S3 Overview

How it works#

The S3 connector pulls in all documents from the specified Amazon S3 bucket. It supports various file formats including PDF, DOC, DOCX, TXT, and more.

Documents are updated every 1 day.

Setting up#

Authorization#

We support three authorization methods, pick one that fits your environment:

• AWS Access Keys - Uses traditional access key credentials

• IAM Role-Based Authorization - Uses AWS IAM roles for secure access

• Assume Role - Automatically uses the EC2 instance's attached role for S3 access

Indexing#

Once you've set up your authorization method, follow these steps to index your S3 bucket:

Open S3 connector#

Navigate to the Nexus Admin Panel and select the S3 Connector.

Configure authorization#

In Step 1, configure your authorization:

• If you have existing credentials, select them from the list

• If you don't have existing credentials, click Create New to add new authorization:

• Access Keys: Enter your AWS Access Key ID and Secret Access Key

• IAM Role: Click the IAM Role tab and enter your Role ARN

• Assume Role: Click the Assume Role tab (no credentials required)

Save configuration#

Click Create to save your configuration.

Continue with selected credential#

Ensure your chosen credential is selected, then click Continue

Specify bucket details#

In Step 2, specify your S3 bucket details:

• Connector Name: Enter a name for the connector (e.g., "MyS3Connector")

• Bucket Name: Specify the name of the S3 bucket you want to index

• Prefix (Optional): Provide a prefix to limit indexing to a specific folder or path

• Access Type: Choose whether documents are Public or Private

Create connector#

Click Create Connector to begin indexing.

The connector will start indexing your S3 bucket and you can add more buckets or modify settings as needed.

Understanding S3 Structure#

Amazon S3 organizes data into buckets. Each bucket can contain an unlimited number of objects (files). You can think of a bucket as a root directory, and the objects as files within that directory.

For more information on S3 structure, visit the Amazon S3 documentation.

Before using this source with students#

Start with approved course material. Check which documents the connector can retrieve and how it maps source permissions. Test with a student account and a teacher account before widening access. A successful sync does not prove that the intended class boundary is correct.

Use source troubleshooting when a document is missing or visible to the wrong audience.