
![A nice Rum cocktail!](/img/blog/cloudwatch-rum/ash-edmonds-fsI-_MRsic0-unsplash.jpg)

Hey folks, so at last months/years re:Invent, Cloudwatch RUM was announced... no it's not a rum dispensing service but rather a real-user monitoring service for websites.

I thought it was finally a good time to get some user metrics on who is using my website and its performance as well as giving this new service a go!

# Getting started

So to dive right it, I headed over to AWS and into Cloudwatch and clicked on RUM on the left hand side panel:

![Cloudwatch RUM](/img/blog/cloudwatch-rum/cloudwatch-rum.png)

I click on add an app monitor and add in the following details:

1. App monitor name

2. Application domain

3. And then leave all of the default options.

I'm then given a javascript snippet that I need to add to the heads in each page of my nextjs website:

```javascript
(function(n,i,v,r,s,c,x,z){x=window.AwsRumClient={q:[],n:n,i:i,v:v,r:r,c:c};window[n]=function(c,p){x.q.push({c:c,p:p});};z=document.createElement('script');z.async=true;z.src=s;document.head.insertBefore(z,document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]);})('cwr','xxx','1.0.0','ap-southeast-2','https://client.rum.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/1.0.2/cwr.js',{sessionSampleRate:1,guestRoleArn:"arn:aws:iam::xxx:role/RUM-Monitor-ap-southeast-2-xxx-xxx-Unauth",identityPoolId:"ap-southeast-2:xxx",endpoint:"https://dataplane.rum.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com",telemetries:["performance","errors","http"],allowCookies:true,enableXRay:true});
```

I add this to my /public folder of my nextjs app:

```bash
/public/rum-tracking.js
```

After that, I go ahead and add the following snippet to my SEO component inside the header tag:

```javascript
<script type="text/javascript" src="/rum-tracking.js"></script>
```

After that, I make a commit, cut a branch and push and then raise a PR which kicks off a deployment.

## Looking at the results

Stepping through the results on the first pane, 1.1k ms which is 1.1 seconds - reasonable but I'm no web dev so most certainly could be better.

![Performance](/img/blog/cloudwatch-rum/performance.png)

Mostly good on the web vitals although the cummulative layout shift needs attention.

![Web vitals](/img/blog/cloudwatch-rum/web-vitals.png)

Mostly good on the page load steps although it would be good to address the DOM processing time!

![Page loads](/img/blog/cloudwatch-rum/page-loads.png)


I hope you found this useful - and thanks for playing along!


How to implement Cloudwatch RUM on a nextjs app

Tracking my blog with Cloudwatch RUM


As I mentioned earlier in the series, I’ve got a bunch of hedges which look amazing but require regular maintenance.

![Picture of the entrance hedges](/img/blog/garden-tools/entrance-hedges.jpeg)

I’ve also got patchy grass throughout the property so owning a lawn mower is a bit of an overkill and probably the wrong tool for the job.

![picture of the front grass  before the hedge](/img/blog/garden-tools/rocky-nature-strip.jpeg)

Speaking to one of my brothers who is a timer floorer by trade and generally quite handy around the place, he mentioned a Makita multi function power head with attachments - I went for the hedge and line trimmer attachments and it came with a free blower which was perfect for my requirements:

![Makita Multi Function Power Head](/img/blog/garden-tools/makita-multi-function-power-head.jpeg)

[Sydney Tools Product Page](https://sydneytools.com.au/product/makita-dux60phpt2b-36v-18v-x-2-50ah-liion-cordless-brushless-multi-function-power-head-combo-kit-with-attachments)

I’ve been super impressed by the balance of the tool given it’s got two 18V batteries on it’s head and how easy it was to get up and running so naturally, this will not be the last tool I buy from Makita!

