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Function Compute (2.0):Create a Custom Container function

Last Updated:Jan 19, 2024

If standard runtimes in Function Compute cannot meet your business requirements, you use Custom Container runtimes to create functions. This topic describes how to create Custom Container functions in the Function Compute console or by using Serverless Devs.

Usage notes

The image that you want to use to create a Custom Container function must be an image from a Container Registry repository that resides in the same region as your function. If you use a Mac computer that has Apple chips or a computer that runs on the Arm architecture, you must specify the Linux/Amd64-based platform to compile images. Sample code: docker build --platform linux/amd64 -t $IMAGE_NAME .

Prerequisites

Use the Function Compute console to create a function

Step 1: Create a service and configure permissions

  1. Create a function in the Function Compute console.

    For more information, see the "Create a service" section of the Manage service topic.

  2. Attach the AliyunContainerRegistryReadOnlyAccess or AliyunContainerRegistryFullAccess policy to the service.

    For more information, see Grant Function Compute permissions to access other Alibaba Cloud services. The preceding policies allow Function Compute to obtain the temporary account for the default instance in Container Registry. Then, Function Compute uses the temporary account to push the image from your private image repository.

Step 2: Create a function

  1. Log on to the Function Compute console. In the left-side navigation pane, click Services & Functions.

  2. In the top navigation bar, select a region. On the Services page, click the desired service.

  3. On the Functions page, click Create Function.
  4. On the Create Function page, select Use Container Image, configure the following parameters based on your business requirements, and then click Create.

    • Basic Settings: Configure basic information about the function that you want to create, including the function name, web server mode, and the handler type.

      Parameter

      Description

      Function Name

      Enter a name for the function. If you leave this parameter empty, Function Compute automatically creates a name for your function.

      Web Server Mode

      Specifies whether to enable the web server mode. Valid values:

      • Yes: enables the web server mode. You need to implement a web server in your container image to listen on ports and process requests.

      • No: disables the web server mode. Then, you can set Handler Type only to Event Handler. You must actively exit processes after requests are processed and set ExitCode to 0. In addition, the requested event parameters are passed to the function in the form of environment variables.

      Handler Type

      Specify the type of requests that are processed by the function. The requests can be event requests or HTTP requests. Valid values:

      • Event Handler: triggers the execution of the function by using a timer, calling API operations, using SDKs, or using triggers that are integrated with other Alibaba Cloud services.

      • HTTP Handler: triggers function execution by sending an HTTP request or creating a WebSocket connection. For a web scenario, we recommend that you select Use Custom Runtime when you create the function.

    • Image Configurations: Configure an image for the function.

      Parameter

      Description

      Image Selection Mode

      Select Use Sample Images or select your own image to create the function.

      • Use Sample Image: Select a built-in sample image of Function Compute.

      • Use Container Registry Images: Click Select a Container Registry image below Container Image. In the Select Container Image panel, configure Container Image Instance and Container Registry Repository. Find an image among the available images and click Select in the Actions column.

        Note

        For Container Registry Enterprise Edition, Function Compute uses the tag of the image you selected to create function instances.

        • If you use an image of Container Registry Enterprise Edition (Advanced Edition or Standard Edition), we recommend that you turn on Immutable for Image Version. Otherwise, the image tag may be updated elsewhere and Function Compute pulls the updated image data to start function instances. For more information, see Configure a repository to be immutable.

        • If you are using an image of Container Registry Enterprise Edition (Basic Edition) or Container Registry Personal Edition, you must update the function with the image information in the Function Compute console after you update the image tag with the same name in the image repository. Then, Function Compute starts function instances with the new image.

      Startup Command

      Specify the startup command of the container. If you do not configure this parameter, the Entrypoint or CMD on the image is used.

      Listening Port

      Specify the port on which the HTTP server in the container image listens. The default port is 9000. If you do not specify this parameter, the container image runs in non-interactive mode.

    • Advanced Settings: Configure the instance-related information, execution timeout period, and handler of the function.

      Parameter

      Description

      GPU Acceleration

      Specifies whether to use GPU-accelerated instances based on your business requirements. By default, elastic instances are used and GPU-accelerated instances are not used. For more information, see Instance types and instance modes. For information about the billing of each instance type, see Billing overview. Valid values:

      • Enable GPU

      • Disable GPU

      Specifications

      • Enable GPU:

        Select a value from the GPU Type drop-down list and select appropriate GPU Memory Size based on your business requirements. Function Compute automatically configures vCPU Capacity and Memory Capacity based on the GPU memory that you selected.

      • Disable GPU:

        Enter or select vCPUs or memory within valid scopes.

      For more information about the billing of resources, see Billing overview.

      Note

      The ratio of vCPU to memory capacity (in GB) is 1: N. N must be a value that ranges from 1 to 4.

