AWS Lambda Native Tracing for Python

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You can setup Instana AWS Lambda tracing for AWS Lambda functions written in Python.

For more information, see AWS Lambda tracing.

Supported Runtimes

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  • Python 3.13
  • Python 3.12
  • Python 3.11
  • Python 3.10
  • Python 3.9
Note: Starting from 14 October 2024, AWS Lambda no longer applies security patches and other updates to the Python 3.8 runtime that is used by Lambda functions. The functions that use Python 3.8 are no longer eligible for technical support, and you can no longer create new Lambda functions that use the Python 3.8 runtime.

Configuring AWS Lambda functions

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You can enable tracing of Lambda functions by using one of the following setup options:

Using the Instana Lambda layer

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To enable tracing of Python Lambda functions through the AWS web console, perform the following steps:

Step 1. Add the Instana Lambda layer to your function

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  1. On the configuration page for your Lambda function, click the Layers box.
    Figure 1. Lambda Layers
    Lambda Layers
  2. Click Add a layer in the Layers box.
    Figure 2. Add a layer
    Add a layer
  3. On the new page that opens, select the Specify an ARN option as the layer source. Copy and paste the ARN for the Instana Lambda Layer that matches your region in the Specify an ARN field, and then click Add. You can find the right ARN for the Instana Lambda Layer in the Instana Lambda Layers section.
Figure 3. Add Instana Python Layer
Add Instana Python Layer

Step 2. Configure the Lambda handler

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Set the Lambda handler to instana.lambda_handler. On the function configuration page, go to the Runtime settings section, and click Edit.

Figure 4. Edit runtime settings
Edit runtime settings

In the Handler field, insert instana.lambda_handler, and then click Save.

Figure 5. Save runtime settings
Save runtime settings

If you are using a custom handler value (instead of the default handler for your runtime, see preceding details), specify your handler in the environment variable LAMBDA_HANDLER to notify the Instana Lambda Layer. For example, if your handler is myModule.myHandler, set the environment variable LAMBDA_HANDLER to myModule.myHandler. For other environment variables that need to be set, see the next section.

Note: The Lambda configuration page might display a warning like Lambda can't find the file instana.lambda_handler.. This message can also be displayed later when you return to the configuration page. You can ignore this warning because the handler is included in the Instana Lambda layer, but the AWS Lambda configuration page does not take that into account.

Step 3. Configure environment variables

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Add the following environment variables:

  • INSTANA_ENDPOINT_URL: Your serverless monitoring endpoint. Make sure to use the correct value for your region that starts with https://serverless-.
  • INSTANA_AGENT_KEY: Your agent key.
  • LAMBDA_HANDLER: Your custom handler, if you are not using the default handler lambda_function.lambda_handler.

You can also find the correct values for these environment variables in your Instana installation. Go to Data sources > Install agents > AWS Lambda.

Step 4. Using the AWS Command Line Interface (CLI)

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You can also enable tracing of Lambda functions by using any of the following AWS management tools:

The following example shows an aws CLI command that might serve as a starting point if you want to automate the Instana integration of your AWS Lambda functions:

# Do not copy and paste this verbatim!
# It will overwrite any previously defined collection of layers and environment variables.
aws --region $YOUR_REGION lambda update-function-configuration \
  --function-name $YOUR_LAMBDA_FUNCTION_NAME \
  --layers $INSTANA_LAYER_ARN \
  --handler instana.lambda_handler \
  --environment ""Variables={INSTANA_ENDPOINT_URL=... , INSTANA_AGENT_KEY=... , ...}""

Installing the instana package manually

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Instead of using the Instana Lambda layer, you can also choose to install the Instana Python Tracer package manually. This option is preferable for restricted environments, such as FedRAMP-compliant environments.

To enable tracing of Python Lambda functions, complete the following steps:

  1. Add the Instana Python Tracer package as dependency to your function project. [1]
  2. Set the Lambda handler to instana.lambda_handler as described in the Configuring Lambda handler section.
  3. Configure the following environment variables for the Lambda function:
    • INSTANA_ENDPOINT_URL : Your serverless monitoring endpoint. Make sure to use the correct value for your region that starts with https://serverless-.
    • INSTANA_AGENT_KEY : Your agent key.
    • LAMBDA_HANDLER : Your custom handler, if you are not using the default handler lambda_function.lambda_handler.

Instana Lambda layers

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The ARNs of the latest version of the AWS Lambda layers for Python are the following, per region:

Region ARN
af-south-1 arn:aws:lambda:af-south-1:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
ap-east-1 arn:aws:lambda:ap-east-1:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
ap-northeast-1 arn:aws:lambda:ap-northeast-1:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
ap-northeast-2 arn:aws:lambda:ap-northeast-2:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
ap-northeast-3 arn:aws:lambda:ap-northeast-3:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
ap-south-1 arn:aws:lambda:ap-south-1:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
ap-south-2 arn:aws:lambda:ap-south-2:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
ap-southeast-1 arn:aws:lambda:ap-southeast-1:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
ap-southeast-2 arn:aws:lambda:ap-southeast-2:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
ap-southeast-3 arn:aws:lambda:ap-southeast-3:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
ap-southeast-4 arn:aws:lambda:ap-southeast-4:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
ap-southeast-5 arn:aws:lambda:ap-southeast-5:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
ap-southeast-7 arn:aws:lambda:ap-southeast-7:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
ca-central-1 arn:aws:lambda:ca-central-1:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
ca-west-1 arn:aws:lambda:ca-west-1:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
cn-north-1 arn:aws-cn:lambda:cn-north-1:107998019096:layer:instana-python:89
cn-northwest-1 arn:aws-cn:lambda:cn-northwest-1:107998019096:layer:instana-python:89
eu-central-1 arn:aws:lambda:eu-central-1:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
eu-central-2 arn:aws:lambda:eu-central-2:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
eu-north-1 arn:aws:lambda:eu-north-1:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
eu-south-1 arn:aws:lambda:eu-south-1:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
eu-south-2 arn:aws:lambda:eu-south-2:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
eu-west-1 arn:aws:lambda:eu-west-1:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
eu-west-2 arn:aws:lambda:eu-west-2:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
eu-west-3 arn:aws:lambda:eu-west-3:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
il-central-1 arn:aws:lambda:il-central-1:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
me-central-1 arn:aws:lambda:me-central-1:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
me-south-1 arn:aws:lambda:me-south-1:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
sa-east-1 arn:aws:lambda:sa-east-1:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
us-east-1 arn:aws:lambda:us-east-1:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
us-east-2 arn:aws:lambda:us-east-2:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
us-west-1 arn:aws:lambda:us-west-1:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89
us-west-2 arn:aws:lambda:us-west-2:410797082306:layer:instana-python:89

The pattern for Chinese regions is arn:aws-cn:lambda:${region}:107998019096:layer:instana-python:${layer-version} and for the rest of the regions is arn:aws:lambda:${region}:410797082306:layer:instana-python:${layer-version}.

Make sure to always use the latest versions and update the layer version you are using in regular intervals to benefit from new features and fixes that we provide when publishing a new version of the layer.

Troubleshooting

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Order of layers may impact Instana layer performance

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When you add multiple layers to a Python Lambda function, the order of addition impacts the performance of the Instana layer. To make sure that the Instana layer traces correctly, place it in the last position (the highest number) of the layers merge order.

Figure 6. Layers merge order
Layers merge order

  1. Follow the official AWS Lambda documentation to create a .zip deployment package with dependencies. ↩︎