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How to Update Files on Amazon's CloudFront CDN: A Step-by-Step Guide

As a data scientist or software engineer, you might find yourself needing to update files on Amazon’s CloudFront Content Delivery Network (CDN). Whether you’re distributing data globally, updating your application, or refreshing static content, knowing how to manage your files is paramount. In this post, we’ll guide you through the process step-by-step.
By Saturn Cloud | | Miscellaneous

How to Update Files on Amazon’s CloudFront CDN: A Step-by-Step Guide

As a data scientist or software engineer, you might find yourself needing to update files on Amazon’s CloudFront Content Delivery Network (CDN). Whether you’re distributing data globally, updating your application, or refreshing static content, knowing how to manage your files is paramount. In this post, we’ll guide you through the process step-by-step.

What is Amazon CloudFront?

Amazon CloudFront is a fast content delivery network (CDN) service that securely delivers data, videos, applications, and APIs to customers globally with low latency and high transfer speeds. CloudFront is integrated with AWS – both physical locations that are directly connected to the AWS global infrastructure, as well as other AWS services.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, ensure you have the following:

  • An AWS account.
  • An Amazon S3 bucket with the files you wish to distribute.
  • AWS CLI installed and configured on your local machine.

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Create a CloudFront Distribution

First, navigate to the AWS Management Console and open the CloudFront service. Click on ‘Create Distribution’, then ‘Web’. Select your S3 bucket from the ‘Origin Domain Name’ dropdown. Leave the rest as default, and click ‘Create Distribution’.

Step 2: Upload or Update Files in the S3 Bucket

To update files, you need to upload the new version to your S3 bucket. You can do this via the AWS Management Console, AWS CLI, or SDKs. For example, using the AWS CLI, the command would be:

aws s3 cp /path/to/your/file s3://your-bucket-name

Step 3: Invalidate Old Files

After updating the file in your S3 bucket, CloudFront continues serving the old file until it expires based on the ‘Minimum TTL’ setting. To force CloudFront to serve the updated file immediately, create an invalidation.

To do this, go back to the CloudFront service in the AWS Management Console. Select your distribution, then the ‘Invalidations’ tab. Click ‘Create Invalidation’, enter the paths of the files to invalidate, and click ‘Invalidate’.

/*

This command invalidates all files, forcing CloudFront to immediately fetch the updated versions from the S3 bucket.

Conclusion

Updating files on Amazon’s CloudFront CDN may seem daunting, but it’s straightforward once you understand the process. By creating a distribution, uploading new files to your S3 bucket, and invalidating old files, you ensure your data is up-to-date and served efficiently to users worldwide.

Remember, keeping your data and applications updated is crucial for providing the best user experience. So, get updating, and keep your content fresh!

title: “How to Update Files on Amazon’s CloudFront CDN: A Step-by-Step Guide” description: “Learn how to update files on Amazon’s CloudFront CDN with our comprehensive guide. Ideal for data scientists and software engineers.” keywords: “Amazon CloudFront, CDN, update files, AWS, data science, software engineering”

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