Chapter 1 of 6 · 2 min
How do I access files in an S3 bucket?
SHORT ANSWER
Through one of four doors: the AWS Console, a command line, a share link, or a file workspace. All four lead to the same files, and none of them costs more than the others.
The four doors
- The AWS Console, the front desk. Sign in to the Amazon account and the bucket appears as folders. Built for the people who run the account.
- The CLI, a command line, or code. For programmers; one command copies a whole folder.
- A presigned URL, a share link. Opens one file for one person with no login at all, for up to a week.
- A file workspace. A normal folder view over the bucket, with previews and share links, for everyone who should never see the console.
Whichever door, somebody has to be let in
IAM, the Amazon permissions system, decides who may list a bucket and who may open its files, and a new bucket lets nobody in from the outside until that is set up. A file link pasted into a browser says Access Denied by design.
For a team that works with the files all day, the workspace door is the comfortable one: people sign in with their email and never hold Amazon credentials.
Access Amazon S3 files without the AWS Console has every rate and the steps.
NEXT · CHAPTER 2 OF 6Can I look at a file without downloading it?The console can show you a PDF. It cannot show you a spreadsheet.The same bucket, two ways
Compare with the AWS Console See the steps to open, share and give a colleague access in the AWS Console and in BucketDesk, side by side.