<Strong>Note:</Strong>

It’s worthwhile noting that Makita have released a 40V range which you can obviously go for but I felt given this is not my day job, the 18V range was sufficient for household tasks


Answers the question, what garden tools should I purchase

Garden tools


2021 was year of many challenges but one really nice positive was the opportunity to purchase a 5 bedroom family home that allowed my wife and 2 boys a bit more space.

However, moving from a 2 bedroom townhouse, where most major maintenance is sorted by strata, to a 450 square meter block with hedges and gardens means I’ll need to upgrade some of my tools to handle the additional work.

![Picture of the front hedge](/img/blog/garden-lights/front-hedge.jpeg)

This blog series attempts to answer the question, what do you really need to keep a reasonably sized Sydney property in good nick.

Posts:

- [Garden Tools](http://peterhanssens.com.au/blog/2022-01/garden-tools.md)


Keep checking periodically for more posts in the "Home" series

I recently bought a new family home and this documents my adventure with it!

We bought a new family home


So a fellow AWS Hero recently tweeted that TouchID is now supported by AWS SSO, so of course, I wanted to give this a quick go:

<div class="center">

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I have MAJOR and BREAKING news: TouchID is now supported by AWS SSO as a MFA device when using Safari 🎉🎉🎉<br><br>Previously you could only use it from Chrome, but now it works from Safari too!</p>&mdash; Vlad Ionescu (he/him) (@iamvlaaaaaaad) <a href="https://twitter.com/iamvlaaaaaaad/status/1466747612674105350?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

</div>

## Configuring multi factor auth

First up, I have to go to my Master account within the organisation, navigate to AWS SSO and tick security keys and built-in authenticators: 
![](/img/blog/touch-id-with-aws-sso/configure-multi-factor-auth.png)

## SSO MFA Devices
Next I head on over to login to AWS SSO and click on MFA Devices where I'm presented with a Register Device button: 
![](/img/blog/touch-id-with-aws-sso/mfa-devices.png)


## Register MFA Device
After clicking the register device button, I'm presented a dialog box with 3 options and of course, I'll choose the built-in authenticator for the Apple TouchId and follow the prompts to set it up: 
![](/img/blog/touch-id-with-aws-sso/register-mfa-device.png)

And that's it - log out and log back in with all that TouchId goodness - sooo good!


Setting up MFA using touch id for AWS SSO

Using touch id with AWS SSO



If you are here, then you've probably heard that I run a couple of tech meetups in Sydney and beyond. The three meetups I run in Sydney are:

- [Sydney Serverless](https://www.meetup.com/Sydney-Serverless-Meetup-Group/ "Sydney Serverless")
- [Sydney DataEng](https://www.meetup.com/Sydney-Data-Engineering-Meetup/ "Sydney DataEng")
- [Sydney dbt](https://www.meetup.com/Sydney-dbt-Meetup/ "Sydney dbt")

I've been organising meetups for roughly 4-5 years and in that time, I've built up a couple of tricks that help me save time when finding new speakers.

## Get structured data

There are four simple questions I ask prospective meetup speakers, and they are the following:

- name, job title, company
- talk title
- talk summary
- bio

Now that may not sound like a lot of info but it can be very revealing about who your speaker is and whether they are a good fit for your meetup as well as how ready they are to present.

It is also a great time saver as I pretty much copy and paste the information into the meetup page! :D

## Job title and company

A job title and company can very quickly tell you a lot about a speaker - I don't mean this from an elitist perspective - far from it in fact as no one at a tech meetup wants to hear from a c-suite executive, far removed from the tools. A job title can give away hints about how day to day this person is on the tech they are talking about as well as potential red flags if they are someone in sales or recruitment who may not have the best interest of the meetup community at heart.

## talk title and summary

Someone who can quickly rattle these details off in a succinct manner typically will have a very good idea of what they will present and are often ready at short notice. Watch points are verbose summaries and scattered thoughts - anything that screams a disjointed story, and you may want to get back to that speaker and provide further coaching until they have clarity in their summary.

