Amazon S3 File Hosting

Learn how to connect to your Reservoir Amazon S3 storage bucket. This allows you to stream large (over 30MB) audio and video files from Amazon S3.

NOTE: Make sure to contact Reservoir Support to get your External Bucket name before starting this process. You will need this information to connect to the correct bucket for uploading your media (audio and video) files.

Setup an Amazon Web Services Account

Setup an Amazon Web Services account at http://aws.amazon.com/s3/

1. Click the Sign Up Now button to sign up for a free Amazon Web Services Account
   • You can either use your existing Amazon account or you can create a new account
2. Enter your account info (you may be required to enter credit card information)
3. Finish creating the account

Once you have created your Amazon Web Services account, you will need to sign up for an Amazon S3 account (this will be under your Amazon Web Services account).

1. Under the Products tab is a Sign Up for S3 option. Click the link and create your S3 account (you may be required to enter credit card information if you did not do this above).
2. Follow the instructions to create your S3 account.

Notify us of the email account you used to create your Amazon S3 account (NOTE: This must be the email address you use to login to the Amazon S3 account - it will be used to set permissions to allow you to upload your files.)

• Send your Amazon S3 email address to: support@liquifusion.com

Uploading Files to Amazon S3

Uploading files to Amazon S3 is very easy - as long as you have the right tools for the job. We recommend you install CloudBerry Explorer for Amazon S3 on your workstation to managing your files at Amazon S3. CloudBerry offers both a FREE and Pro ($39.99) version of their software. You can use the FREE version to manage your files - you will be asked to update the software every 3 months, but it has all the features you will need to manage your files.

Installing CloudBerry Explorer for Amazon S3

1. Download CloudBerry S3 Explorer (FREE):
   http://www.cloudberrylab.com/default.aspx?page=cloudberry-explorer-amazon-s3
2. Click the Download link and save the file on your workstation.
3. Install CloudBerry S3 Explorer - Double-click the .exe file you just downloaded and follow the instructions to install the software.

Register Your Amazon S3 Account

1. Start CloudBerry S3 Explorer on your workstation
2. Select File | Amazon S3 Accounts
   
3. If you have already created an Amazon Web Services account, click the Add button to add the account information to Cloudberry.
4. Set Display name to something you can remember (i.e. Reservoir Media Files)
   
5. Provide your Access credentials (Access key and Secret key)
   1. Login to your Amazon S3 account to get the Access key and Secret key values.
   2. Go to: https://aws-portal.amazon.com/gp/aws/developer/account/index.html?ie=UTF8&action=access-key
   3. Enter your email address and password and login
   4. Copy the Access Key ID and paste that value into the Access key field in CloudBerry
   5. Click the Show link and then copy the Secret key and paste that value into the Secret key field in CloudBerry
      
6. Check the Use SSL checkbox
7. Click Test Connection to make sure you have entered the information correctly
   
8. Click the OK button to save your account information

You have now registered your Amazon Web Services account in CloudBerry. The next step is to setup a link to an External Bucket which is where your Reservoir media files will be stored.

Setup External Bucket (which Links to Your Reservoir Media Files)

1. Click on the green External Bucket icon on the right side of the screen.
   
2. Enter the name of the bucket that was provided to you by Reservoir Support (i.e. reservoir-siteabbreviation) and click Ok
   

If you have entered the correct bucket name, it should now be listed on the right side of the screen. You can now upload media files to your Reservoir Amazon S3 account.

Uploading Media Files (Audio and Video) to Your Reservoir S3 Bucket

1. Double-click on the External Bucket name on the right side of the screen to view the files that have been uploaded to the bucket.
2. Once you select the bucket, you can now upload files to the bucket to be displayed on your Reservoir membership site.
3. You can either upload files directly into the root folder of your bucket, or you can create folders to keep files organized within the bucket.

Uploading Files to Your Bucket

1. Locate the file you want to upload on your local computer by navigating the files and folders on the left side of the screen.
2. Highlight the file you want to upload (by clicking on the file)
3. Click the Copy button above the list of files to upload the file to your Bucket.
   
   IMPORTANT - Once you upload the file, you MUST give users permission to view the file. If you forget this step, the file will not play properly on the site.
    
4. Right click on the file you just uploaded (on the right side of the screen)
5. Select ACL > ACL Settings
6. Check the Read checkbox for All Users.
   

Creating a Folder in Your Bucket

1. Click the New Folder icon to add a new folder
   
2. Enter a folder name
   
   IMPORTANT - Once you create a folder, you MUST give users permission to access files within the folder. If you forget this step, users will NOT have access to files within the folder.
3. Right click on the folder you just uploaded (on the right side of the screen)
4. Select ACL > ACL Settings
5. Check the Read checkbox for All Users.

Accessing Your Files: Specifying a URL for Your Amazon S3 Files

You will reference your files with the following URL:
http://s3.amazonaws.com/[external-bucket-name]/[file-name]

IMPORTANT - URLs are CASE SENSITIVE. If you use capital letters in your file or folder name, you must use the same capitalization in your URL.

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