Day 89 - Mounting AWS S3 Bucket on Amazon EC2 Linux Using S3FS

Introduction

The integration of Amazon Web Services (AWS) S3 (Simple Storage Service) with Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) is a powerful combination that allows for efficient storage and retrieval of data in the cloud. This mini project focuses on guiding users through the process of mounting an AWS S3 bucket on an Amazon EC2 Linux instance using S3FS (Simple Storage Service File System). Throughout this project, participants will gain hands-on experience with AWS, S3, EC2, and S3FS, while also learning how to create IAM users and set policies for project resources.

Task 1: Creating IAM User and Setting Policies

1.1 Creating IAM User

The first step in our project is to create an IAM (Identity and Access Management) user that will have the necessary permissions to interact with AWS resources. Follow these steps:

1. Log in to the AWS Management Console.
2. Navigate to the IAM dashboard.
3. Select "Users" from the left-hand navigation pane.
4. Click on the "Add user" button.
5. Provide a username and select "Programmatic access" for access type.
6. Set permissions by attaching policies. For this project, you can use the predefined policies like "AmazonS3FullAccess" or create custom policies according to your project requirements.

1.2 AWS CLI Usage for IAM User

Utilize the AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) to manage IAM users. Ensure that you have the AWS CLI installed on your local machine.

To configure the AWS CLI with the newly created IAM user, use the following command:

aws configure        

Enter the access key, secret key, region, and output format when prompted. This information will be used by the AWS CLI for authentication and configuration.

Task 2: Mounting S3 Bucket on EC2 Linux Using S3FS

2.1 Installing S3FS on EC2 Instance

Connect to your EC2 instance using SSH and install S3FS. Use the package manager appropriate for your Linux distribution. For example, on a Debian-based system:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install s3fs        

2.2 Configuring S3FS

Create a file containing AWS credentials for S3FS. Replace ACCESS_KEY and SECRET_KEY with your IAM user's access key and secret key.

echo ACCESS_KEY:SECRET_KEY > ~/.passwd-s3fs
chmod 600 ~/.passwd-s3fs        

2.3 Mounting S3 Bucket

Now, you can mount your S3 bucket to a directory on your EC2 instance using the following command:

sudo s3fs bucket-name /path/to/mount/point -o passwd_file=~/.passwd-s3fs -o url=https://s3.amazonaws.com        

Replace bucket-name with the name of your S3 bucket and /path/to/mount/point with the desired local directory.

Conclusion

By completing this mini project, participants will have acquired practical knowledge in setting up IAM users, managing policies, and mounting an S3 bucket on an EC2 Linux instance using S3FS. This hands-on experience with AWS services will contribute to a better understanding of cloud computing, storage, and infrastructure management. The skills gained in this project are valuable for individuals looking to enhance their expertise in AWS and cloud technologies.

I'm confident that this article will prove to be valuable, helping you discover new insights and learn something enriching .

thank you : )