      Size of Temporary Disk

      Select the disk size based on your business requirements. Function Compute provides you with a free disk capacity of up to 512 MB. For more information, see Billing overview.

      Instance Concurrency

      If you set Web Server Mode to No, this parameter is not required. Specify the concurrency to process requests for each instance of the function. For more information, see Configure instance concurrency.

      Execution Timeout Period

      Configure the timeout period for the execution of the function. The default value is 60 seconds. The maximum value is 86,400 seconds. We recommend that you set this parameter to 600 seconds.

      Note

      If the execution time of the function exceeds the specified timeout period, the function fails to be executed. If you want to apply a longer timeout period, join the DingTalk group (ID: 11721331) to contact the technical support.

      Time zone

      Select the time zone of the function. After you select the time zone of the function, the environment variable TZ is automatically added to the function. The value of the variable is the time zone that you select.

    • Environment Variables: Configure the environment variables in the runtime of the function. For more information, see Environment variables.

    • Trigger Configurations: Configure a trigger for execution of the function. For more information, see Manage triggers.

    After the function is created, you can view and update the function in the function list of the service.

Note

When you update a function, you can only change the specified listening port. You cannot delete or add extra listening ports. If a listening port is configured when you create the function, the listening port is retained when you update the function if you do not specify the listening port.

Use Serverless Devs to create a function

You can use Serverless Devs to build and push container images and deploy functions with a few clicks.

  1. Run the following command to initialize the project: You must enter the address of the image repository that you created in Container Registry as prompted.

    sudo s init start-fc-custom-container-event-nodejs14

    Sample command output:

     Serverless Awesome: https://github.com/Serverless-Devs/package-awesome
    
     Please input your project name (init dir) start-fc-custom-container-event-nodejs14
     file decompression completed
    
         ____  _     _ ___  _ _     _        _____ ____
        /  _ \/ \   / \\  \/// \ /\/ \  /|  /    //   _\
        | / \|| |   | | \  / | | ||| |\ ||  |  __\|  /
        | |-||| |_/\| | / /  | \_/|| | \||  | |   |  \__
        \_/ \|\____/\_//_/   \____/\_/  \|  \_/   \____/
     please select credential alias default
    
        Welcome to the Aliyun FC start application
         This application requires to open these services:
             FC : https://fc.console.aliyun.com/
             ACR: https://cr.console.aliyun.com/
    
         * Note: Actions are declared in the s.yaml file:
            Run the sudo s build --use-docker --dockerfile ./code/Dockerfile command before the project is deployed.
           If you do not need to build the project, you can use annotations to skip the preceding command. 
           > Note: Before the project deployment, replace the value of the image parameter in the s.yaml file with the address of the image repository in Container Registry. 
         * The project is initialized. You can go to the project directory and run the s deploy command to deploy the project. 
    
     Thanks for using Serverless-Devs
     You could [cd /test/test1/start-fc-custom-container-event-nodejs14] and enjoy your serverless journey!
     If you need help for this example, you can use [s -h] after you enter folder.
     Document Star: https://github.com/Serverless-Devs/Serverless-Devs
     Do you want to deploy the project immediately? No
  2. Run the following command to go to the project directory:

    cd start-fc-custom-container-event-nodejs14
  3. Edit the s.yaml file. For more information about the parameters in the .yaml file, see the "YAML syntax and permission management" section of the Serverless Devs commands topic.

  4. Run the following command to deploy the project:

    sudo s deploy

    Sample command output:

    [2021-12-15 07:54:30] [INFO] [S-CLI] - Start ...
    [2021-12-15 07:54:30] [INFO] [S-CLI] - Start the pre-action
    [2021-12-15 07:54:30] [INFO] [S-CLI] - Action: s build --use-docker --dockerfile ./code/Dockerfile
    [2021-12-15 07:54:31] [INFO] [S-CLI] - Start ...
    [2021-12-15 07:54:32] [INFO] [FC-BUILD] - Build artifact start...
    [2021-12-15 07:54:32] [INFO] [FC-BUILD] - Use docker for building.
    [2021-12-15 07:54:32] [INFO] [FC-BUILD] - Building image...
    Sending build context to Docker daemon   5.12kB
    Step 1/7 : FROM node:14.5.0-alpine3.11
     ---> 5d97b3d11dc1
    ......
    Step 7/7 : ENTRYPOINT [ "node", "server.js" ]
     ---> Using cache
     ---> a5ef1c015e7e
    Successfully built a5ef1c015e7e
    Successfully tagged registry.cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com/fc-example/test:nginx
    SECURITY WARNING: You are building a Docker image from Windows against a non-Windows Docker host. All files and directories added to build context will have '-rwxr-xr-x' permissions. It is recommended to double check and reset permissions for sensitive files and directories.
    Build image(registry.cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com/fc-example/test:nginx) successfully
    [2021-12-15 07:54:33] [INFO] [FC-BUILD] - Build artifact successfully.
    
