Upload a binary file to S3 using AWS SDK for Node.js

Update: For future reference, Amazon have now updated the documentation from what was there at time of asking. As per @Loren Segal's comment below:-

> We've corrected the docs in the latest preview release to document this parameter properly. Sorry about the mixup!

---

I'm trying out the developer preview of the AWS SDK for Node.Js and want to upload a zipped tarball to S3 using putObject.

According to the documentation, the Body parameter should be...

> Body - (Base64 Encoded Data)

...therefore, I'm trying out the following code...

var AWS = require('aws-sdk'),
    fs = require('fs');

// For dev purposes only
AWS.config.update({ accessKeyId: 'key', secretAccessKey: 'secret' });

// Read in the file, convert it to base64, store to S3
fs.readFile('myarchive.tgz', function (err, data) {
  if (err) { throw err; }

  var base64data = new Buffer(data, 'binary').toString('base64');

  var s3 = new AWS.S3();
  s3.client.putObject({
    Bucket: 'mybucketname',
    Key: 'myarchive.tgz',
    Body: base64data
  }).done(function (resp) {
    console.log('Successfully uploaded package.');
  });
  
});

Whilst I can then see the file in S3, if I download it and attempt to decompress it I get an error that the file is corrupted. Therefore it seems that my method for 'base64 encoded data' is off.

Can someone please help me to upload a binary file using putObject?

You don't need to convert the buffer to a base64 string. Just set body to data and it will work.

Here is a way to send a file using streams, which might be necessary for large files and will generally reduce memory overhead:

var AWS = require('aws-sdk'),
    fs = require('fs');

// For dev purposes only
AWS.config.update({ accessKeyId: 'key', secretAccessKey: 'secret' });

// Read in the file, convert it to base64, store to S3
var fileStream = fs.createReadStream('myarchive.tgz');
fileStream.on('error', function (err) {
  if (err) { throw err; }
});  
fileStream.on('open', function () {
  var s3 = new AWS.S3();
  s3.putObject({
    Bucket: 'mybucketname',
    Key: 'myarchive.tgz',
    Body: fileStream
  }, function (err) {
    if (err) { throw err; }
  });
});

I was able to upload my binary file this way.

var fileStream = fs.createReadStream("F:/directory/fileName.ext");
var putParams = {
	Bucket: s3bucket,
	Key: s3key,
	Body: fileStream
};
s3.putObject(putParams, function(putErr, putData){
	if(putErr){
		console.error(putErr);
	} else {
		console.log(putData);
	}
});