## bio

This will often indicate whether a speaker has done this before or not (or is a regular on the speaking circuit). I'm not put off in the slightest by a bio that isn't very well crafted (or is clearly from a junior). Getting newcomers to present at your meetup is what it's all about and is another coaching point for a generous organiser.

## Final thoughts

I hope you found this post insightful - it's perhaps not the most complicated thing you will read today but I hope this little nugget of wisdown can save you some time.



I've seen a lot of meetup talks over the years, and this is how I assess them

What I look for in meetup talks!


# Getting started

Okay so let's get straight to it - this is what we are trying to achieve:

![](/img/blog/streaming-platform/StreamingArchitecture.png)


## AWS Workspaces

So firstly, you'll want to get yourself an AWS GraphicsPro Windows Workspace. These are quite powerful instances with 16 vCPU's, 122 gig of RAM and a GPU with 8 gig of video memory.

![](/img/blog/streaming-platform/workspaces.png)

WARNING: these things are expensive, they're either $1,232 per month in the Sydney region or $81 up front and $14.34 per hour so you'll want to use them sparingly!!!

## Things you need to install

- Download some media onto your Workspace
- VLC + NDI
- Setup OBS.Ninja
- Streamlabs for OBS

## Download some media onto your Workspace

It's important to have a few bits of media on your workspace to help with doing some nice scenes with OBS - you will get what I'm talking about when we get to that part.

Some suggestions:

- a png export of a slide from powerpoint to use as a holding slide.
- some royalty free background music
- a pre-recorded video of yourself - perhaps say something into your webcam for a few minutes!

## VLC setup

You will want to download and install VLC as well as the NDI plugin and this is probably the best blog to follow in that regard: https://www.newtek.com/blog/tips/vlc-media-player-and-newtek-ndi-vlc-plugin/

![](/img/blog/streaming-platform/VLC-logo.jpg)

## OBS Ninja setup

Getting setup with OBS Ninja couldn't be easier, simply go to this URL: https://obs.ninja/ and enter a unique room name that's easy to remember and voila, you're ready to roll. To access the director room, you'll need to use the following query string ?director=room_name

![](/img/blog/streaming-platform/obsNinja.png)

## Streamlabs setup

Okay here's where you will need to do some work. What we will need to setup is the following:

- scenes
- inputs

![](/img/blog/streaming-platform/streamlabs.png)


How does one run OBS and Streamlab reliably in the cloud

Setting up a streaming platform


# Fishtown Analytics announce a $12.9m fundraise


![The Sydney dbt meetup](/img/projects/sydney-dbt.png)

[Fishtown Analytics announces 12.9m fundraise](https://blog.getdbt.com/fishtown-analytics-announces-12-9m-fundraise/ "Fishtown Analytics announces 12.9m fundraise")


I've been a huge dbt fan for a long time - very glad to see them hit the big time!

The makers of dbt do a $13m USD fundraise


# Exploring the Great Barrier Reef

We kicked off any great family holiday with plenty of excitement and a bit of relief that we managed to get through airport security in time.

## 2 nights in Port Douglas

Port Douglas was a beautiful spot with a lovely beach, a massive Sunday Markets as well as plenty of forests close by to explore.
![](/img/blog/family/great-barrier-reef/PortDouglasBeach.jpg)
![](/img/blog/family/great-barrier-reef/PortDouglasForest.jpg)

## A quick stay in Cairns

We stayed at the Shangri-La and had a great view of the marina from the hotel.
![](/img/blog/family/great-barrier-reef/CairnsHotel.jpg)
![](/img/blog/family/great-barrier-reef/CairnsDinner.jpg)

## Off to Green Island

Green Island was super fun and such a beautiful spot to connect with nature.
![](/img/blog/family/great-barrier-reef/GreenIslandBirdsFishIsland.jpg)
![](/img/blog/family/great-barrier-reef/GreenIsland-Zac-ready-for-the-beach.jpg)
![](/img/blog/family/great-barrier-reef/GreenIslandSunset.jpg)

