Sharing a Folder

Scenarios

You can share your folders in OBS with others.

Folder can be shared temporarily or permanently.

Background Information

Temporary sharing:
Share a folder to other users through the temporary URL of the file. Folder sharing is temporary. All sharing URLs are only valid for a limited period of time.

Folders can be temporarily shared by access code or URL:

Sharing by access code

You need to prepare a six-digit extraction code before sharing a folder. 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.
A temporary URL consists of the access domain name and the temporary authentication information of a folder. Example:
```
https://e-share.obs-website.ap-southeast-1.myhuaweicloud.com:443/image.png?token=xxx
```
For details about the temporary authentication method and parameters, see Authentication of Signature in a URL in the Object Storage Service API Reference.

Sharing by URL

You can 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.

A temporary URL for accessing an object in a folder consists of a bucket domain name (prefix), an object path, and signature information (suffix).
Permanent sharing:
If you set the permission for an object to allow anonymous users to read it, anonymous users can access the object through the URL that you shared. For details about how to configure permissions, see Granting Public Read Permissions on Objects to Anonymous Users.

For details about how to obtain the object access URL, see How Do I Obtain the Access Path to an Object?

If access to an object using the URL fails, fix the problem by referring to Why Can't I Access an Object Through Its URL?

Limitations and Constraints

The following table describes the URL validity period of the folders that are temporarily shared in different ways.

Way	URL Validity Period
OBS Console	The URL is valid for 1 minute to 18 hours. After an object is shared, the system will generate a URL that contains the temporary authentication information, valid for five minutes since its generation by default. Each time you change the validity period of a URL, OBS obtains the authentication information again to generate a new URL for sharing. The new URL becomes valid at the moment the validity period is changed. If you need a longer validity period, use OBS Browser+ that allows a validity period of up to one year to share the object. If you want a shared object to be permanently valid, use a bucket policy to grant anonymous users the public read permission for the folder.
API	Configure parameter Expires to specify when a temporary authorization expires. The temporary authorization expires in 24 hours.
OBS Browser+	When you log in to OBS Browser+ using an account and password, a shared URL can be valid for 24 hours at most. The default validity period is 10 hours. If a longer validity period is required, use the permanent AK/SK for login.
obsutil	Use the additional parameter vp to specify how long an authorization code is valid. The default validity period is one day. The allowed units include m (months), w (weeks), d (days), h (hours), min (minutes), and s (seconds). If no time unit is specified, the value is calculated in seconds.

Folder sharing is restricted to a few regions only. For details about the supported regions, see Function Overview.
Only buckets of version 3.0 support folder sharing. For details about how to query the bucket version, see Checking OBS Version (OBS 2.0 or OBS 3.0).
Archive objects in a folder must be restored in the bucket before they can be downloaded.
Deep Archive objects in a folder must be restored in the bucket before they can be downloaded.

Ways to Share a Folder

You can use OBS Console, OBS Browser+, or obsutil to share a folder.

Using OBS Console

In the navigation pane of OBS Console, choose Object Storage.
In the bucket list, click the bucket you want to operate. The Objects page is displayed.
Locate the folder you want to share and click Share in the Operation column. The Share Folder dialog box is displayed.
Share the folder by access code or URL.

Method 1: Share the folder by access code.

Figure 1 Sharing a folder

Choose Access code for Share By.

Configure parameters.

**Table 1** Parameters for sharing a folder with an access code
Parameter	Description
URL Validity Period	A validity period is 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.

Click Create Share to generate sharing URL of the folder.
Send the URL and access code to others for them to access the folder.

Verify that other users can perform the following operations:

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.

Access the shared folder on OBS Browser+.

Start OBS Browser+.
On the login page, click Authorization Code Login.
Enter the authorization code and access code.
Click Log In to access the shared folder.

Method 2: Share the folder by URL.

Figure 2 Sharing by URL

Choose URL for Share By.

Configure parameters.

**Table 2** Parameters for sharing a folder by URL
Parameter	Description
URL Validity Period	A validity period is 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.

Click Copy Link and share the link with another user. The user then can use this link to access all objects in this folder. The sharing link consists of the bucket domain name (prefix) and signature information (suffix). Users can add an object path after the prefix of a sharing link to access or download the specified object in a folder, as shown in Figure 3.
Verify that a user can use the sharing link to access all objects in the folder.
1. Open a browser.
2. Enter the sharing link in the address box and press Enter to list all objects in the folder.
3. Copy the object path and paste it after the prefix.
4. Press Enter. You can then access and download the specified object.
Figure 3 Accessing an object with a sharing link

Using the GUI Tool - OBS Browser+

Log in to OBS Browser+.
Locate the object you want to share and click next to the object. The window shown in Figure 4 or Figure 5 is displayed.

Figure 4 Sharing a file

Figure 5 Sharing a folder
Click Copy Link to copy the object link to a browser and open it. Then you can access the object.

To allow anonymous users to access Archive objects using URLs, ensure that these objects are in the Restored state.

Using the CLI Tool - obsutil

You can use obsutil to specify the bucket name, object name prefix, and access code to create an authorization code for directory sharing.

Command Line Structure

In Windows

obsutil create-share obs://bucket[/prefix] [-ac=xxx] [-vp=xxx] [-dst=xxx] [-config=xxx] [-e=xxx] [-i=xxx] [-k=xxx] [-t=xxx]

In Linux or macOS

./obsutil create-share obs://bucket[/prefix] [-ac=xxx] [-vp=xxx] [-dst=xxx] [-config=xxx] [-e=xxx] [-i=xxx] [-k=xxx] [-t=xxx]

Examples

In Windows, you can run the obsutil create-share obs://bucket/test/ -ac=123456 -vp=1m command to create an authorization code that is valid within one month.

obsutil create-share obs://bucket/test/ -ac=123456 -vp=1m

Authorization Code:
token=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Access Code:
123456

Valid Until:
Sat, 26 Oct 2019 11:28:10 GMT +8000

Parameter Description

Parameter	Optional or Mandatory	Description
bucket	Mandatory	Name of a bucket
prefix	Optional	Prefix of an object name. If this parameter is specified, objects starting with this prefix are shared. If this parameter is left blank, all objects in the bucket are shared. NOTE: It is recommended that the value end with a slash (/).
ac	Optional (additional parameter)	Access code. NOTE: If no access code is passed using this parameter, obsutil tool prompts you to enter the access code in interactive mode. An access code is a six-digit string.
vp	Optional (additional parameter)	Validity period of an authorization code. The default value is one day, indicating that the generated authorization code is valid for only one day. NOTE: This parameter supports different time units, including: m (month), w (week), d (day), h (hour), min (minute), and s (second). For example, 1d indicates that the authorization code is valid within one day, 2w indicates that the code is valid within two weeks, and 3h indicates that the code is valid within three hours. The default time unit is s (second), for example, 3600 indicates that the authorization code is valid within 3600 seconds.
dst	Optional (additional parameter)	Path for storing the generated authorization code.
config	Optional (additional parameter)	User-defined configuration file for executing the current command. To learn the parameters that can be configured in this file, see Configuration Parameters.
e	Optional (additional parameter)	Specifies the endpoint.
i	Optional (additional parameter)	Specifies the user's AK.
k	Optional (additional parameter)	Specifies the user's SK.
t	Optional (additional parameter)	Specifies the user's security token.