External Library Access
Any Salesforce user with the neccessary User Permissions and an active license can access an external storage library configured by an admin. Users can do this through the Content Library tab in the CloudFiles App or via CloudFiles LWCs embedded on Lightning pages.
Each new CloudFiles user must log into their external storage account (e.g., SharePoint, Google Drive) to access the external storage library.
- This one-time login ensures access to storage with the same permissions as their external storage user account.
- Once connected, the user can seamlessly access external storage files and folders within Salesforce, either via the Content Library tab or CloudFiles LWCs on record pages.
- Navigate to the Content Library tab in the CloudFiles App.
- Select the configured external library (set up by an admin) from the dropdown.
- Click the Connect button and log into the external storage account.
Once logged in, the user can:
- Browse and manage files/folders from the Content Library tab.
- Perform actions like upload, create folders, move, delete, share, or view metadata (Drive ID, Resource ID, etc.).
- Switch between libraries using the dropdown.
- Log out and connect a different account via the gear icon at the top-right corner.
If the Salesforce user has not logged in yet, they will be prompted to connect their external storage when using the CloudFiles LWC widget on record pages.
The access to the contents of external storage depends on the user's External Storage account connected.
- If a user does not have access to a specific resource, they will see the message: "You do not have access to this particular resource." or "Something went wrong"
- Login is per user and must be done individually for each CloudFiles user with an active license.
For admins who prefer a common external storage account across all users, CloudFiles offers a Service Account mode.
- To enable this, go to Settings > Document Management Tab and turn on: "Use service account for library access."
- This allows all users to access the external library using a shared integration user account (configured by the admin).
- All users will have the same level of access as the Integration user.
- Community users (Experience Cloud users) do not need to connect their own external storage accounts.
- Access is controlled based on sharing settings configured by the admin.
- To enable Experience Cloud sharing, turn on: "Enable sharing with Experience Cloud Users" in the Experience Cloud page of the Document Management tab.
- Enabling this option allows you to share documents with Experience Cloud users and manage the sharing via the Share With Community User or Remove from Community flow actions.
- If you want to automatically share files attached to a record with Experience Cloud users, enable: "Automatically share files with Experience Cloud users when attached to a record."
- This ensures files connected to a record are immediately accessible on Experience Cloud record pages via CloudFiles LWCs.
