Step 1 - Install from AppExchange

Follow the steps below to install CloudFiles in your Salesforce account. The same steps are applicable for both production and sandbox -

1
Log into Salesforce as a Salesforce Admin
2
Go to the CloudFiles listing on the Salesforce App Exchange, and click on Get It Now
3
Follow the prompts to install either in production or in a sandbox
4
At separate points during the installation, the installer prompts you to
  1. Choose who to install CloudFiles for - Select "Install for Admins Only". Don't worry, all your users will be able to access CloudFiles. We select this option to better control the permissions for all users
  2. Approve Third-Party Access - Accept third party access request. You can read about this in our FAQ on Why are various third party accesses asked during installation.
  3. Click Next or Continue in other screens to complete the installation.

Step 2 - Setup CloudFiles Account

You can setup the CloudFiles app from within Salesforce by first going to the CloudFiles App Launcher. Click on the 9 dots icon(App Launcher) on top left of salesforce and search 'CloudFiles'. Then select the CloudFiles app.

This will open the CloudFiles App Launcher. Click on the Setup Tab on top and then click on Setup CloudFiles button. Follow the on-screen instructions as shown below.

That's all the setup we need to get started. You can now start setting up flows and widgets to streamline your file management and sharing in Salesforce. Check the next section to know how to get started quickly.

Step 3 - Connect Automation User

Automation user (or system user, service user) is a user credential (e.g. a google drive user or a sharepoint user) that you connect on the library settings page. This is used as the backend user for any automation operations such as creating a folder in an external storage.

To connect this user, in the “Document Management” tab configure the libraries you wish to connect with CloudFiles. You can follow these steps for the same:

1
Go to the “Document Management” tab within CloudFiles
2
From the side bar navigate to "Libraries" Page
3
Click on the “+” icon against the external storages you wish to connect
Once selected, click “Save”.
4
Navigate to the respective Library's tab and connect a System User account
This account will be used for account-level automations. So it’s better to connect an account which has all the permissions and acts as an admin account.
5
You can leave the “Conflict Behaviour” settings as they are, these can be set later

Refer to the below GIF to have a visual understanding of this step -

Step 4 - Connect Content Library User

This user is a personal account used by individual users to access the respective cloud storage everyday (e.g. employees' google drive account or sharepoint account). This user can be connected either form the CloudFiles widget on records or from the content library tab as shown in the steps below -

1
Go to the “Content Library” tab within CloudFiles
2
Select the connected library from the dropdown menu
3
Connect a User Account
This account will be used to access the library within Salesforce and retrieve metadata values for files & folders for flow actions and apex. For implementation purposes, it's recommended to connect to the same account set up as the “System User”.

Refer to the below GIF to have a visual understanding of this step -

Note

Note - If you're on a paid plan, reach out to the CloudFiles support team for further assistance, at - support@cloudfiles.io

Getting started guides

To get started quickly, we provide 3 quick start guides that talk about incrementally advanced features. Refer to these guides in sequence to become a Salesforce - CloudFiles integration expert.

1
Connect external folder to a record
Talks about accessing external storage from Salesforce objects. Also talks about automation capabilities.
2
Access, share and track a file
Talks about file and folder sharing by creating a link, configuring it's settings and viewing it's analytics all from the Salesforce objects. Also talks about automation capabilities.
3
Share files in experience cloud (community)
Sharing files with community and partner users using experience cloud and receiving files from them to collaborate is a common use-case. This article gives a basic overview and also talks about automation capabilities.

Once you are done with these, check the list of categories and articles in the left sidebar for all features and use cases.