Google Cloud Storage (GCS)

Files.com's integration with Google Cloud Storage (GCS) allows you to integrate with files on a Google Cloud Storage bucket in several different ways.

Files.com's Remote Server Mount feature gives you the ability connect a specific folder on Files.com to the remote server in a real time manner.

That folder then becomes a client, or window, accessing the files stored in your remote server or cloud.

Once you configure a Mount, any operation you perform on or inside that folder will act directly on the remote in real time. Whether you are dropping a file into that folder, deleting a file, creating a subfolder, or performing any other file/folder operations your Files.com user has permissions for, those operations will "pass through" to the remote in real time.

This powerful feature enables a wide variety of use cases such as accessing files on a counterparty (client or vendor)'s cloud without provisioning individual access to individual users, reducing storage costs by leveraging on-premise or bulk storage solutions, enabling applications to access 3rd party clouds via Files.com API, FTP, SFTP, or Files.com Apps and many more.

Alternatively, Files.com's Remote Server Sync feature give you the ability to push or pull files to or from remote servers. This means that the files will exist in both places at the end of the sync process.

A remote sync can be a "push", where files from your Files.com site are transferred to the remote server, a "pull" where files are transferred from the remote server to your Files.com site, or a two-way "sync" where files that are new or changed in either location are pushed and pulled to maintain a synchronized state between the folder on your Files.com site and that on the remote server.

Type Remote servers in the search box at the top of every page, and then click on the matching result. Click the Add new remote server button and select Google Cloud Storage.

The Access Key you are using must have the following permissions granted to it on the Google side for the appropriate bucket:

resourcemanager.projects.get
storage.buckets.get
storage.buckets.getIamPolicy
storage.buckets.list
storage.buckets.update
storage.objects.create
storage.objects.delete
storage.objects.get
storage.objects.getIamPolicy
storage.objects.list
storage.objects.update

If your site has dedicated IP addresses, you may choose whether the Files.com platform will use those dedicated IP addresses to interact with the remote server. You may wish to enable this for simplifying networking rules in the remote system. If you do not have dedicated IP addresses, or you disable this option, then connections to the remote server may be made using any of Files.com's available IP Addresses.

Once your Remote Server is added, you can integrate it to Files.com as either a Remote Server Mount or Remote Server Sync.

Remote Server Mounts are created by mounting them onto an empty folder in Files.com. This folder should ideally not be the Root of your site, although that is supported if you need it.

From the Files icon on the left, navigate to the location where you want the mounted folder to be and create a new folder. Navigate into the newly created folder and click the Folder Settings button on the top right.

Select Remote Server Mount from the list and click Add new remote server mount button. Select the remote server.

Choose the Remote folder, which is the portion of the remote file system that will be mounted into this folder on Files.com. You can either by leave the default "/" (i.e., the remote server's root directory) or click on Choose a different folder link and navigate to the remote folder you want to this folder to connect to.

Click the Save button. The folder will reload and immediately list the remote folders/files from the selected remote path.

If you instead prefer to do a Sync with the remote, follow these directions.

From Files, navigate into the folder where you would like to add the remote server sync and click Folder settings > Sync to/from remote server.

Click the Add new remote server sync button to reveal the form.

Select the server you would like to transfer to or from by clicking on the Remote server menu.

Next choose your Sync direction. You have three choices:

1. Push to the remote server: This option uploads files and folders from your designated folder in your Files.com site to the remote server.
2. Pull from the remote server: This option downloads files from the remote server and saves them in your designated folder in your Files.com site.
3. Two-way sync: this option checks for new files, deleted files, and changed modification dates on both servers and then pushes and pulls as needed to keep the folders synchronized on both servers.

You have the option to delete files on the source server after a push or pull. Use the After copying menu to select whether you would like files that are successfully transferred to be deleted from or kept on the source server.

Enter the remote path to or from which you would like files and folders transferred, starting after the folder/directory your remote user lands in upon authentication.

For example: if the remote server has a folder structure folderA/folderB/folderC, and the user credentials that you have configured your sync server to log in with automatically land that user inside folderA, then to properly configure your sync folder behavior to transfer files to or from folderC, you would enter the path as folderB/folderC.

Be aware of case sensitivity differences when copying, moving, or syncing files and folders between Google Cloud Storage and other storage locations. Google Cloud Storage is a case sensitive system whereas other systems may not be. This can cause files to be overwritten, and folders to have their contents merged, if their case insensitive names are a match.

Certain remotes that use OAuth for authentication may require regular rotation of your credentials. When this is needed, you will see an alert in the top left of the web interface. You can click the link in that alert to re-authenticate and re-establish the connection to the remote.