Use Cloud Storage with Engine Yard

Engine Yard provides Cloud Storage using the Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3). This feature allows you to create dedicated Amazon S3 buckets, assign users and configure buckets to be publicly or privately accessible. You can then use the access key and secret ID credentials to access and populate your S3 buckets.

Cloud Storage provides developers with secure, durable, highly-scalable object storage. Amazon S3 is easy to use, with a simple web services interface to store and retrieve any amount of data from anywhere on the web. Amazon S3 stores data as objects within resources called "buckets." You can store as many objects as you want within a bucket, and write, read, and delete objects in your bucket. Objects can be up to 5 terabytes in size.

More information about the Amazon S3 service can be found on the Amazon S3 site. 

Get started with Cloud Storage on Engine Yard

• Prerequisites
• Use S3 cloud storage
• FAQs
• Troubleshooting

Prerequisites

• You already have an Engine Yard Cloud account. If this is not the case, sign up for an Engine Yard Account.
• You need to understand how to use the AWS S3 API  to access Cloud Storage, using the credentials supplied by Engine Yard.

Use Cloud Storage

Cloud Storage is accessible at the Engine Yard account level (it is not specific to an environment).

To add an Amazon S3 cloud storage bucket

1. Log in to your Engine Yard account.

2. On the dashboard, click on Tools > Cloud Storage.

   The Cloud Storages page appears, displaying all the S3 buckets previously created for this account (if any). If you are an admin or collaborator of more than one account, make sure the correct account is selected.
   

3. Click the Create Cloud Storage option.

4. Provide a unique bucket Name.
   The name of the bucket must not contain spaces or special characters; lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens are permitted. It must also be globally unique, regardless of the region; it is best practice to establish your bucket naming convention before you get started. To ensure uniqueness, you might preface bucket names with your account name (e.g., youraccountname_bucketname001).

   

5. Choose any Region that is geographically close to you to optimize latency, minimize costs, or for regulatory reasons.

6. Select the desired Privacy setting.

7. Click the Create Cloud Storage button.

   Engine Yard begins provisioning to create the new S3 bucket. Refresh your browser to see the results.

   A successfully provisioned bucket appears in the list. If not, check the error and see Troubleshooting.

8. (Optional) Click on the new S3 bucket name to review the bucket credentials that Engine Yard created for you.

   

   If you need to create users for the S3 bucket, continue to the next section.

To add a user to your Amazon S3 cloud storage bucket

Engine Yard automatically creates an admin and read-only user for each S3 bucket. Use these steps if you need a specific user name other than those provided for you.

1. Click on the Amazon S3 bucket name in the cloud storage list.

   The Amazon S3 bucket credentials and existing users appear.

2. Scroll down to the Create User section and provide a unique Username.

   User names can contain upper- and lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscores.

3. Select the Permissions (admin or read-only) and click Create User.

   Engine Yard begins provisioning to create the new user. Refresh your browser to see the results.

   A successfully created user appears in the list. If not, check the error and see Troubleshooting.

FAQs

You might have these questions about S3 cloud storage.

How do I upload or manage the files in my S3 buckets?

You can use the AWS API to upload and manage your files into your Amazon S3 buckets. There are also many file management tools available that support easy S3 management - such as CyberDuck. These tools allow you to manage the files in your buckets much like you would for any FTP site.

Can I manage my S3 buckets in the AWS Console?

No. Your Amazon S3 buckets are provisioned within Engine Yard's AWS account and direct access to the AWS console is not allowed. You can however make any administrative changes allowed by the API with the account credentials Engine Yard has provisioned for you.

How much does it cost?

Costs associated with using Cloud Storage will show up under the heading "AWS Other Services" on your invoice. Fees will be based on Amazon's published pricing for S3 for the region the bucket is provisioned in, plus 20%.

Troubleshooting

This table contains troubleshooting tips related to S3 cloud storage.

If you have feedback or questions about this page, add a comment below. If you need help, submit a ticket with Engine Yard Support.