diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
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+++ b/Dockerfile
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+FROM amazonlinux:2017.03
+
+RUN yum -y install git \
+    python36 \
+    python36-pip \
+    zip \
+    && yum clean all
+
+RUN python3 -m pip install --upgrade pip \
+    # boto3 is available to lambda processes by default,
+    # but it's not in the amazonlinux image
+    && python3 -m pip install boto3
+
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
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+# Script AWS Lambda deployment packages with Docker
+
+## Why?
+
+* Logging in to EC2 and 
+[creating a deployment package by hand](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/latest/dg/lambda-python-how-to-create-deployment-package.html) 
+is clumsy
+* Instead, script package creation around the [`amazonlinux` image](https://hub.docker.com/_/amazonlinux/)
+(blessed as an _official repository_ and
+linked from [this AWS user guide](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonECR/latest/userguide/amazon_linux_container_image.html))
+
+## Example: Python 3.6 deployment package
+
+```sh
+docker pull quiltdata/lambda
+
+docker run --rm -v $(pwd)/create_table:/io -t \
+	-e SETUP_DIR -e GIT_REPO quiltdata/lambda \
+	bash /io/package.sh
+```
+
+* Mount `/io` as a docker volume
+	* `/io` should contain `package.sh` and your lambda code \
+	* `/io` is where the deployment package, lambda.zip, is written \
+* Pass environment variables with `-e`
+* `--rm` so that, for example, secure envs aren't written to disk
+
+
+## Customize
+Modify `package.sh` to suit your own purposes.
+
+## Build container
+
+```sh
+docker build -t quiltdata/lambda .
+```
+
+## Clone private GitHub repo in container
+Use a [personal access token](https://github.com/settings/tokens):
+
+```sh
+git clone https://${TOKEN}@github.com/USER/REPO
+```
+
+## Optimizations to reduce .zip size
+Possible but not tried in this repo:
+* [Delete *.py](https://github.com/ralienpp/simplipy/blob/master/README.md)
+* [Profile code and only retain files that are used](https://medium.com/@mojodna/slimming-down-lambda-deployment-zips-b3f6083a1dff) 
+
diff --git a/package.sh b/package.sh
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+#!/bin/bash
+
+mkdir tmp411
+git clone ${GIT_REPO}
+python3 -m pip install ${SETUP_DIR} -t tmp411
+
+# Untested optimization to reduce deployment size
+# See https://github.com/ralienpp/simplipy/blob/master/README.md
+# echo DELETING *.py `find tmp411 -name "*.py" -type f`
+# find tmp411 -name "*.py" -type f -delete
+
+# remove any old .zips
+rm -f /io/lambda.zip
+
+# grab existing products
+cp -r /io/* tmp411
+
+# zip without any containing folder (or it won't work)
+cd tmp411
+zip -r /io/lambda.zip *
+