Chapter 1 of 5 · 2 min
How do I share an S3 file with someone who has no AWS account?
SHORT ANSWER
Send them a link. Amazon can make one for any single file that works for anyone, with no account, for up to seven days. It costs nothing to make and $0.09 per gigabyte when they download.
Programmers call it a presigned URL; this course calls it a link. The console makes one from the menu on the file, and the link can be opened any number of times until it expires.
Three things that link cannot do
- Last more than a week, and only twelve hours if you made it in the console.
- Be switched off early. The only way is to remove the permission of the person who made it, which kills every link they ever made.
- Tell you who opened it. There is no record.
What a workspace link adds
- It expires on the date you set, a month or a year.
- It can be turned off, one link at a time.
- It can ask for an email address or a password before the file opens, so you know who came.
A link is a key that works for whoever holds it. Decide how long you want strangers holding your key.
How to securely share files from a private S3 bucket has every rate and the steps.
NEXT · CHAPTER 2 OF 5How long can a share link last?A week at most. Often an hour, and nobody tells you.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.