S3 Hands On

1️⃣ Creating a Bucket

👉 Select a Region

• Search for S3 in the search bar and click S3.

• Select your preferred AWS Region (e.g., Asia Pacific (Mumbai) – ap-south-1).

• S3 buckets are region-specific, but you can view buckets from all regions.

👉 Choose Bucket Type

• General Purpose → default for most use cases

  

• Directory Buckets → special use cases (not exam-relevant - more on this later)

👉 Enter a Unique Bucket Name

• Must be globally unique across all AWS accounts.

• Example: codeveda-demo-s3

• If the name exists → choose another
  

  

🔒 Account Regional Namespace

Bucket names are unique within your AWS account and Region, so different AWS accounts can use the same name.

Example:

demo-37647346-ap-south-1

• demo → Bucket name

• 37647346 → Account ID

• ap-south-1 → AWS Region

👉 Object Ownership & Access

• Leave ACL disabled (recommended)

  

• Block all public access → maximum security

  

• Only you can upload/view objects initially

👉 Optional Settings

• Versioning: disabled (can enable later)

  

• Default Encryption: enable server-side encryption (S3 managed key)

• Bucket Key: enabled

  

👉 Create Bucket

• Click Create → bucket is now available

  

2️⃣ Uploading Objects

• Go to your bucket → click Upload

• Add files (example: coffee.jpg, 100 KB) or any other image

  

• Destination → your bucket

• Click Upload

• Object now appears under Objects in the bucket

  

• You can all see all the buckets in s3 → Buckets → General purpose buckets

  

3️⃣ Viewing Objects

• Click on the object

  

• See all these details:

  • File size, type, uploaded time

  • Object URL

    

• Opening the object

  • Default view → works for you

  • Public URL(Object URL) → Access Denied (object is private)

    

  • Pre-signed URL → works, contains credentials for temporary access

    

    A Pre-Signed URL provides temporary access to a private S3 object without requiring AWS credentials.

    Example:

    <https://my-bucket.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/report.pdf>
    ?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256
    &X-Amz-Credential=AKIA.../20260724/ap-south-1/s3/aws4_request
    &X-Amz-Date=20260724T120000Z
    &X-Amz-Expires=3600
    &X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3Jp...
    &X-Amz-Signature=8f7c3a9d...
    

    💡 Key parts:

    • ⏱️ X-Amz-Expires → URL validity (e.g., 3600 seconds)

    • 🔐 X-Amz-Signature → Verifies the request

    • 🎫 X-Amz-Security-Token → Temporary credentials (when using IAM roles/STS)

💡 We'll learn how to create a public S3 URL later. For now, the Open URL works only for your AWS account.

4️⃣ Working with Folders

1. Click Create Folder → example: images

2. Upload files inside the folder → example: beach.jpg

   

3. Folders are UI constructs; internally, everything is just object keys

💡 You might notice that Amazon S3 looks similar to Google Drive or Dropbox—and in some ways, that's true.

5️⃣ Deleting Objects or Folders

1. Select folder or object

   

2. Click Delete

3. Confirm by typing permanently delete

   

4. All objects inside a folder are deleted if folder is removed

   

6️⃣ Important Takeaways

• Buckets = containers

• Objects = files inside buckets

• Folders = optional UI for organization

• Pre-signed URLs = temporary access with credentials

• Public URLs = only work if bucket/object is public

• All objects can be encrypted and secured

💡 Pro Tips

• Use descriptive, personal bucket names to avoid conflicts

• Always enable encryption by default for security

• Remember that S3 folders are just part of object keys, not real directories

• Pre-signed URLs are great for secure sharing without making objects public