How to use prebuild for AWS lambda?

[GeorgeTailor]

Issue or Feature

• If this is an issue with installation, I have read the troubleshooting guide.

I am not sure how is this supposed to work, AWS lambda suggests to put external dependencies into separate zip with the following structure:

xray-sdk.zip
└ nodejs/node_modules/aws-xray-sdk

in case of canvas I would expect something like:

canvas.zip
└ nodejs/node_modules/canvas

however releases page includes confusing info:

1. the name of the release includes node_modules_version instead of node version
2. the downloaded zip contains nothing that is expected by the lambda as per docs

Steps to Reproduce

Your Environment

• Version of node-canvas v2.11.2
• Environment node 20 on AWS Lambda x86_64 – 64-bit x86 architecture, for x86-based processors.

[arcovaa]

simply copying the module from a non-Linux system won't work. You need to either compile the module directly on an Amazon Linux environment or use a Docker container that mimics Lambda's environment.

[zbjornson]

I recommend using a docker container on Lambda. The node-canvas prebuild is 30 MB and Lambda's ZIP limit is only 50 MB, so you're likely to hit that limit if you have many other dependencies. Using a docker container also makes it much easier to get the right prebuild installed.

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/latest/dg/nodejs-image.html#nodejs-image-instructions

---

I'm trying to close out as many of the dozens of installation issues as possible. If the above doesn't work and I miss a ping here to reopen this issue, please don't hesitate to open a new one.