## Day trip to the Outer Reef

Definitely one of the funner aspects was going to the outer reef - an hour boat ride for some really good snorkelling and scuba diving.
![](/img/blog/family/great-barrier-reef/OuterReef-ScubaDiving.jpg)
![](/img/blog/family/great-barrier-reef/OuterReef-ZacGivingItAGo.jpg)

## Back in Cairns and then off to Sydney

And as quickly as we started our journey, we were headed back to Sydney - it was a bunch of fun though and we really enjoyed it!
![](/img/blog/family/great-barrier-reef/BackHomeToSydney.jpg)


Its always nice to be able to get out and have a family holiday!

Exploring the Great Barrier Reef


## ALB to Lambda with Auth0 authentication

I've put together a cloudformation template to create an application load balancer that points to a lambda function which returns a simple HTML page. When you connect to it, it requires you to authenticate via Auth0. I hope you enjoy it!

A special mention to [s0enke](https://github.com/s0enke/cloudformation-templates/blob/master/templates/lambda-alb-sam-sample.yaml) for the ALB SAM Lambda template as well as [sandrinodm](https://medium.com/@sandrinodm/securing-your-applications-with-aws-alb-built-in-authentication-and-auth0-310ad84c8595) for the securing an ALB with Auth0 blogpost - both helped a great deal to quickly put this together.

```yaml
AWSTemplateFormatVersion: 2010-09-09
Transform: AWS::Serverless-2016-10-31
Description: HelloWorld Lambda function template for Application Load Balancer Lambda as target
Parameters: 
  VPC:
    Type: AWS::EC2::VPC::Id
  SubnetA:
    Type: AWS::EC2::Subnet::Id
  SubnetB:
    Type: AWS::EC2::Subnet::Id
  Certificate:
    Type: String
    # Update with the certificate ARN from Certificate Manager, which must exist in the same region.
    Default: 'arn:aws:acm:region:123456789012:certificate/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000'
  ServiceName:
    Type: String
    # update with the name of the service
    Default: MyService
  LoadBalancerPort:
    Type: Number
    Default: 443
  HostedZoneName:
    Type: String
    Default: company.com
  Subdomain:
    Type: String
    Default: myservice
  AuthorizationEndpoint: 
    Type: String
    Default: https://domain.au.auth0.com/authorize
  ClientId: 
    Type: String
    Default: clientid
  ClientSecret: 
    Type: String
    Default: clientsecret
  Issuer: 
    Type: String
    Default: https://domain.au.auth0.com/
  TokenEndpoint: 
    Type: String
    Default: https://domain.au.auth0.com/oauth/token
  UserInfoEndpoint: 
    Type: String
    Default: https://domain.au.auth0.com/userinfo

Resources:
  HelloWorldFunction:
    Type: AWS::Serverless::Function
    Properties:
      Description: An Application Load Balancer Lambda Target that returns "HelloWorld"
      Handler: index.handler
      Runtime: python3.7
      InlineCode: |
        def handler(event, context): 
          return {
            "statusCode": 200,
            "statusDescription": "HTTP OK",
            "isBase64Encoded": False,
            "headers": {
              "Content-Type": "text/html"
            },
            "body": "<h1>Hello from Lambda!</h1>"
          }
      Timeout: 1
  LoadBalancerSecurityGroup:
    Type: AWS::EC2::SecurityGroup
    Properties:
      GroupDescription: !Join ['', [!Ref ServiceName, LoadBalancerSecurityGroup]]
      VpcId: !Ref VPC
      SecurityGroupIngress:
        - IpProtocol: tcp
          FromPort: !Ref LoadBalancerPort
          ToPort: !Ref LoadBalancerPort
          CidrIp: 0.0.0.0/0
        - IpProtocol: tcp
          FromPort: 80
          ToPort: 80
          CidrIp: 0.0.0.0/0
  TargetGroup:
    Type: AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::TargetGroup
    DependsOn: HelloWorldFunctionInvokePermission
    Properties:
      Name: !Join ['', [!Ref ServiceName, TargetGroup]]
      TargetType: lambda
      Targets:
      - Id: !GetAtt HelloWorldFunction.Arn
  ListenerHTTPS:
