File manager for Amazon S3: connect it to Nubbo

Nubbo connects to Amazon S3 with an IAM access key. In a few minutes your bucket is in a file explorer with direct uploads, share links and galleries, without making anything public. This guide follows the Nubbo wizard step by step, with both paths: automatic or with a key limited to one bucket.

What you get

• Browse the bucket like a drive: folders, views, search, trash, labels and favorites.
• Upload and download files directly between your browser and Amazon S3. Files never pass through Nubbo servers.
• Share files and folders with a password, expiry and download limit, receive files into your bucket and create galleries.
• Your keys are stored encrypted with AES-256-GCM and you can disconnect the bucket at any time.

Before you start

You need an account with Amazon S3 and a Nubbo account. Every bucket you connect counts toward your plan limit: Free allows 2, Personal 5 and Pro has no limit. Some AWS Regions are disabled by default and must be enabled in the account before you use them (Milan, Zurich or Cape Town, for example). If you will create the bucket in one of them, enable it first. There is no need to turn off Block Public Access: Nubbo keeps the bucket private.

Choose how to connect

The Nubbo wizard offers two paths. Both end the same way: the bucket connected and ready for uploads from the browser.

Automatic connection

Step 1: create the key in Amazon S3

1. Sign in to the AWS console and open IAM. Use an IAM user, never the account root user.
2. Go to Users and press Create user. Give it a name, for example nubbo, and press Next.
3. In Set permissions, choose Attach policies directly, search for and tick AmazonS3FullAccess and create the user.
4. Open the user, go to the Security credentials tab and, under Access keys, press Create access key.
5. As the use case choose Application running outside AWS (or Other if it is not listed) and press Next and Create access key.
6. Press Download .csv file. It is the only time AWS lets you see the secret access key.

Step 2: connect the bucket in Nubbo

1. In Nubbo, open Buckets and press Connect bucket. Choose Amazon S3 and press Continue.

   

2. Choose Automatic and press Continue.

   

3. In the Your key step, press Upload file and pick the CSV you downloaded, or paste its contents into the text box. Nubbo reads the access key and the secret so you do not have to copy them by hand. Check that the Region is your buckets’ region. Press Check key. Nubbo checks that the key works and that it has access to the whole account.

   

4. Pick one of your buckets and press Use this bucket, or select Create a new one, type a name (and pick the region, if it asks) and press Create and prepare. Nubbo adds a CORS rule to the bucket that only allows uploads and downloads from the app, and keeps the rules it already has.

   

5. Review the three checks, change the Name in Nubbo if you like and press Finish. The bucket shows up in Buckets and you can open it in the explorer.

   

If Nubbo cannot add the CORS rule with your key, the wizard takes you to the CORS step. Then follow Add the CORS rule.

Connection with a limited key

Step 1: prepare the bucket and the key in Amazon S3

1. In the console, pick the Region in the top bar, open S3 and, under General purpose buckets, press Create bucket. Give it a name (3 to 63 characters: lowercase letters, numbers, dots and hyphens) and create it with Block Public Access on.
2. In IAM, create a user with no permissions (Users, Create user).
3. Open the user, Permissions tab, Add permissions, Create inline policy. Switch to the JSON editor, paste this policy replacing YOUR-BUCKET with your bucket name and save it with a name.
4. Create the key under Security credentials, Create access key, as in the automatic connection, and download the CSV.

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": ["s3:ListBucket", "s3:GetBucketLocation"],
      "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::YOUR-BUCKET"
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "s3:GetObject",
        "s3:PutObject",
        "s3:DeleteObject",
        "s3:AbortMultipartUpload",
        "s3:ListMultipartUploadParts"
      ],
      "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::YOUR-BUCKET/*"
    }
  ]
}

Step 2: connect the bucket in Nubbo

1. In Buckets, press Connect bucket, choose Amazon S3 and then With a limited key.
2. Upload the key CSV or paste its contents and choose the bucket region. Press Check key.
3. Type the exact bucket name and press Check access.
4. The wizard moves to the CORS step with the rule you need to add.

Add the CORS rule

The CORS rule lets the browser upload and download files from your bucket on https://nubbo.app. It is the same rule the wizard shows in the CORS step.

1. In the S3 console, open the bucket and go to the Permissions tab.
2. Scroll down to Cross-origin resource sharing (CORS) and press Edit.
3. Paste the rule and press Save changes.

[
  {
    "AllowedHeaders": ["*"],
    "AllowedMethods": ["GET", "PUT", "POST", "DELETE", "HEAD"],
    "AllowedOrigins": ["https://nubbo.app"],
    "ExposeHeaders": ["ETag"],
    "MaxAgeSeconds": 3600
  }
]

Once it is saved, go back to Nubbo and press I added it, check. Some providers take a minute to apply it. If your key is allowed to change CORS, Try to configure it for me does it for you.

If something goes wrong

What it costs

Amazon S3 charges for storage, requests and data transfer out. We explain it with examples in Amazon S3 pricing.