This post is linked to from the AWS: Deep Dive Project

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This post covers how to upload and download files from Amazon's S3 using Python. Setup is done from the web UI.

Create a Bucket

Go to the AWS S3 page.

Click on "+ Create Bucket" and fill out the form. For access, choose Block all public access. For the rest of the options, the defaults are fine.

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Create IAM Credentials

IAM stands for Identity and Access Management.

Create a Policy

From the left nav-bar, go to policies. The default policies don't grant programmatic access, so you need to make a new one.

For admin rights, I just used the visual policy builder and granted it access to everything. I'll come back and update this guide with how to lock that down later.

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Add the policy to a group

Go to the groups on the left. Either make a new one or edit an existing one. Under Permissions, click Attach Policy. If you want, you can also add AmazonS3FullAccess to see the difference between the two.

Create/Edit a User

On the left nav-bar, go to Users > Add User. Or edit a user that exists. Fill in the wizard and assign the group.

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Use Python to interact with S3

Install Boto3

Python needs boto3 installed to interact with AWS.

pip install boto3

Uploading and Downloading Files

import boto3

# Fill in the key and key id, or read them from stdin/file/whatever
key_id = ''
key = ''

# Create the authenticated s3 client
session = boto3.Session(aws_access_key_id=key_id, aws_secret_access_key=key)
client = session.client('s3')

# Define the file/object
filename = '/example/file/path'
bucket_name = 'my_bucket'
key = 'my_key'

# Upload Example
client.upload_file(filename, bucket_name, key)

# Download Example
client.download_file(bucket_name, object_name, path)