setup-dev-env.md

OpenLambda Development Environment Setup Guide

Overview

This document explains how to set up a development environment with:

• 1 Boss process (management/control plane)
• 1+ Worker processes (execution environment) that can be scaled up/down

1. Build the OL Minimal Image

First, create the base container image that workers will use:

# From the open-lambda root directory
make ol imgs/ol-min

This builds a minimal container image (ol-min) that workers use to execute Lambda functions.

2. Start the Boss Process

The boss manages worker scaling and task distribution.

./ol boss up

What this does:

• Starts the boss on port 5000 (default)
• Creates default configs in boss/config.json
• Waits for scaling requests

3. Scale Workers (1, 2, 3, etc.)

Workers are dynamically created via the boss's scaling API.

Start 1 Worker

curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/scaling/worker_count -d "1"

• Worker starts on port 6000 (default)
• Worker config is loaded from template.json

Scale Up to 2 Workers

curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/scaling/worker_count -d "2"

• A second worker starts on port 6001
• Each new worker increments the port number

4. Shutting Down

When the boss receives a kill signal, it will automatically clean up the workers as well.