AWS ECS Express Mode

1. Create an ECS Express Mode Service

  1. Go to the ECS console and select Express mode in the navigation pane on the left-hand side

  2. Image URI:

    public.ecr.aws/xlwings/xlwings-lite:1.0.0.94

  3. Task execution role: Select an existing role or choose Create new role

  4. Infrastructure role: Select an existing role or choose Create new role

  5. Expand the Additional configurations section:

    • Container port: 8000

    • Environment variables > Add environment variable:

      • Key: XLWINGS_LICENSE_KEY

      • Value type: Environment variable

      • Value or value from: <your license key>

    • CPU: 0.25 vCPU, Memory: 0.5 GB

    • Networking: Configure according to your requirements (leaving the checkbox unchecked will expose the service to the public internet)

  6. Click Create

2. Configuration (optional)

You can configure xlwings Lite via optional environment variables. For an overview, see Configuration. To add environment variables to your existing service, click on your service > Update service (orange button on the top right) > Additional configurations. Once added, click on Update (orange button at the bottom right) to deploy.

3. Add-in installation

  1. In your browser, go to https://<your-hostname>/manifest, which will download xlwings-lite-manifest.xml.

  2. Go to Microsoft 365 admin center

    • Click on Show all > Settings > Integrated Apps.

    • If you have xlwings Lite installed, uninstall it first.

    • Click on Upload custom apps and select Office Add-in (App type).

    • Select Upload manifest file (.xml) from device. Click Choose File, then select the xlwings-lite-manifest.xml from the previous step.

    • Click Next, then assign the desired users.

    • Click Next and accept permission requests.

    • Click Next and Finish deployment.

The users will get the add-in to show up automatically although it may take a few hours.

4. Updating

To update xlwings Lite:

  1. Go to the ECS console and navigate to your cluster > your service

  2. Click on Update service (orange button on the top right). Update the Image URI to the following:

    public.ecr.aws/xlwings/xlwings-lite:1.0.0.94

    Once added, click on Update (orange button at the bottom right) to deploy.

  3. Normally, you don’t need to update the manifest after deploying a new version of the container. Occasionally, this is required if e.g., if the URL of your container changed. In this case, the Office 365 admin center offers a link to Update Add-in.