- Already built, no setup required: the permission set, the full archive-job scheduling engine (once you turn a job's schedule on, it runs automatically — you never write or configure scheduling logic yourself), and the retrieval/export merge tool.
- Not pre-configured, this is expected: your own storage bucket (FilePreserve ships with a non-functional placeholder so a misconfigured org can never silently write your data somewhere else) and what to archive (no Archive Job Config records ship pre-created — you decide).
Part 1 — Assign the permission set
- In Setup, go to Permission Sets.
- Find the one named Audit Archive Retrieval User (API name
Audit_Archive_Retrieval_User). - Click Manage Assignments → Add Assignment → select every user who needs to configure archive jobs, view the dashboard, or run the retrieval/merge tool.
This grants object/field access, Apex class access, the two app tabs (Archive Job Manager, Archive Job Dashboard), and access to the S3 authentication principal used in Part 3. Without it, a user can install the app but can't do anything with it.
Part 2 — Add the tabs to your navigation
Optional but recommended. The two tabs — Archive Job Manager and Archive Job Dashboard — are available to any assigned user from the App Launcher even without further setup. To add them to a custom app or Lightning navigation bar: Setup → App Manager → edit your app → Navigation Items.
Part 3 — Connect your own AWS S3 bucket
Required before anything can actually archive. FilePreserve uses Salesforce's native AWS Signature Version 4 (SigV4) authentication, built directly into the package's External Credential — not a custom integration.
3a. Create the S3 bucket
- In the AWS Console, go to S3 → Create bucket.
- Pick a bucket name and AWS region — note both, you'll need them below.
- Recommended: enable Object Lock at creation time (can't be turned on later for an existing bucket).
- Leave "Block all public access" on — FilePreserve authenticates via IAM credentials, not a public bucket.
3b. Create an IAM user/policy with S3 access
- In the AWS Console, go to IAM → Users → Create user. Use a dedicated user for FilePreserve, not a personal/root login.
- Attach a policy scoped to just this bucket — not
AmazonS3FullAccessacross your whole account:{ "Version": "2012-10-17", "Statement": [ { "Effect": "Allow", "Action": ["s3:PutObject", "s3:GetObject"], "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::YOUR-BUCKET-NAME/*" } ] } - Under Security credentials for this IAM user, create an Access key. AWS shows the Access Key ID and Secret Access Key exactly once — copy both somewhere safe now.
- Note your AWS Account ID (top-right account menu, or the IAM dashboard).
3c. Point the Named Credential at your bucket
- In Salesforce Setup, go to Named Credentials and open S3 Audit Archive.
- Edit the Url parameter. It ships as a placeholder
(
https://REPLACE-WITH-YOUR-BUCKET.s3.REPLACE-WITH-YOUR-REGION.amazonaws.com) — replace with your real bucket's endpoint, e.g.https://your-bucket-name.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com.
3d. Point the External Credential at your AWS credentials
- In Salesforce Setup, go to External Credentials and open S3 Audit Archive.
- Update AwsRegion (your bucket's region, matching the Named Credential URL) and AwsAccountId (from step 3b.4).
- Under Principals, open S3ArchivePrincipal and enter the Access Key ID and Secret Access Key from step 3b.3. Salesforce computes the SigV4 signature automatically on every request — you never sign anything yourself.
3e. Confirm the connection works
Once Part 1 and Part 4 are also done, run a job via Run Now on the Archive Job Manager tab and check the Archive Job Dashboard for a successful run. If it fails immediately with a connectivity-looking error, double-check the bucket name/region match exactly between the Named Credential URL and the External Credential's AwsRegion — this is the most common setup mistake.
Part 4 — Define what to archive
Nothing is pre-created — FilePreserve doesn't know what you want archived until you tell it.
- Open the Archive Job Manager tab.
- Create a new Archive Job Config: pick a source object (any object you have access to), build filter criteria (AND/OR/Custom logic — same shape as a Salesforce list view filter), set a retention period in months and a legal hold flag if relevant, and set a schedule (Daily, Weekly, or custom).
- You can review the pre-run impact estimate (matched record count, attached file count/size, estimated duration) to make sure this looks like the right amount of affected records before committing.
- Save, then check the Active box to turn the schedule on — FilePreserve runs it automatically from here.
- Add the retrieval/export tool's Quick Action to relevant record page layouts (Setup → Object Manager → [Object] → Page Layouts → add "Audit Ready File Merge").
Confirming it's working end-to-end
- On the Archive Job Manager tab, click Run Now on your job.
- Go to the Archive Job Dashboard tab and confirm the run shows as succeeded, with a non-zero records-processed count.
- Open one of the archived records and confirm an archive entry shows up in its related list.
- On that same record, run Audit Ready File Merge and confirm the archived file is pulled back in and included in the resulting PDF.
If all four check out, your first archive job is running successfully, future scheduled runs will happen automatically, and retrieval is confirmed working too.
Getting help
This guide is meant to get you fully set up without a call. If you'd still like a hand — especially with the AWS/S3 setup in Part 3 — onboarding assistance is available.
Book a 30-minute onboarding call