AWS Lambda Now Supports .NET 10 with Managed Runtime and Container Images

Amazon Web Services has announced that AWS Lambda now supports creating serverless applications using .NET 10, marking a significant expansion of the platform's capabilities for .NET developers. With this update, developers can use .NET 10 both as a managed runtime and as a container-based image when building and running Lambda functions.

According to AWS, updates to the managed runtime and base images will be applied automatically as new versions become available, reducing the need for manual maintenance by development teams. This automatic update mechanism ensures that Lambda functions running on .NET 10 will receive the latest security patches and performance improvements without requiring manual intervention.

.NET 10: Long-Term Support and Modern Features

.NET 10 represents the latest long-term support release of the .NET platform and is expected to receive security updates and bug fixes until November 2028. This extended support window provides organizations with stability and predictability for their serverless applications.

The release introduces several modern features that are particularly relevant for serverless development. Most notably, .NET 10 includes support for file-based applications, which are designed to simplify application structure and development workflows. This approach allows developers to work with individual files rather than compiled assemblies, potentially streamlining the development and debugging process for Lambda functions.

Lambda Managed Instances: Bridging Serverless and Traditional Compute

In addition to standard serverless execution, the .NET 10 release adds support for Lambda Managed Instances. This capability allows Lambda functions to run on Amazon EC2 instances while maintaining the same operational model typically associated with serverless computing.

According to AWS, this option is intended to offer more flexibility, including potential cost efficiency and access to specialized compute resources, while still reducing the operational overhead normally linked to managing servers. This hybrid approach gives developers the ability to choose between traditional serverless execution and instance-based execution based on their specific requirements.

Enhanced Development Tools and Ecosystem Support

Powertools for AWS Lambda (.NET), a toolkit designed to help developers follow serverless best practices and improve development speed, now supports .NET 10. This toolkit provides utilities for logging, metrics, tracing, and other common serverless patterns, making it easier for developers to build production-ready applications.

Developers can continue to use a wide range of AWS tools to deploy and manage their applications, including:

• The Lambda console for graphical management
• AWS Command Line Interface for automation
• AWS Serverless Application Model for infrastructure as code
• AWS Cloud Development Kit for programmatic resource definition
• AWS CloudFormation for template-based deployment

The .NET 10 runtime is available in all AWS Regions, including AWS GovCloud (US) Regions and the China Regions, ensuring global accessibility for enterprise deployments.

Community Response and Practical Considerations

Community reaction to the announcement has included both enthusiasm and technical discussion. .NET developers on Reddit expressed a mix of excitement and practical curiosity, with several comments focusing on the new file-based app experience enabled by .NET 10.

One community member noted they would be "over the moon" once editing file-based apps becomes as smooth as common JavaScript workflows. Others discussed build tooling, deployment steps using the current CLI approach, and possible effects on cold start performance.

The discussion reflected appreciation for expanded serverless options for .NET developers, alongside interest in future improvements to Lambda tooling and editor support. Cold start performance remains a key consideration for serverless applications, and developers are particularly interested in how .NET 10's optimizations might impact this critical metric.

Getting Started with .NET 10 on Lambda

Amazon Web Services has also published a detailed blog post demonstrating how to use the new .NET 10 runtime in AWS Lambda. The post walks through an example that shows how to create, configure, and deploy a .NET 10–based Lambda function, and explains the available runtime and deployment options.

The example aims to help developers adopt .NET 10 in existing serverless workflows using standard AWS tools. For interested readers, full release notes and additional details are available in the official AWS documentation and announcement materials.

This integration represents AWS's continued commitment to supporting modern development frameworks and providing developers with the latest tools and capabilities for building scalable, efficient serverless applications. By making .NET 10 available on AWS Lambda, AWS is giving developers access to the latest platform features in a serverless environment, enabling them to build more sophisticated and performant applications while maintaining the operational simplicity that serverless computing promises.