    Tips for next step
    ======================
    * Invoke Event Function: s local invoke
    * Invoke Http Function: s local start
    * Deploy Resources: s deploy
    End of method: build
    [2021-12-15 07:54:33] [INFO] [S-CLI] - End the pre-action
    [2021-12-15 07:54:34] [INFO] [FC-DEPLOY] - Using region: cn-hangzhou
    [2021-12-15 07:54:34] [INFO] [FC-DEPLOY] - Using access alias: default
    [2021-12-15 07:54:34] [INFO] [FC-DEPLOY] - Using accessKeyID: LTAI4G4cwJkK4Rza6xd9****
    [2021-12-15 07:54:34] [INFO] [FC-DEPLOY] - Using accessKeySecret: eCc0GxSpzfq1DVspnqqd6nmYNN****
    [2021-12-15 07:54:34] [INFO] [FC-DEPLOY] - Checking Service hello-world-service exists
    [2021-12-15 07:54:35] [INFO] [FC-DEPLOY] - Setting role: AliyunFCDefaultRole
    [2021-12-15 07:54:35] [INFO] [RAM] - Checking Role AliyunFCDefaultRole exists
    [2021-12-15 07:54:35] [INFO] [RAM] - Updating role: AliyunFCDefaultRole
    [2021-12-15 07:54:35] [INFO] [RAM] - Checking Plicy AliyunFCDefaultRolePolicy exists
    [2021-12-15 07:54:35] [INFO] [FC-DEPLOY] - Checking Function nodejs14-event-function exists
    [2021-12-15 07:54:36] [INFO] [FC-DEPLOY] - Using image registry: registry.cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com
    [2021-12-15 07:54:36] [INFO] [FC-DEPLOY] - Try to use a temporary token for docker login
    Login to registry: registry.cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com with user: cr_temp_user
    Pushing docker image: registry.cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com/fc-example/test:nginx...
    The push refers to repository [registry.cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com/fc-example/test]
    cdf38e7753b7: Layer already exists                                                                                                                                                           43128f71725b: Layer already exists                                                                                                                                                           0fb36a16ab83: Layer already exists                                                                                                                                                           dd966b9fd474: Layer already exists                                                                                                                                                           a1915d7a1111: Layer already exists                                                                                                                                                           c4491b3ee709: Layer already exists                                                                                                                                                           9fb10d900487: Layer already exists                                                                                                                                                           3e207b409db3: Layer already exists                                                                                                                                                           nginx: digest: sha256:02b69157def85ceb72f32cb1c5845d00e1d8df19caf6eaf720a9bc77bb57db76 size: 1991
    √ Make service hello-world-service success.
    √ Make function hello-world-service/nodejs14-event-function success.
    [2021-12-15 07:54:39] [INFO] [FC-DEPLOY] - Checking Service hello-world-service exists
    [2021-12-15 07:54:39] [INFO] [FC-DEPLOY] - Checking Function nodejs14-event-function exists
    
    There is auto config in the service: hello-world-service
    
    Tips for next step
    ======================
    * Display information of the deployed resource: s info
    * Display metrics: s metrics
    * Display logs: s logs
    * Invoke remote function: s invoke
    * Remove Service: s remove service
    * Remove Function: s remove function
    * Remove Trigger: s remove trigger
    * Remove CustomDomain: s remove domain
    
    
    
    helloworld:
      region:   cn-hangzhou
      service:
        name: hello-world-service
      function:
        name:       nodejs14-event-function
        runtime:    custom-container
        handler:    not-used
        memorySize: 256
        timeout:    60
  5. Run the following command to debug the function:

    sudo s invoke -e "{\"key\":\"val\"}"

    Sample command output:

    [2021-12-15 08:00:17] [INFO] [S-CLI] - Start ...
    ========= FC invoke Logs begin =========
    FC Invoke Start RequestId: 768945c8-f92d-428e-89c2-ecd50883****
    {"key":"val"}
    FC Invoke End RequestId: 768945c8-f92d-428e-89c2-ecd50883****
    
    Duration: 3.05 ms, Billed Duration: 4 ms, Memory Size: 256 MB, Max Memory Used: 10.77 MB
    ========= FC invoke Logs end =========
    
    FC Invoke Result:
    OK
    
    
    End of method: invoke

References

  • If you want to use GPU-accelerated instances, you must create Custom Container functions. For more information about how to configure specifications for GPU-accelerated instances, see Manage functions.

  • When you use Custom Container functions, container images rely on the execution environment and require more time for download and decompression. For more information, see Best practices for cold start optimization.

  • You can also call the Function Compute API to create a function. For more information, see CreateFunction.

  • For information about the common scenarios and differences among built-in runtimes, custom runtimes, and Customer Container runtimes, see Function runtime selection.