fullstack D3

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Create a Serverless Slackbot with AWS Lambda and Python

Module 1: Introduction

Introduction:

Start Here

Introduction:

Create a Serverless Slack Bot with AWS Lambda and Python

Module 2: Configuring Your AWS Environment

Lesson 1:

How to Setup a Free AWS Developer Environment

Lesson 2:

How to Configure EC2 and AWS Workspaces Local Credentials

Module 3: Configuring Your Local Machine

Lesson 1:

Setup a Local Python AWS Lambda Development Environment

Lesson 2:

Installing Python 3 and Pyenv on MacOS, Windows, and Linux

Lesson 3:

How to Login to AWS CLI and Configure Default Region

Module 4: Creating Hello-world Lambda

Lesson 1:

How Our Slack Bot "Dicebot" Will Work

Lesson 2:

How to Create an AWS S3 Bucket for Lambda Artifacts

Lesson 3:

How to Code a Lambda Hello World Function with AWS SAM

Lesson 4:

How to Test AWS Lambda Functions Locally With Docker

Lesson 5:

The Beginner Guide to AWS Lambda Deployment

Module 5: Creating Dicebot Lambda

Lesson 1:

How to Create a Slack Bot

Lesson 2:

How to Code a Python Dice Rolling Simulator Program

Lesson 3:

How to Turn Serverless Python Lambda Code Into a Slack Bot

Lesson 4:

Testing Our Serverless Slack Dicebot with Docker Locally

Lesson 5:

Cleaning Up Our Serverless Dicebot Deployment

How to Configure EC2 and AWS Workspaces Local Credentials