Sharing a Folder

Scenarios

You can share your folders in OBS to other users.

Background Information

Folder sharing is temporary and has a validity period. You can temporarily share folders by access code or URL:

• By access code: Specify a six-digit access code before creating a sharing task. After the sharing task is created, OBS aggregates the download links of all objects in the folder to a static website that is hosted by a public OBS bucket. Then anyone who has the created temporary URL and access code can access the static website and download the shared files.
• By URL: Specify a validity period and then share the generated link with others. Anyone can use a signature to access all objects in the shared folder.

Limitations and Constraints

• A folder shared from OBS Console can be valid for one minute to 18 hours. If you need a longer validity period for a shared folder, use the client tool OBS Browser+ that allows a validity period of up to one year. If you want a shared folder permanently valid, use a bucket policy to grant anonymous users public read permissions on the folder by referring to Granting Public Read Permissions on Objects to Anonymous Users.
• The folder sharing function is restricted to a few regions only.
• Only buckets of version 3.0 or later support the folder sharing function. You can view the bucket version in the Basic Information area on the Overview page of a bucket.
• Archive objects in a folder must be restored in the bucket before they can be downloaded.

Procedure

1. In the navigation pane of OBS Console, choose Object Storage.
2. In the bucket list, click the bucket name you want. The Objects page is displayed.
3. Locate the folder you want to share and click Share in the Operation column. The Share Folder dialog box is displayed.
4. Share the folder by access code or URL.
5. Method 1: Share the folder by access code.
   Figure 1 Sharing by access code
   
   1. Choose Access code for Share By.
   2. Configure parameters.

      Table 1 Parameters for sharing a folder with an access code

      Parameter	Description
      URL Validity Period	The validity period is measured by minutes or hours, and ranges from one minute to 18 hours. The default value is five minutes. Within the URL validity period, anyone who has the URL can access the folder.
      Access Code	A six-digit code. An access code is required to access objects in the shared folder.

   3. Click Create Share to generate sharing URL of the folder.
   4. Send the URL and access code to others for them to access the folder.
   5. Verify that other users can perform the following operations:
      1. Access the shared folder in a browser.
         1. Open the shared URL in a web browser.
         2. In the dialog box that is displayed, enter the access code and access objects in the shared folder.
      2. Access the shared folder on OBS Browser+.
         1. Start OBS Browser+.
         2. On the login page, click Authorization Code Login.
         3. Enter the authorization code and access code.
         4. Click Log In to access the shared folder.

6. Method 2: Share the folder by URL.
   Figure 2 Sharing by URL
   
   1. Choose URL for Share By.
   2. Configure parameters.

      Table 2 Parameters for sharing a folder by URL

      Parameter	Description
      URL Validity Period	The validity period is measured by minutes or hours, and ranges from one minute to 18 hours. The default value is five minutes. Within the URL validity period, anyone who has the URL can access the folder.

   3. Send the link to others for them to access all objects in the folder using a signature. A link consists of the bucket domain name (prefix), object access path, and signature information (suffix), which is used to access all objects in the folder. You can add the access path of an object in the link to access the specified object in the folder.
   4. Verify that others can access all objects in the folder using a signature.
      1. Open the shared URL in a web browser.
      2. Enter the object access path after the prefix.
      3. Open the link to access objects in the folder.