How to Run & Deploy IronPDF .NET on AWS Lambda

1. Create AWS Lambda with a container template

Use the Amazon.Lambda.Templates NuGet package to scaffold a container-based Lambda project (dotnet new lambda.image.EmptyFunction), following AWS's current guide: Deploy .NET Lambda functions with container images. AWS currently maintains base images for .NET 8, 9, and 10 — choose the Dockerfile below matching your target framework.

2. Add package dependencies

These dependencies are required for Chrome in this AWS environment.

Please modify the Docker file according to these instructions:

3. Add the IronPDF (Linux) NuGet package

Install IronPdf.Linux

1. In Solution Explorer, right-click References, Manage NuGet Packages.
2. Select Browse and search IronPdf.Linux.
3. Select the package and install.

4. Modify FunctionHandler code

This example will create a PDF file from a webpage https://ironpdf.com/ and save it to /tmp. To view this PDF, you must upload it to another service such as S3.

It is necessary to configure the temporary folder when using IronPDF on AWS Lambda. Please use the TempFolderPath and CustomDeploymentDirectory properties to do this.

public Casing FunctionHandler(string input, ILambdaContext context)
{
    try
    {
        context.Logger.LogLine($"START FunctionHandler RequestId: {context.AwsRequestId} Input: {input}");

        var awsTmpPath = @"/tmp/"; // AWS temporary storage location

        // [Optional] Enable logging for debugging
        // Uncomment these lines if you encounter issues
        // IronPdf.Logging.Logger.EnableDebugging = true;
        // IronPdf.Logging.Logger.LogFilePath = awsTmpPath;
        // IronPdf.Logging.Logger.LoggingMode = IronPdf.Logging.Logger.LoggingModes.All;

        // Set your IronPDF license key
        IronPdf.License.LicenseKey = "YOUR_LICENSE_KEY";

        // Disable GPU for Chrome rendering in headless environments
        IronPdf.Installation.ChromeGpuMode = IronPdf.Engines.Chrome.ChromeGpuModes.Disabled;

        // Configure IronPDF to use the AWS temporary directory
        IronPdf.Installation.TempFolderPath = awsTmpPath;
        IronPdf.Installation.CustomDeploymentDirectory = awsTmpPath;

        // Automatically configure Linux and Docker dependencies
        IronPdf.Installation.LinuxAndDockerDependenciesAutoConfig = true;

        context.Logger.LogLine($"Creating IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer");
        var Renderer = new IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer();

        context.Logger.LogLine($"Rendering PDF");
        using var pdfDoc = Renderer.RenderUrlAsPdf("https://ironpdf.com/");

        var guid = Guid.NewGuid();
        var fileName = $"/tmp/{input}_{guid}.pdf"; // Save file to /tmp

        context.Logger.LogLine($"Saving PDF with name: {fileName}");
        pdfDoc.SaveAs(fileName);

        // Place for future code to upload the PDF file to a service like AWS S3.

        context.Logger.LogLine($"COMPLETE!");
    }
    catch (Exception e)
    {
        context.Logger.LogLine($"[ERROR] FunctionHandler : {e.Message}");
    }

    return new Casing(input?.ToLower(), input?.ToUpper());
}

public Casing FunctionHandler(string input, ILambdaContext context)
{
    try
    {
        context.Logger.LogLine($"START FunctionHandler RequestId: {context.AwsRequestId} Input: {input}");

        var awsTmpPath = @"/tmp/"; // AWS temporary storage location

        // [Optional] Enable logging for debugging
        // Uncomment these lines if you encounter issues
        // IronPdf.Logging.Logger.EnableDebugging = true;
        // IronPdf.Logging.Logger.LogFilePath = awsTmpPath;
        // IronPdf.Logging.Logger.LoggingMode = IronPdf.Logging.Logger.LoggingModes.All;

        // Set your IronPDF license key
        IronPdf.License.LicenseKey = "YOUR_LICENSE_KEY";

        // Disable GPU for Chrome rendering in headless environments
        IronPdf.Installation.ChromeGpuMode = IronPdf.Engines.Chrome.ChromeGpuModes.Disabled;

