Cloud Storage for Firebase lets you upload and share user generated content, such
as images and video, which allows you to build rich media content into your
apps. Your data is stored in a
Google Cloud Storage
bucket ? an
exabyte scale object storage solution with high availability and global
redundancy. Cloud Storage for Firebase lets you securely upload these files
directly from mobile devices and web browsers, handling spotty networks with
ease.
Before you begin
Before you can use
Cloud Storage
,
you need to:
Register your C++ project and configure it to use Firebase.
If your C++ project already uses Firebase, then it's already registered and
configured for Firebase.
Add the
Firebase C++ SDK
to your C++ project.
Note that adding Firebase to your C++ project involves tasks both in the
Firebase console
and in your open C++ project (for example, you download
Firebase config files from the console, then move them into your C++ project).
Create a default Cloud Storage bucket
From the navigation pane of the
Firebase console
, select
Storage
,
then click
Get started
.
Review the messaging about securing your Cloud Storage data using security
rules. During development, consider
setting up your rules for public access
.
Select a
location
for your default
Cloud Storage bucket.
This location setting is your project's
default Google Cloud Platform (GCP) resource location
.
Note that this location will be used for GCP services in your project
that require a location setting, specifically, your
Cloud Firestore
database and your
App Engine
app
(which is required if you use Cloud Scheduler).
If you aren't able to select a location, then your project already
has a default GCP resource location. It was set either during project
creation or when setting up another service that requires a location
setting.
If you're on the Blaze plan, you can
create multiple buckets
, each with its own
location
.
Click
Done
.
Set up public access
Cloud Storage for Firebase provides a declarative rules language that allows you
to define how your data should be structured, how it should be indexed, and when
your data can be read from and written to. By default, read and write access to
Cloud Storage is restricted so only authenticated users can read or write
data. To get started without setting up
Authentication
, you can
configure your rules for public access
.
This does make Cloud Storage open to anyone, even people not using your
app, so be sure to restrict your Cloud Storage again when you set up
authentication.
Create and initialize
firebase::App
Before you can access Cloud Storage, you'll need to create and initialize
the
firebase::App
.
Include the header file for
firebase::App
:
#include "firebase/app.h"
Android
Create the
firebase::App
, passing the JNI environment and a
jobject
reference to the Java Activity as arguments:
app = App::Create(AppOptions(), jni_env, activity);
iOS+
Create the
firebase::App
:
app = App::Create(AppOptions());
Access the
firebase::storage::Storage
class
The
firebase::storage::Storage
class is the entry point for the Cloud Storage C++ SDK.
Storage* storage = Storage::GetInstance(app);
You're ready to start using Cloud Storage!
First, let's learn how to
create a Cloud Storage
reference
.
Advanced setup
There are a few use cases that require additional setup:
The first use case is perfect if you have users across the world, and want to
store their data near them. For instance, you can create buckets in the US,
Europe, and Asia to store data for users in those regions to reduce latency.
The second use case is helpful if you have data with different access patterns.
For instance: you can set up a multi-regional or regional bucket that stores
pictures or other frequently accessed content, and a nearline or coldline bucket
that stores user backups or other infrequently accessed content.
In either of these use cases, you'll want to
use multiple Cloud Storage buckets
.
The third use case is useful if you're building an app, like Google Drive, which
lets users have multiple logged in accounts (for instance, a personal account
and a work account). You can
use a custom Firebase App
instance to authenticate each additional account.
Use multiple Cloud Storage buckets
If you want to use a Cloud Storage bucket other than the default provided above,
or use multiple Cloud Storage buckets in a single app, you can create an instance
of
firebase::storage::Storage
that references your custom bucket:
// Get a non-default Cloud Storage bucket
Storage* storage = Storage::GetInstance("gs://my-custom-bucket");
Working with imported buckets
When importing an existing Cloud Storage bucket into Firebase, you'll
have to grant Firebase the ability to access these files using the
gsutil
tool, included in the
Google Cloud SDK
:
gsutil -m acl ch -r -u service-<project number>@gcp-sa-firebasestorage.iam.gserviceaccount.com gs://<your-cloud-storage-bucket>
You can find your project number as described in the
introduction to
Firebase projects
.
This does not affect newly created buckets, as those have the default access
control set to allow Firebase. This is a temporary measure, and will be
performed automatically in the future.
Use a custom Firebase App
If you're building a more complicated app using a custom
firebase::App
, you
can create an instance of
firebase::storage::Storage
initialized with that
app:
// Get the default bucket from a custom firebase::App
Storage* storage = Storage::GetInstance(customApp);
// Get a non-default bucket from a custom firebase::App
Storage* storage = Storage::GetInstance(customApp, "gs://my-custom-bucket");
Next steps