This is a TUTORIAL on configuring the System Defaults used with the Amazon S3 filesharing service keys.
This manual focuses on accessing Amazon web services and updating the keys. In the Configuration > Admin > Third Party Extensions page, the first two fields are for the keys provided to you by Amazon, for integration with the Amazon S3. Enter the keys to the corresponding fields and then hit Update.
- If you are subscribing to this storage service, Amazon generates two different keys for authentication - Access Key ID and Secret Access Key.
Suggestion: It is a good practice for security reasons to generate new keys and update these fields periodically, i.e. every one to three months.
Find the access keys on Amazon Web Services
- You should have an email from Amazon Web Services titled "Amazon Simple Storage Service Sign-Up Confirmation".
- Click on the first web link in the email or click here. You should be presented with the Amazon Web Services sign-in page.
- Now enter the login details you used to create the account (ensure 'returning user' is selected), then click on 'sign in using our secure server'.
- Once you have signed in, you should be on the Amazon Account page, with the Security Credentials section showing. The second section of this page is titled Access Credentials, with three tabbed areas. The first tab should be showing with your 'Access Key ID' visible. Next, do the following;
- Step 1: Copy and paste this Access Key ID to the corresponding field in System Default Settings.
- Now click on the Show link under the Secret Access Key' on the Amazon Account page to display the same.
- Step 2: Copy and paste this Secret Access Key to the corresponding field in System Default Settings.
- Now you have updated the System Default for Amazon Simple Storage Service keys!
Creating new access keys:
Note: You should aim to create and enable new access keys every one to three months as a good security practice. Be sure to enter the newly created access keys into System Defaults before inactivating the old keys, or users will not be able to access items in the interim.
- First, log into your account page on Amazon Web Services. You should see the "Access Credentials" as the second section on the page.
- Click the Create a New Access Key link. A message box will pop up where you need to confirm the action to proceed.
- STOP! You will now have 2 sets of active keys. Enter the new keys in the Third Party Extensions before proceeding to inactivate the old keys.
- You will now have a list of keys showing in the Access Credentials section. After you have entered the new key in System Defaults, find the older key by date and click '(Make Inactive)' at the end of the row for the older key. Confirm the Make Access Key Inactive dialogue box by clicking 'Yes':
- You should now see that the older key has been inactivated in the key list. Note: There should only be a single active key in the list.
- If you have multiple active keys showing, inactivate all except the most recently created key.
- You can now delete any inactive keys; click on 'Delete Key' to do this. A message dialogue box will pop up where you need to confirm the action.
- You should now see just one active key in the list, with the option to 'View Your Deleted Access Keys' now visible.
- You can use the link to view old deleted access keys if you wish. You should no longer have any use for these.