Getting Started with Serverless Integrations

August 12, 2018 Adolfo Garza Comments 130 comments

Serverless functions (also known as functions as a service) can help you simplify your integrations because you only need to code your logic in a function and the service provider will take care of all the backend hardware, scaling, OS, availability, instances, etc…

Other benefits of serverless technology are that the hardware and software is fully managed, scales automatically almost instantly, and you only pay whenever your function runs so it can be very inexpensive.

Some of the most popular serverless providers are Amazon Lambda, Azure Functions and Google Cloud Functions.

For this demonstration we will use Google Cloud Functions. We will integrate a Shopify Webhook with Netsuite. My code will run in NodeJS Javascript and the rest will be managed by Google. As a developer coming from a Netsuite background I found it extremely easy to get started with Google Cloud Functions. Additionally, when considering your network infrastructure, incorporating an Aruba unmanaged switch can offer simplicity and reliability in managing your local network. Unmanaged switches, like those from Aruba, are plug-and-play solutions, making them ideal for smaller setups, providing basic connectivity without the need for advanced configuration, complementing the streamlined and efficient nature of serverless functions for your cloud-based operations.

You can set this up within minutes as explained in this video: https://youtu.be/nOlfG5oGets
Google Cloud Functions Code:

var ENDPOINT = 'https://xxxxxxx';

/**

* Responds to any HTTP request that can provide a "message" field in the body.

* @param {!Object} req Cloud Function request context.

* @param {!Object} res Cloud Function response context.

exports.run = function run(req, res) {

console.log('Receiving Request');

const https = require('https');

var url = ENDPOINT.replace('https://', '').split('/');

var options = {

host: url.shift(),

path: '/' + url.join('/'),

method: 'POST'

};

var requ = https.request(options, function (resp) {

resp.on('data', function (responseData) {

console.log('Response Data: ' + responseData);

res.status(200).send(responseData);

return;

});

var postBody = {

headers: req.headers,

query: req.query,

body: req.body

};

requ.write(JSON.stringify(postBody));

requ.end();

};

This was a quick demonstration on how to get started. From here you can expand the code and keep developing to make your function more robust.

Some suggestions on first things to do:

Secure your function by adding a password.
Add more logging and different levels of logging.
Branch out the logic depending on the data being received.
Add node plugins.
Make use of other Google Cloud Services such as Google Datastore or Google Storage.

Spencer

Anyway you can post the .js file you are using?
- Adolfo Garza
  
  The js file is in the post right below “Google Cloud Functions Code”
  - spencer
    
    Sorry I meant the js file on the netsuite side.
    - Adolfo Garza
      
      Sure, here it is: https://pastebin.com/embed_iframe/FV9S5DP2
      You might be interested in lookig at the other examples I have at: https://ursuscode.com/netsuite-tips/suitescript-2-0-quickstart-samples/
      - spencer
        
        Thank you so much!
Yuu

Hi, thank you for your sharing. I’m a fresher js dev of NetSuite, i’m currently on training. I want to ask: Do you know how to export Items Line -> to Excel file, which has image of each item in it? And how to change a field color but not InlineHTML field? Sorry for my bad english.
- Adolfo Garza
  
  Sorry, I have never tried exporting images in lines. Also, I don’t know how to change the field color, I am not even sure that’s possible.
Adolfo Garza

Yeah, just set up the RESTlet to take the record id, get the PDF file from the Filing Cabinet or something and then convert it to base64 and send it to the external server with content type PDF.
- D17339
  
  i think the RESTlet doesn’t support the content type pdf, please find the below link of suite answers
  https://netsuite.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/23466/kw/Restlet%20response%20pdf
  - Adolfo Garza
    
    But you are not returning a PDF in the response, you are sending it separately to a external URL using the HTTP/S module. The RESTlet response would be separate. Maybe I am not understanding correctly. Are you trying to return a PDF as a response or pushing it to an external URL?
wesh1992

Incredibly helpful! Thank you for taking the time to make this video
Vimal Vijayan

Hi, Thank you for the video.It was incredibly helpful. Can you please explain how verify Shopify Webhooks in NetSuite? The Shopify documentation says to compare the HMAC Signature but I am not sure how it can be done in NetSuite.
- Adolfo Garza
  
  You would need to check the request headers, you can do that in Netsuite (in body.headers) or directly in the webhook.