AWS Psycopg2

1.3.8 · active · verified Fri Apr 10

aws-psycopg2 is a custom-compiled Python package of the popular psycopg2 PostgreSQL adapter, specifically designed for use in AWS Lambda environments. It addresses the common issue of missing PostgreSQL C libraries in the AWS Lambda Amazon Linux AMI by statically linking libpq.so. The library provides a seamless way to connect Python Lambda functions to PostgreSQL databases. It is actively maintained with releases supporting various Python runtime versions. The current version is 1.3.8.

Warnings

gotcha Standard `pip install psycopg2` or `psycopg2-binary` will likely fail in AWS Lambda functions due to missing underlying C libraries (e.g., libpq.so) in the Lambda execution environment. `aws-psycopg2` specifically solves this by providing a statically linked version.
Fix: Use `aws-psycopg2` for pre-compiled binaries, or create a custom Lambda layer with `psycopg2-binary` compiled for Amazon Linux (e.g., using `--platform manylinux2014_x86_64`).
gotcha When deploying to AWS Lambda, ensure the Python version of `aws-psycopg2` (or any `psycopg2` layer) matches your Lambda function's runtime. Mismatched Python versions can lead to 'No module named psycopg2._psycopg' or other import errors.
Fix: Always install `aws-psycopg2` (or build your layer) specifically for the target Python runtime of your Lambda function (e.g., Python 3.9, 3.10, 3.11). Ensure your deployment method correctly places the library for the chosen runtime.
gotcha Using `aws-psycopg2` (or any `psycopg2` variant) in AWS Lambda often requires packaging it correctly, typically within a Lambda layer or as part of a container image deployment. Simply zipping a local `pip install` from a non-Amazon Linux environment will lead to runtime errors.
Fix: Deploy `aws-psycopg2` via a Lambda layer (recommended) or a Docker container image. If packaging directly into a `.zip`, ensure it's built in an Amazon Linux environment (or cross-compiled) to match Lambda's runtime environment.

Install

pip install aws-psycopg2 Install via pip

Imports

psycopg2
```
import psycopg2
```
The 'aws-psycopg2' package provides the standard 'psycopg2' module. You import 'psycopg2' directly, not from 'aws_psycopg2'.

Quickstart

This quickstart demonstrates how to establish a connection to a PostgreSQL database using `aws-psycopg2` in a Lambda-compatible manner. It retrieves database credentials from environment variables, which is a common practice in serverless environments.

import psycopg2
import os

host = os.environ.get('DB_HOST', 'localhost')
database = os.environ.get('DB_NAME', 'mydatabase')
user = os.environ.get('DB_USER', 'myuser')
password = os.environ.get('DB_PASSWORD', 'mypassword')

try:
    conn = psycopg2.connect(host=host, database=database, user=user, password=password)
    cur = conn.cursor()
    cur.execute('SELECT version();')
    db_version = cur.fetchone()
    print(f"PostgreSQL database version: {db_version}")
    cur.close()
    conn.close()
except Exception as e:
    print(f"Error connecting to the database: {e}")

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