DigitalOcean Spaces Setup & File Transfer

DigitalOcean Spaces is S3-compatible object storage with a built-in CDN. Blober connects via the S3-compatible API and supports both standard and cold storage tiers.

Path format:

space-name/path/to/file.ext

Capabilities

✅ Browse Spaces and objects
✅ Upload files (including large files)
✅ Download files
✅ Delete objects
✅ Copy objects (within the same Space)
✅ Move objects
✅ S3-compatible API
✅ Multi-region support (automatic region detection)
✅ Cold storage tier support
✅ Project organization via Personal Access Token

Prerequisites

A DigitalOcean account (create one)
At least one Space created
Spaces access keys

Required Credentials

Access Key

Where to find: DigitalOcean Control Panel => API => Spaces Keys
Format: 20 uppercase alphanumeric characters
Example: AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE

Secret Key

Format: 40 characters
Example: wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY

Optional Credentials

Personal Access Token

Purpose: Lists Spaces organized by project and shows project names
Where to find: DigitalOcean Control Panel => API => Tokens
Note: Without this, Blober has to check every region to find your Spaces, which is slower.

Available Regions

DigitalOcean Spaces is available in these regions:

Region Code	Location
`nyc3`	New York 3
`sfo3`	San Francisco 3
`ams3`	Amsterdam 3
`sgp1`	Singapore 1
`fra1`	Frankfurt 1
`syd1`	Sydney 1
`blr1`	Bangalore 1

Storage Tiers

DigitalOcean Spaces supports two storage tiers, set at bucket creation:

Tier	Use Case	Retrieval
Standard	Frequently accessed data	Immediate
Cold	Infrequent access, archival	Immediate (higher retrieval cost)

Setup (DigitalOcean Control Panel)

1. Create a Space

Go to DigitalOcean Control Panel
Navigate to Spaces Object Storage in the sidebar
Click Create a Space
Configure:
- Datacenter region: Choose from available regions
- Storage tier: Standard or Cold
- CDN: Enable if needed for edge caching
- Space name: Unique name (lowercase, 3-63 characters)
Click Create a Space

2. Generate Spaces Access Keys

Go to API in the left sidebar
Scroll to Spaces Keys
Click Generate New Key
Enter a name (e.g., blober-access)
Copy the Access Key and Secret Key immediately (secret shown only once!)

3. (Optional) Create Personal Access Token

For project-organized Space listings:

Go to API in the left sidebar
Under Tokens, click Generate New Token
Enter a name and select scopes (read access is sufficient)
Copy the token immediately

4. Configure in Blober

In Blober, go to Workflows => New Workflow
Select DigitalOcean Spaces as source or destination
Enter:
- Access Key
- Secret Key
- (Optional) Personal Access Token
Test by browsing your Spaces

Troubleshooting

"Access Denied" error

Double-check your Access Key and Secret Key
Verify the key has permissions for the Spaces you're trying to access
Make sure you're using Spaces keys, not regular API tokens

Not all Spaces showing up

Blober checks all 7 DigitalOcean regions to find your Spaces - this may take a moment
If you provide a Personal Access Token, Spaces will load faster and be organized by project
Newly created Spaces may take a few seconds to appear

Slow transfers

Choose a Space in a region geographically close to you
Transfer speeds depend on your internet connection and the distance to the datacenter

Cold storage retrieval

Files in Cold Spaces are retrieved at normal speed but have higher per-request costs
The storage tier is set at Space creation and cannot be changed afterward

Best Practices

Use a Personal Access Token alongside your Spaces keys for faster, project-organized listing
Choose the right tier at creation time - Standard for frequently accessed data, Cold for archives
DigitalOcean Spaces pricing: $5/month for 250 GB storage + 1 TB outbound transfer, then $0.02/GB storage and $0.01/GB transfer
Create dedicated Spaces keys for Blober rather than reusing keys from other applications
Consider Spaces CDN for publicly served files you access frequently