Presigned URLs

A user who does not have AWS credentials or permission to access an S3 object can be granted temporary access by using a presigned URL.

A presigned URL is generated by an AWS user who has access to the object. The generated URL is then given to the unauthorized user. The presigned URL can be entered in a browser or used by a program or HTML webpage. The credentials used by the presigned URL are those of the AWS user who generated the URL.

A presigned URL remains valid for a limited period of time which is specified when the URL is generated.

import logging
import boto3
from botocore.exceptions import ClientError


def create_presigned_url(bucket_name, object_name, expiration=3600):
    """Generate a presigned URL to share an S3 object

    :param bucket_name: string
    :param object_name: string
    :param expiration: Time in seconds for the presigned URL to remain valid
    :return: Presigned URL as string. If error, returns None.
    """

    # Generate a presigned URL for the S3 object
    s3_client = boto3.client('s3')
    try:
        response = s3_client.generate_presigned_url('get_object',
                                                    Params={'Bucket': bucket_name,
                                                            'Key': object_name},
                                                    ExpiresIn=expiration)
    except ClientError as e:
        logging.error(e)
        return None

    # The response contains the presigned URL
    return response

The user can download the S3 object by entering the presigned URL in a browser. A program or HTML page can download the S3 object by using the presigned URL as part of an HTTP GET request.

The following code demonstrates using the Python requests package to perform a GET request.

import requests    # To install: pip install requests

url = create_presigned_url('amzn-s3-demo-bucket', 'OBJECT_NAME')
if url is not None:
    response = requests.get(url)

Using presigned URLs to perform other S3 operations

The main purpose of presigned URLs is to grant a user temporary access to an S3 object. However, presigned URLs can be used to grant permission to perform additional operations on S3 buckets and objects.

The create_presigned_url_expanded method shown below generates a presigned URL to perform a specified S3 operation. The method accepts the name of the S3 Client method to perform, such as ‘list_buckets’ or ‘get_bucket_location.’ The parameters to pass to the method are specified in the method_parameters dictionary argument. The HTTP method to use (GET, PUT, etc.) can be specified, but the AWS SDK for Python will automatically select the appropriate method so this argument is not normally required.

import logging
import boto3
from botocore.exceptions import ClientError


def create_presigned_url_expanded(client_method_name, method_parameters=None,
                                  expiration=3600, http_method=None):
    """Generate a presigned URL to invoke an S3.Client method

    Not all the client methods provided in the AWS Python SDK are supported.

    :param client_method_name: Name of the S3.Client method, e.g., 'list_buckets'
    :param method_parameters: Dictionary of parameters to send to the method
    :param expiration: Time in seconds for the presigned URL to remain valid
    :param http_method: HTTP method to use (GET, etc.)
    :return: Presigned URL as string. If error, returns None.
    """

    # Generate a presigned URL for the S3 client method
    s3_client = boto3.client('s3')
    try:
        response = s3_client.generate_presigned_url(ClientMethod=client_method_name,
                                                    Params=method_parameters,
                                                    ExpiresIn=expiration,
                                                    HttpMethod=http_method)
    except ClientError as e:
        logging.error(e)
        return None

    # The response contains the presigned URL
    return response

Generating a presigned URL to upload a file

A user who does not have AWS credentials to upload a file can use a presigned URL to perform the upload. The upload operation makes an HTTP POST request and requires additional parameters to be sent as part of the request.

import logging
import boto3
from botocore.exceptions import ClientError


def create_presigned_post(bucket_name, object_name,
                          fields=None, conditions=None, expiration=3600):
    """Generate a presigned URL S3 POST request to upload a file

    :param bucket_name: string
    :param object_name: string
    :param fields: Dictionary of prefilled form fields
    :param conditions: List of conditions to include in the policy
    :param expiration: Time in seconds for the presigned URL to remain valid
    :return: Dictionary with the following keys:
        url: URL to post to
        fields: Dictionary of form fields and values to submit with the POST
    :return: None if error.
    """

    # Generate a presigned S3 POST URL
    s3_client = boto3.client('s3')
    try:
        response = s3_client.generate_presigned_post(bucket_name,
                                                     object_name,
                                                     Fields=fields,
                                                     Conditions=conditions,
                                                     ExpiresIn=expiration)
    except ClientError as e:
        logging.error(e)
        return None

    # The response contains the presigned URL and required fields
    return response

The generated presigned URL includes both a URL and additional fields that must be passed as part of the subsequent HTTP POST request.

The following code demonstrates how to use the requests package with a presigned POST URL to perform a POST request to upload a file to S3.

import requests    # To install: pip install requests

# Generate a presigned S3 POST URL
object_name = 'OBJECT_NAME'
response = create_presigned_post('amzn-s3-demo-bucket', object_name)
if response is None:
    exit(1)

# Demonstrate how another Python program can use the presigned URL to upload a file
with open(object_name, 'rb') as f:
    files = {'file': (object_name, f)}
    http_response = requests.post(response['url'], data=response['fields'], files=files)
# If successful, returns HTTP status code 204
logging.info(f'File upload HTTP status code: {http_response.status_code}')

The presigned POST URL and fields values can also be used in an HTML page.

<html>
  <head>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
  </head>
  <body>
    <!-- Copy the 'url' value returned by S3Client.generate_presigned_post() -->
    <form action="URL_VALUE" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
      <!-- Copy the 'fields' key:values returned by S3Client.generate_presigned_post() -->
      <input type="hidden" name="key" value="VALUE" />
      <input type="hidden" name="AWSAccessKeyId" value="VALUE" />
      <input type="hidden" name="policy" value="VALUE" />
      <input type="hidden" name="signature" value="VALUE" />
    File:
      <input type="file"   name="file" /> <br />
      <input type="submit" name="submit" value="Upload to Amazon S3" />
    </form>
  </body>
</html>