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The following sections walk you through each of the tasks you must complete before you can use AWS Import/Export to load data. They are presented in the order you should accomplish them so that you can start loading data as quickly as possible. This guide assumes that you are an Amazon S3 user, already have an AWS account, and have signed up for Amazon S3. If that is not the case, go to the Amazon Simple Storage Service Getting Started Guide.
Before you can use this service, you must first register for it.
Go to the AWS Import/Export detail page.
Click Sign Up For AWS Import/Export.
Sign in using your AWS login name and password and click OK.
AWS uses special identifiers to help protect your data. In this section, we show you how to view your identifiers so you can use them.
AWS assigns you the following identifiers when you create your AWS account:
Access Key ID (a 20-character, alphanumeric sequence, for example: 022QF06E7MXBSH9DHM02)
You include your Access Key ID in all AWS service requests to identify yourself as the sender of the request.
Secret Access Key (a 40-character sequence, for example: kWcrlUX5JEDGM/LtmEENI/aVmYvHNif5zB+d9+ct)
![[Caution]](images/caution.png) | Caution |
|---|---|
Your Secret Access Key is a shared secret between you and AWS. Keep this ID secret; we use it to bill you for the AWS services you use. Never include the ID in your requests to AWS and never e-mail the ID to anyone even if an inquiry appears to originate from AWS or Amazon.com. No one who legitimately represents Amazon will ever ask you for your Secret Access Key. |
By contrast, the Access Key ID is not a secret, and anyone could use your Access Key ID in requests to AWS. To provide proof that you truly are the sender of the request, you must include a digital signature calculated using your Secret Access Key.
Your Access Key ID and Secret Access Key display when you create your AWS account. They are not e-mailed to you. If you need to see them again, you can view them at any time from your AWS account.
To view your AWS access key identifiers
Go to http://aws.amazon.com.
Point to Your Web Services Account to display a list of options.
Click AWS Access Identifiers and log in to your AWS account.
Your Access Key ID displays on the AWS Access Identifiers page. Your Secret Access Key remains hidden as a further precaution as shown in the following figure.
To display your Secret Access Key, click Show in the Your Secret Access Key: area.
Before you can use AWS Import/Export you must create an Amazon S3 bucket where AWS Import/Export can load your data. The following tools make creating a bucket and retrieving data from it easy:
S3curl
For more information, go to http://developer.amazonwebservices.com/connect/entry.jspa?externalID=128.
S3 Firefox Organizer
For more information. go to https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3247.
S3 tool
For more information, go to http://developer.amazonwebservices.com/connect/entry.jspa?externalID=739.
Consult each tool's documentation for more information.
We recommend that you create a bucket with a DNS friendly name that conforms to the following DNS requirements:
Bucket names should not contain underscores (_)
Bucket names should be between 3 and 63 characters long
Bucket names should not end with a dash
Bucket names cannot have two periods adjacent to one another
Bucket names cannot contain dashes next to periods, for example, "my-.bucket.com" and "my.-bucket" are invalid
For more details, go to http://docs.amazonwebservices.com/AmazonS3/latest/index.html?BucketRestrictions.html.
Make a note of your bucket name so that you can use it for other procedures in this guide.
After creating a bucket, make sure to set appropriate permissions on it. Typically, you give the owner read and write access and authenticated users read access.
How you give permission depends on the tool.
To set permissions on a bucket using S3 Firefox Organizer
Open S3 Firefox Organizer and navigate to the bucket you created.
Right click on your bucket and select the permissions you want to give to each user type and click OK.
The CreateSignature tool is a command line utility that creates SIGNATURE files. You must create and copy a SIGNATURE file to the root
directory of your storage device to authenticate each of your AWS Import/Export
CREATE JOB requests.
To use the CreateSignature tool, you need Java Standard Edition 2, version 1.4.2 or newer.
To download the CreateSignature tool
Go to http://s3.amazonaws.com/awsimportexport/AWSImportExport.zip.
Download and decompress the zip file, AWSImportExport.zip, onto your local system.
We include the source code for CreateSignature in the distribution so developers
can create and share their own tools that can produce valid AWS Import/Export
SIGNATURE files. AWSImportExport.zip includes the
following source files for the tool:
CreateSignature.java
Base64.java
These files are in the lib directory of AWSImportClientSignatureTool-1.0.jar, which you can download from http://s3.amazonaws.com/awsimportexport/AWSImportExport.zip
The CreateSignature.java source file is licensed under the
Apache license, version 2.0. Your use of this file must comply with the terms of
this license. For information about the license, go to http://aws.amazon.com/apache2.0/.
The Base64.java source file is part of the public domain. For
more information, go to http://iharder.net/base64.
To run the CreateSignature tool, which creates the signatures required for your requests, you need to install the Java SE Runtime Environment version 1.4.2 or newer. You can verify your version by typing “java –version” at a command prompt. If your version is older than version 1.4.2, you must download and install a newer version.
To download the Java Runtime Environment
Go to http://java.sun.com and follow the instructions for downloading and installing the Java Runtime Environment.
To load your data, you must ship your storage device to AWS. To connect with our import station, your storage device must satisfy the criteria listed in the following table. If it does not, contact us at awsimportexport@amazon.com.
![[Important]](images/important.png) | Important |
|---|---|
You must ship your storage device with its power supply and interface cables. |
| Item | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Power |
|
| Interface type |
|
| Dimensions | The maximum device size is 8 rack units in a standard 19-inch rack, or 14 inches high by 19 inches wide by 48 inches deep. |
| Weight | The maximum device weight is 50 pounds. |
| File Formats |
|
| Important |
|---|---|
Although AWS has a number of internal controls and procedures to prevent loss, damage or disclosure of your data, AWS is not responsible for damages associated with loss or inadvertent disclosure of data, or the loss, damage, or destruction of the physical hardware. You should always retain a back-up copy of your data. |
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