Getting Started with the AWS SDK for Ruby¶ ↑

The AWS SDK for Ruby helps you to get started building applications using AWS infrastructure services, including Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Amazon SimpleDB, and more. This guide shows how you can start building Ruby and Rails applications on the Amazon Web Services platform with the AWS Ruby gem.

Get Set Up¶ ↑

To get set up, you must sign up for Amazon Web Services, get your AWS credentials, and set up your environment.

Sign Up for AWS Products¶ ↑

Before you can begin, you must sign up for each AWS product you want to use. The sample included in the SDK uses Amazon S3, so we’ll use that product as an example here.

To sign up for a product¶ ↑

1. Go to the home page for the product, for example aws.amazon.com/s3.

   Tip: Go to aws.amazon.com/products for a list of links to all our products.

2. Click the sign-up button on the top right corner of the page.

3. Follow the on-screen instructions. If you don’t already have an AWS account, you are prompted to create one as part of the sign-up process.

AWS sends you a confirmation e-mail after the sign-up process is complete. You can view your current account activity or manage your account at any time, by going to aws.amazon.com and clicking the Account tab.

Get Your Credentials¶ ↑

To use the AWS SDK for Ruby, you need your AWS Access Key ID and Secret Access Key.

To get your AWS Access Key ID and Secret Access Key¶ ↑

1. Go to aws.amazon.com.

2. Click Account and then click Security Credentials. The Security Credentials page displays (you might be prompted to log in).

3. Scroll down to Access Credentials and make sure the Access Keys tab is selected. The AWS Access Key ID appears in the Access Key column.

4. To view the Secret Access Key, click Show.

   Important! Your Secret Access Key is a secret, which only you and AWS should know. It is important to keep it confidential to protect your account. Store it securely in a safe place. Never include it in your requests to AWS, and never e-mail it to anyone. Do not share it outside your organization, even if an inquiry appears to come from AWS or Amazon.com. No one who legitimately represents Amazon will ever ask you for your Secret Access Key.

Set Up Your Environment¶ ↑

The AWS Ruby gem runs on Ruby 1.8.7 and later. If you have an older version of Ruby, RVM is a great way to get started using the latest version.

Install the SDK¶ ↑

To install the AWS Ruby gem, just enter:

gem install aws-sdk

Run the Samples¶ ↑

Now that you’ve installed the gem, you can run the samples, which you can find in our GitHub repository:

$ git clone git://github.com/amazonwebservices/aws-sdk-for-ruby.git
$ cd aws-sdk-for-ruby/samples/

The subdirectories of the samples directory contain several code samples that you can run. These samples demonstrate basic usage of the SDK features.

To run the Amazon S3 Sample¶ ↑

1. Create a file named config.yml in the samples directory as follows:

   # Fill in your AWS Access Key ID and Secret Access Key
   # http://aws.amazon.com/security-credentials
   access_key_id: REPLACE_WITH_ACCESS_KEY_ID
   secret_access_key: REPLACE_WITH_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

2. Run a sample script with the Ruby interpreter. For example, to run the s3/upload_file.rb sample:

   $ echo "Hello, World!" > helloworld.txt
   $ ruby s3/upload_file.rb unique-bucket-name helloworld.txt

To use the AWS ORM in a Rails 3 application¶ ↑

1. Install the gem:

   $ gem install aws-sdk

2. Start a new Rails project:

   $ gem install rails
   $ rails new myapp
   $ cd myapp/

3. Add the following line to your Gemfile:

   gem 'aws-sdk'
   

4. Install dependencies:

   $ bundle install

5. Create config/aws.yml as follows:

   # Fill in your AWS Access Key ID and Secret Access Key
   # http://aws.amazon.com/security-credentials
   access_key_id: REPLACE_WITH_ACCESS_KEY_ID
   secret_access_key: REPLACE_WITH_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

6. Create config/initializers/aws.rb as follows:

   # load the libraries
   require 'aws'
   # log requests using the default rails logger
   AWS.config(:logger => Rails.logger)
   # load credentials from a file
   config_path = File.expand_path(File.dirname(__FILE__)+"/../aws.yml")
   AWS.config(YAML.load(File.read(config_path)))
   

7. Create app/models/my_record.rb as follows:

   class MyRecord < AWS::Record::Base
     string_attr :name
   end
   

8. Create the SimpleDB domain:

   $ rails console
   > MyRecord.create_domain

Now, you can play around with the model by creating some records and querying them:

> MyRecord.find(:all).to_a
=> []
> MyRecord.new(:name => "The first one").save
=> true
> MyRecord.new(:name => "The second one").save
=> true
> MyRecord.where('name like ?', "%first%").count
=> 1

Exit the rails console before continuing to the next step:

> exit

1. Generate a scaffold controller for your model:

   $ rails generate scaffold_controller MyRecord name:string
   $ rails server

2. Add a route to your scaffold controller in config/routes.rb:

   Myapp::Application.routes.draw do
     # add this line:
     resources :my_records
   end
   

3. Now, you can create records in the browser at localhost:3000/my_records.

Where Do I Go from Here?¶ ↑

For more information about the AWS SDK for Ruby, including a complete list of supported AWS products, go to aws.amazon.com/sdkforruby.

The SDK reference documentation provides information about both the AWS Ruby gem and AWS Rails integration gem. You can find it at docs.amazonwebservices.com/AWSRubySDK/latest.

Licensed under Apache 2.0. See {file:LICENSE.txt} and {file:NOTICE.txt} files.