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Use the Box API to manage files in Box Title: Send Logs

Author: Henry Steele - Library Technology Services - Tufts University

Date: February 2019

Requirements:

• A Box developer's account for your institution
• Box app in dev console, with public and private key
• Box admin to approve app
• a folder you want to write to in Box. Could be a shared folder
• config (public and private key)
• see word document for how to set this up

Steps:

1 - Create Box admin user:

Only need to run this script once to set up user.

Edit script:

change the parameters in the commented sections below

• add a username for the Box Dev app user. This can be the same as the app name from the Box dev console

Command:

• Before you run this the first time, you can install the requirements by running the following pip command:
  • pip install –r requirements.txt
• 1st argument to command is the location of the JSON config file from the Box app. You would have downloaded this from the Box dev console within your app
  • python connectToBox-GetLogin.py <config/config.json>

Output:

• outputs credentials for non-human user that can write and
• read on behalf of your Box developer app

2-send files

Edit script:

change the parameters in the commented sections below

• add user ID for non-human Box API user created with connectToBox-GetLogin.py
• add target folder ID from Box for folder you're writing to

Command:

• 1st argument to command: file you want to send to Box, with relative path
• 2nd argument to command: path of config file containing public and private key
• python sendLogs.py input/input.out config/config.json

Requirements:

• A Box developer's account for your institution
• Box app in dev console, with public and private key
• Box admin to approve app
• a folder you want to write to in Box. Could be a shared folder
• config file with public and private key from your app in Box developer cons (public and private key)
• user ID of the non-human app user created in connectToBox-GetLogin.py
• target Box folderID, to which the user created in connectToBox-GetLogin.py has been added as an editor or collaborator. Add user by email.
• Target folder ID is the end of the URL when you are inside that folder in the Box interface

CRON and shell script:

• I've provided an example of a shell script you can wrap the (second) Python script in, so this can be invoked with a CRON job, although this setup is beyond the scope of this document.

  Output:

  • input file writes to specified Box directory
  • see comments in code below to enter folder ID of this folder
  • see comments in code below to enter folder ID of this folder