@aws-cdk/aws-s3-assets

What is @aws-cdk/aws-s3-assets?

@aws-cdk/aws-s3-assets is an AWS CDK library that allows you to manage and deploy assets to Amazon S3. It simplifies the process of uploading files and directories to S3 and integrates seamlessly with other AWS CDK constructs.

What are @aws-cdk/aws-s3-assets's main functionalities?

Upload a File to S3

This feature allows you to upload a single file to an S3 bucket. The code sample demonstrates how to create a new asset from a file located at 'path/to/file.txt' and upload it to S3.

const s3assets = require('@aws-cdk/aws-s3-assets');
const cdk = require('@aws-cdk/core');

class MyStack extends cdk.Stack {
  constructor(scope, id, props) {
    super(scope, id, props);

    new s3assets.Asset(this, 'MyAsset', {
      path: 'path/to/file.txt'
    });
  }
}

const app = new cdk.App();
new MyStack(app, 'MyStack');

Upload a Directory to S3

This feature allows you to upload an entire directory to an S3 bucket. The code sample demonstrates how to create a new asset from a directory located at 'path/to/directory' and upload it to S3.

const s3assets = require('@aws-cdk/aws-s3-assets');
const cdk = require('@aws-cdk/core');

class MyStack extends cdk.Stack {
  constructor(scope, id, props) {
    super(scope, id, props);

    new s3assets.Asset(this, 'MyAsset', {
      path: 'path/to/directory'
    });
  }
}

const app = new cdk.App();
new MyStack(app, 'MyStack');

Grant Read Permissions

This feature allows you to grant read permissions to an IAM role for the uploaded asset. The code sample demonstrates how to create a new asset, an IAM role, and grant read permissions to the role for the asset.

const s3assets = require('@aws-cdk/aws-s3-assets');
const cdk = require('@aws-cdk/core');
const iam = require('@aws-cdk/aws-iam');

class MyStack extends cdk.Stack {
  constructor(scope, id, props) {
    super(scope, id, props);

    const asset = new s3assets.Asset(this, 'MyAsset', {
      path: 'path/to/file.txt'
    });

    const role = new iam.Role(this, 'MyRole', {
      assumedBy: new iam.ServicePrincipal('lambda.amazonaws.com')
    });

    asset.grantRead(role);
  }
}

const app = new cdk.App();
new MyStack(app, 'MyStack');

Other packages similar to @aws-cdk/aws-s3-assets

aws-sdk

The aws-sdk package is the official AWS SDK for JavaScript. It provides a comprehensive set of tools for interacting with AWS services, including S3. Unlike @aws-cdk/aws-s3-assets, which is focused on asset management within the AWS CDK framework, aws-sdk offers a broader range of functionalities for direct API interactions with AWS services.

s3-upload-stream

The s3-upload-stream package is a Node.js module that allows you to stream data directly to S3. It is useful for handling large files or data streams. While @aws-cdk/aws-s3-assets is designed for use within the AWS CDK framework and simplifies asset management, s3-upload-stream provides more granular control over the upload process.

s3-sync-client

The s3-sync-client package is a high-level client for synchronizing local files and directories with S3. It offers similar functionality to @aws-cdk/aws-s3-assets in terms of uploading files and directories, but it is not tied to the AWS CDK framework and can be used independently in any Node.js application.

README

AWS CDK Assets

---

The APIs of higher level constructs in this module are experimental and under active development. They are subject to non-backward compatible changes or removal in any future version. These are not subject to the Semantic Versioning model and breaking changes will be announced in the release notes. This means that while you may use them, you may need to update your source code when upgrading to a newer version of this package.

---

Assets are local files or directories which are needed by a CDK app. A common example is a directory which contains the handler code for a Lambda function, but assets can represent any artifact that is needed for the app's operation.

When deploying a CDK app that includes constructs with assets, the CDK toolkit will first upload all the assets to S3, and only then deploy the stacks. The S3 locations of the uploaded assets will be passed in as CloudFormation Parameters to the relevant stacks.

The following JavaScript example defines an directory asset which is archived as a .zip file and uploaded to S3 during deployment.

Example of a ZipDirectoryAsset

The following JavaScript example defines a file asset, which is uploaded as-is to an S3 bucket during deployment.

Example of a FileAsset

Attributes

Asset constructs expose the following deploy-time attributes:

• s3BucketName - the name of the assets S3 bucket.
• s3ObjectKey - the S3 object key of the asset file (whether it's a file or a zip archive)
• s3ObjectUrl - the S3 object URL of the asset (i.e. s3://mybucket/mykey.zip)
• httpUrl - the S3 HTTP URL of the asset (i.e. https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mybucket/mykey.zip)

In the following example, the various asset attributes are exported as stack outputs:

Example of referencing an asset

Permissions

IAM roles, users or groups which need to be able to read assets in runtime will should be granted IAM permissions. To do that use the asset.grantRead(principal) method:

The following examples grants an IAM group read permissions on an asset:

Example of granting read access to an asset

How does it work?

When an asset is defined in a construct, a construct metadata entry aws:cdk:asset is emitted with instructions on where to find the asset and what type of packaging to perform (zip or file). Furthermore, the synthesized CloudFormation template will also include two CloudFormation parameters: one for the asset's bucket and one for the asset S3 key. Those parameters are used to reference the deploy-time values of the asset (using { Ref: "Param" }).

Then, when the stack is deployed, the toolkit will package the asset (i.e. zip the directory), calculate an MD5 hash of the contents and will render an S3 key for this asset within the toolkit's asset store. If the file doesn't exist in the asset store, it is uploaded during deployment.

The toolkit's asset store is an S3 bucket created by the toolkit for each environment the toolkit operates in (environment = account + region).

Now, when the toolkit deploys the stack, it will set the relevant CloudFormation Parameters to point to the actual bucket and key for each asset.

CloudFormation Resource Metadata

NOTE: This section is relevant for authors of AWS Resource Constructs.

In certain situations, it is desirable for tools to be able to know that a certain CloudFormation resource is using a local asset. For example, SAM CLI can be used to invoke AWS Lambda functions locally for debugging purposes.

To enable such use cases, external tools will consult a set of metadata entries on AWS CloudFormation resources:

• aws:asset:path points to the local path of the asset.
• aws:asset:property is the name of the resource property where the asset is used

Using these two metadata entries, tools will be able to identify that assets are used by a certain resource, and enable advanced local experiences.

To add these metadata entries to a resource, use the asset.addResourceMetadata(resource, property) method.

See https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/issues/1432 for more details