Upload files into a S3 since a external Server

To upload files from an external server to an S3 storage in a secure and automated way without using hard-coded keys, you can leverage AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) roles with temporary security credentials.

You can follow this approach

1. Start by creating an IAM role in your AWS account that grants the necessary permissions to upload files to the S3 bucket. Assign a policy to this role that allows the s3:PutObject action on the target S3 bucket.

2. Define a trust relationship for the IAM role that allows the external server to assume the role. You can specify the IP address or range of the external server to restrict access if necessary.

3. Attach the IAM role to an EC2 instance profile. This step is necessary if you're using an EC2 instance to run scripts for uploading files to S3. If you're not using EC2, you can skip this step.

4. On the external server, use the AWS SDK (e.g., boto3 for Python) or AWS CLI to assume the IAM role and generate temporary security credentials. These temporary credentials will be used to authenticate requests to upload files to S3. Assume Role: Use the AssumeRole API call (in SDK) or aws sts assume-role (in CLI) to assume the IAM role. This will return temporary security credentials (Access Key ID, Secret Access Key, and Session Token) associated with the role.

5. With the temporary security credentials obtained in the previous step, you can now use the SDK or CLI to upload files to S3. When making requests, include the temporary credentials in the authentication process.

6. Set an appropriate duration for the temporary credentials. By default, IAM roles issue temporary credentials that are valid for one hour. You can adjust this duration as per your requirements. Additionally, consider implementing a rotation mechanism to periodically rotate the IAM role's credentials for enhanced security.

You can see this too :- https://aws.amazon.com/it/blogs/compute/uploading-to-amazon-s3-directly-from-a-web-or-mobile-application/

Hope it clarifies and if does I would appreciate answer to be accepted so that community can benefit for clarity, thanks ;)

To upload files from an external server to an S3 storage in a secure and automated manner without hard-coding access keys, you can use AWS IAM roles and AWS SDKs or AWS CLI with instance metadata service. Here's a general approach:

1. Create an IAM Role: Create an IAM role in AWS IAM with permissions to upload files to the S3 bucket. Attach a policy to this role that grants the necessary permissions to access the S3 bucket.

2. Assign Role to EC2 Instance (Optional): If you're running your application on an EC2 instance, you can assign the IAM role you created to the instance. This allows the instance to assume the role and access AWS services securely without embedding access keys.

3. Use AWS SDK or AWS CLI with Instance Metadata Service: Within your application running on the external server, use AWS SDK (such as boto3 for Python) or AWS CLI to interact with S3. If your application is running on an EC2 instance with an assigned IAM role, it can automatically retrieve temporary security credentials from the instance metadata service when it makes requests to AWS services. This removes the need to store access keys within your application.

4. Secure the External Server: Ensure that the external server is properly secured to prevent unauthorized access. This includes using secure communication protocols (e.g., HTTPS), regularly updating software and libraries, and implementing strong authentication mechanisms.

5. Implement Encryption: Consider encrypting the files before uploading them to S3 for an extra layer of security. You can use server-side encryption with S3-managed keys (SSE-S3) or customer-managed keys (SSE-C).

6. Monitoring and Logging: Set up monitoring and logging to track file uploads and detect any suspicious activity. AWS CloudTrail can be used to monitor API activity, while AWS CloudWatch Logs can capture application logs for analysis.