Lambda function to launch an ec2-instance

lambda_function.py

""" Lambda to launch ec2-instances """
import boto3

REGION = 'eu-central-1' # region to launch instance.
AMI = 'ami-24bd1b4b'
    # matching region/setup amazon linux ami, as per:
    # https://aws.amazon.com/amazon-linux-ami/
INSTANCE_TYPE = 'm3.medium' # instance type to launch.

EC2 = boto3.client('ec2', region_name=REGION)

def lambda_to_ec2(event, context):
    """ Lambda handler taking [message] and creating a httpd instance with an echo. """
    message = event['message']

    # bash script to run:
    #  - update and install httpd (a webserver)
    #  - start the webserver
    #  - create a webpage with the provided message.
    #  - set to shutdown the instance in 5 minutes.
    init_script = """#!/bin/bash
yum update -y
yum install -y httpd24
service httpd start
chkconfig httpd on
echo """ + message + """ > /var/www/html/index.html
shutdown -h +5"""

    print 'Running script:'
    print init_script

    instance = EC2.run_instances(
        ImageId=AMI,
        InstanceType=INSTANCE_TYPE,
        MinCount=1, # required by boto, even though it's kinda obvious.
        MaxCount=1,
        InstanceInitiatedShutdownBehavior='terminate', # make shutdown in script terminate ec2
        UserData=init_script # file to run on instance init.
    )

    print "New instance created."
    instance_id = instance['Instances'][0]['InstanceId']
    print instance_id

    return instance_id