monica/docs/installation/storage.md

External storage

• Configure an external storage
• Add an external storage
  • 1. Create AWS S3 storage
  • 2. Create a user
  • 3. Set environment variables
  • (Optional) Use another S3 provider
  • Move avatars to S3 storage

Some times you want to add an external storage for your avatars, photos, or documents.

This is useful in particular if you install Monica on a stateless volatile instance, like Heroku, Platform.sh, etc.

We currently only support AWS S3 driver as external storage.

Configure an external storage

You need to define at least these environment variables:

DEFAULT_FILESYSTEM=s3
AWS_BUCKET=
AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=

See below for more details about each environment variable.

Add an external storage

1. Create AWS S3 storage

1. Go to the S3 console
2. Add a new bucket
3. Save the name and location of the bucket in AWS_BUCKET and AWS_DEFAULT_REGION variables

AWS_BUCKET=my-bucket
AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=eu-west-3

You can also use AWS CLI to create the bucket:

aws s3 mb s3://my-bucket

2. Create a user

1. Create a new user via the console.

2. Add the strategy for S3 access, for instance AmazonS3FullAccess is a good choice:

   • add the user to a group with the right strategy
   • or attach the strategy directly.

3. Save credentials of the user in AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY variables

AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=AKXA3E2NYF7NPDJVQSOU
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=aASalDme6wB8kGC7Xla6K3pI+FiFylpCVnGCmdnD

You can also use AWS CLI to set credentials:

aws iam create-user --user-name user-monica-test
aws iam attach-user-policy --user-name user-monica-test --policy-arn arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AmazonS3FullAccess
aws iam create-access-key --user-name user-monica-test

Output:

{
    "AccessKey": {
        "UserName": "user-monica-test",
        "AccessKeyId": "AKIAXE2N0F6NIMZXLCGB",
        "Status": "Active",
        "SecretAccessKey": "Lh5ValIoe9xlfrhkpqiZOub1TFFo4qn1sAdFvlOM",
        "CreateDate": "2020-04-12T11:35:06+00:00"
    }
}

Then save AccessKeyId and SecretAccessKey in AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY variables.

3. Set environment variables

Set the DEFAULT_FILESYSTEM variable to use S3 storage:

DEFAULT_FILESYSTEM=s3

(Optional) Use another S3 provider

AWS_ENDPOINT variable can be used to define a S3-compatible provider other than Amazon, like Digitalocean, Scaleway or Minio. example: AWS_ENDPOINT=nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com

Move avatars to S3 storage

If you previously used local storage and want to move all avatars to a new S3 storage, use monica:moveavatars command once to move all files:

php artisan monica:moveavatars