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Build an SQS Worker Environment with Node.js on Elastic Beanstalk¶

This recipe shows how to run asynchronous background work in a Node.js Elastic Beanstalk worker environment backed by Amazon SQS. It separates queue-driven processing from the web tier so request latency stays predictable.

Prerequisites¶

Running Elastic Beanstalk application.
Permission to create and use Amazon SQS queues.
Worker environment available or permission to create one.
Express application that can handle worker HTTP posts.

What You'll Build¶

You will build a worker tier environment that consumes SQS messages and forwards them to an Express handler for processing.

flowchart LR
    A[Web Environment] --> B[Amazon SQS Queue]
    B --> C[Elastic Beanstalk Worker Environment]
    C --> D[Express Worker Route]

Steps¶

Step 1: Create the queue¶

aws sqs create-queue \
    --queue-name "$APP_NAME-worker" \
    --region "$REGION"

Step 2: Create the worker environment¶

aws elasticbeanstalk create-environment \
    --application-name "$APP_NAME" \
    --environment-name "$ENV_NAME-worker" \
    --solution-stack-name "64bit Amazon Linux 2023 v6.6.0 running Node.js 20" \
    --tier Name=Worker,Type=SQS/HTTP,Version=\"1.0\" \
    --option-settings Namespace=aws:elasticbeanstalk:sqsd,OptionName=WorkerQueueURL,Value="https://sqs.$REGION.amazonaws.com/<account-id>/$APP_NAME-worker" \
    --region "$REGION"

Step 3: Add an Express worker route¶

const express = require("express");

const app = express();
app.use(express.json());

app.post("/worker", async (req, res) => {
    const job = req.body;
    res.json({ processed: job.jobType });
});

Step 4: Send jobs to the queue¶

const { SendMessageCommand, SQSClient } = require("@aws-sdk/client-sqs");

const client = new SQSClient({ region: process.env.AWS_REGION });

async function enqueueJob(queueUrl, jobType) {
    await client.send(new SendMessageCommand({
        QueueUrl: queueUrl,
        MessageBody: JSON.stringify({ jobType })
    }));
}

Step 5: Deploy and publish a test message¶

npm install @aws-sdk/client-sqs
eb deploy --staged

aws sqs send-message \
    --queue-url "https://sqs.$REGION.amazonaws.com/<account-id>/$APP_NAME-worker" \
    --message-body '{"jobType":"thumbnail"}' \
    --region "$REGION"

Verification¶

eb logs --all
aws sqs get-queue-attributes \
    --queue-url "https://sqs.$REGION.amazonaws.com/<account-id>/$APP_NAME-worker" \
    --attribute-names ApproximateNumberOfMessages \
    --region "$REGION"

Expected result: worker logs confirm the job was processed and the queue depth drains after delivery.

Clean Up¶

Terminate the worker environment and delete the queue when testing is complete.

See Also¶

Sources¶