S3-Compatible Storage Setup Guide

The S3-Compatible provider connects Blober to any storage that speaks the Amazon S3 protocol. Instead of picking a named provider, you enter the service's endpoint URL and access keys - so a single provider covers the long tail of S3-compatible services, self-hosted servers, and local test setups.

Path format:

bucket-name/path/to/file.ext

Works with

Anything that exposes an S3-compatible API, including:

MinIO - the most common self-hosted S3 server (great for local testing)
Ceph / RADOS Gateway
Storj, Tigris, Garage, SeaweedFS
Hetzner Object Storage, Scaleway Object Storage, OVHcloud
IDrive e2, Telnyx Storage, Akamai (Linode) Object Storage
Any self-hosted or on-premise S3 server on your own network
A server running on your own machine for local testing (e.g. http://localhost:9000)

Capabilities

✅ Browse buckets and objects
✅ Upload files (multipart for large files)
✅ Download files
✅ Delete objects
✅ Copy/move objects
✅ Virtual-hosted and path-style addressing
✅ Single-bucket or full-account access

Required Credentials

Endpoint

Option key: endpoint
Enter your endpoint URL in one of two fields - your choice sets the addressing style automatically:
- Virtual-hosted endpoint URL - for most hosted providers. The bucket is read from the hostname (https://bucket.endpoint). Enter the host only.
- Path-style endpoint URL - for MinIO, Ceph, and most self-hosted or local servers. The bucket is part of the URL path (https://endpoint/bucket). Use this if uploads or browsing fail against your own server.
The scheme is optional (use http:// for a local test server). Do not include the bucket name here.
Examples: https://s3.us-east-1.example.com (virtual-hosted), http://localhost:9000 (path-style)

Access Key ID

Option key: accessKeyId
Where to find: Your provider's console, under access keys / service accounts.

Secret Access Key

Option key: secretAccessKey
Where to find: Shown once when you create the access key. Store it safely.

Optional Settings

Bucket name

Option key: bucket
Default: empty (browse every bucket the keys can list)
Set a single bucket to scope Blober to just that bucket. Required if your keys are restricted and cannot list all buckets - a common setup for migration keys.

Region

Option key: region
Default: us-east-1
Most S3-compatible servers ignore the region, so the default is usually fine. Set it only if your provider documents a specific region.

Setup Examples

MinIO (self-hosted or local testing)

Start MinIO (for a quick local test, the default keys are minioadmin / minioadmin).
In Blober, add an S3-Compatible source or destination and enter:
- Path-style endpoint URL: http://localhost:9000 (or your server's URL)
- Access Key ID / Secret Access Key: your MinIO credentials
- Bucket: optional - leave empty to see all buckets
Browse to confirm the connection.

A hosted S3-compatible provider

Create access keys in the provider's console.
Copy the S3 endpoint URL from their docs (e.g. https://s3.region.provider.com).
In Blober, put the endpoint in the Virtual-hosted endpoint URL field, enter the keys, and browse.

Troubleshooting

Uploads or browsing fail on a self-hosted server

Use the Path-style endpoint URL field instead of virtual-hosted. MinIO, Ceph, and most on-premise servers require path-style.

"Access Denied" when browsing buckets

Your keys may be scoped to one bucket and not allowed to list all buckets. Enter that bucket in the Bucket name field.

Connection errors / wrong host

Re-check the endpoint URL. It should be the service host only (no bucket, no object path). Include https:// for secure endpoints, or http:// for a local test server.