How to Retrieve a User's Public IP Address using Amazon API Gateway and Lambda (Node.js)

In this blog post, we’ll walk through the process of retrieving a user’s public IP address using Amazon API Gateway and AWS Lambda with Node.js. This is a crucial aspect of user tracking, geo-targeting, or simply for logging purposes.

By Saturn Cloud | Tuesday, August 08, 2023 | Miscellaneous

How to Retrieve a User’s Public IP Address using Amazon API Gateway and Lambda (Node.js)

What are Amazon API Gateway and AWS Lambda?

Amazon API Gateway is a fully managed service that makes it easy for developers to create, publish, maintain, monitor, and secure APIs at any scale. APIs act as the “front door” for applications to access data, business logic, or functionality from your backend services.

AWS Lambda is an event-driven, serverless computing platform provided by Amazon as a part of Amazon Web Services. It is a computing service that runs code in response to events and automatically manages the computing resources required by that code.

Prerequisites

Before we start, make sure you have the following:

An AWS account
Node.js installed on your machine
AWS CLI installed and configured
Basic understanding of JavaScript

Step-by-Step Guide

Let’s break it down into steps.

Step 1: Create a new AWS Lambda Function

First, you need to create a new Lambda function. You can do this via the AWS Management Console, AWS CLI, or AWS SDKs. For the purpose of this post, we will use the AWS Management Console.

1.1 Navigate to the AWS Lambda page and click on “Create function”.

1.2 In the “Create function” page, select “Author from scratch”.

1.3 Name your function, select “Node.js” as the runtime, and then create the function.

Step 2: Write your Lambda Function Code

In your Lambda function configuration, you need to write the code that will retrieve the user’s IP address. Here’s a basic example:

exports.handler = async (event) => {
    const ip = event.requestContext.identity.sourceIp;
    const response = {
        statusCode: 200,
        body: JSON.stringify('Hello from Lambda! Your IP is: ' + ip),
    };
    return response;
};

In this code, event.requestContext.identity.sourceIp is used to access the IP address of the user.

Step 3: Configure Amazon API Gateway

Next, you need to create and configure an API Gateway that will trigger your Lambda function.

3.1 Navigate to the Amazon API Gateway page and click on “Create API”.

3.2 Select “REST API”, give it a name, and create the API.

3.3 In your new API, create a new GET method.

3.4 For the GET method setup, select “Lambda Function” for the integration type and input the name of your Lambda function.

3.5 Deploy your API by clicking on “Actions” and then “Deploy API”. You will need to create a new stage.

Step 4: Test Your API

You can now test your API by navigating to the Invoke URL of the stage you just created. You should see a message along the lines of “Hello from Lambda! Your IP is: XX.XX.XX.XX”.

Conclusion

In this post, we discussed how to use Amazon API Gateway and AWS Lambda (Node.js) to retrieve a user’s public IP address. This can be a powerful tool, and it’s worth noting that it should be used responsibly and in accordance with data privacy laws and regulations.

Remember, APIs and serverless computing are powerful tools in the hands of developers and data scientists, enabling them to create more efficient and scalable applications.

Happy coding!

keywords: AWS Lambda, Amazon API Gateway, Retrieve IP address, Node.js, JavaScript, Serverless Computing, API, How to, User Tracking, Geo-targeting, Logging

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