    Type: AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::Listener
    Properties:
      DefaultActions:
        - TargetGroupArn: !Ref TargetGroup
          Type: forward
      LoadBalancerArn: !Ref LoadBalancer
      Port: !Ref LoadBalancerPort
      Protocol: HTTPS
      Certificates:
        - CertificateArn: !Ref Certificate
  HttpRedirectListener:
    Type: AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::Listener
    DependsOn:
      - LoadBalancer
    Properties:
      DefaultActions:
        - RedirectConfig:
            Host: "#{host}"
            Path: "/#{path}"
            Port: 443
            Protocol: "HTTPS"
            Query: "#{query}"
            StatusCode: HTTP_301
          Type: redirect
      LoadBalancerArn: !Ref 'LoadBalancer'
      Port: 80
      Protocol: HTTP
  HttpsListenerRule:
    Type: AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::ListenerRule
    Properties: 
      Actions: 
        - Type: authenticate-oidc
          Order: 1
          AuthenticateOidcConfig:
            AuthorizationEndpoint: !Ref AuthorizationEndpoint
            ClientId: !Ref ClientId
            ClientSecret: !Ref ClientSecret
            Issuer: !Ref Issuer
            TokenEndpoint: !Ref TokenEndpoint
            UserInfoEndpoint: !Ref UserInfoEndpoint
        - Type: forward
          Order: 2
          TargetGroupArn: !Ref TargetGroup
      Conditions: 
        - Field: path-pattern
          Values: 
            - '/'
      ListenerArn: !Ref ListenerHTTPS
      Priority: 1
  LoadBalancer:
    Type: AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::LoadBalancer
    Properties:
      LoadBalancerAttributes:
        # this is the default, but is specified here in case it needs to be changed
        - Key: idle_timeout.timeout_seconds
          Value: 60
      Name: !Join ['', [!Ref ServiceName, LoadBalancer]]
      # "internal" is also an option
      Scheme: internet-facing
      SecurityGroups:
        - !Ref LoadBalancerSecurityGroup
      Subnets:
        - !Ref SubnetA
        - !Ref SubnetB
  DNSRecord:
    Type: AWS::Route53::RecordSet
    Properties:
      HostedZoneName: !Join ['', [!Ref HostedZoneName, .]]
      Name: !Join ['', [!Ref Subdomain, ., !Ref HostedZoneName, .]]
      Type: A
      AliasTarget:
        DNSName: !GetAtt LoadBalancer.DNSName
        HostedZoneId: !GetAtt LoadBalancer.CanonicalHostedZoneID
  HelloWorldFunctionInvokePermission:
    Type: AWS::Lambda::Permission
    Properties:
      FunctionName: !GetAtt HelloWorldFunction.Arn
      Action: 'lambda:InvokeFunction'
      Principal: elasticloadbalancing.amazonaws.com
``` 


ALB to Lambda with Auth0 authentication


## Data Architecture

Conceptualising the movement of data into various functional tiers is useful for the business to understand how data happens in a business

It's important that all stakeholders have a clear understanding of the functions each tier provides and it's importance in the overall health of the ecosystem

![](/img/blog/data-architecture/data_architecture.png)


The simplest way to visualise a data architecture - using layers

Data Architecture


## Data Concierge

A fun project that shows how an Alexa skill can be used to query a database.

<iframe width="729" height="410" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vv4_mmsBvbk" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Data Concierge



      

## A live twitter feed - python and postgres

Code for the following videos can be found on my [github](https://github.com/phanssens1/AWStwitterStreamingApp). 

### Part 1 - introduction

<iframe width="729" height="410" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qmcxpvQUZFs" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

### Part 2 - setup

<iframe width="729" height="410" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gLLUflVYdSM" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

From the blog