        // Configure IronPDF to use the AWS temporary directory
        IronPdf.Installation.TempFolderPath = awsTmpPath;
        IronPdf.Installation.CustomDeploymentDirectory = awsTmpPath;

        // Automatically configure Linux and Docker dependencies
        IronPdf.Installation.LinuxAndDockerDependenciesAutoConfig = true;

        context.Logger.LogLine($"Creating IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer");
        var Renderer = new IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer();

        context.Logger.LogLine($"Rendering PDF");
        using var pdfDoc = Renderer.RenderUrlAsPdf("https://ironpdf.com/");

        var guid = Guid.NewGuid();
        var fileName = $"/tmp/{input}_{guid}.pdf"; // Save file to /tmp

        context.Logger.LogLine($"Saving PDF with name: {fileName}");
        pdfDoc.SaveAs(fileName);

        // Place for future code to upload the PDF file to a service like AWS S3.

        context.Logger.LogLine($"COMPLETE!");
    }
    catch (Exception e)
    {
        context.Logger.LogLine($"[ERROR] FunctionHandler : {e.Message}");
    }

    return new Casing(input?.ToLower(), input?.ToUpper());
}

Public Function FunctionHandler(ByVal input As String, ByVal context As ILambdaContext) As Casing
	Try
		context.Logger.LogLine($"START FunctionHandler RequestId: {context.AwsRequestId} Input: {input}")

		Dim awsTmpPath = "/tmp/" ' AWS temporary storage location

		' [Optional] Enable logging for debugging
		' Uncomment these lines if you encounter issues
		' IronPdf.Logging.Logger.EnableDebugging = true;
		' IronPdf.Logging.Logger.LogFilePath = awsTmpPath;
		' IronPdf.Logging.Logger.LoggingMode = IronPdf.Logging.Logger.LoggingModes.All;

		' Set your IronPDF license key
		IronPdf.License.LicenseKey = "YOUR_LICENSE_KEY"

		' Disable GPU for Chrome rendering in headless environments
		IronPdf.Installation.ChromeGpuMode = IronPdf.Engines.Chrome.ChromeGpuModes.Disabled

		' Configure IronPDF to use the AWS temporary directory
		IronPdf.Installation.TempFolderPath = awsTmpPath
		IronPdf.Installation.CustomDeploymentDirectory = awsTmpPath

		' Automatically configure Linux and Docker dependencies
		IronPdf.Installation.LinuxAndDockerDependenciesAutoConfig = True

		context.Logger.LogLine($"Creating IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer")
		Dim Renderer = New IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer()

		context.Logger.LogLine($"Rendering PDF")
		Dim pdfDoc = Renderer.RenderUrlAsPdf("https://ironpdf.com/")

		Dim guid As System.Guid = System.Guid.NewGuid()
		Dim fileName = $"/tmp/{input}_{guid}.pdf" ' Save file to /tmp

		context.Logger.LogLine($"Saving PDF with name: {fileName}")
		pdfDoc.SaveAs(fileName)

		' Place for future code to upload the PDF file to a service like AWS S3.

		context.Logger.LogLine($"COMPLETE!")
	Catch e As Exception
		context.Logger.LogLine($"[ERROR] FunctionHandler : {e.Message}")
	End Try

	Return New Casing(input?.ToLower(), input?.ToUpper())
End Function

5. Increase Memory and Timeout

IronPDF requires more time and memory than the default value of Lambda. You can configure it in aws-lambda-tools-defaults.json. Please adjust this to match your function. In this example, we will set it to 512 (MB) and 330 (seconds).

{
    "function-memory-size": 512,
    "function-timeout": 330
}

You also can update this configuration using the Lambda console. Navigate to the Configuring AWS Lambda functions article for more information.

6. Publish

Use dotnet lambda deploy-function to build the Docker image, push it to Amazon ECR, and deploy the Lambda function. See the "Creating and deploying an image using a base image" section of AWS's Deploy .NET Lambda functions with container images guide for the full publish-and-test workflow, including dotnet lambda invoke-function to test.

7. Try it out!

You can activate the Lambda function using the Lambda console or via Visual Studio by using the AWS Toolkit for Visual Studio.