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Accessing Object Storage with S3cmd

Valid for VPS+ and migrated Cloud Servers.

Object Storage is fully S3-compatible. This enables seamless integration with common S3 tools. This article walks you through accessing your Object Storage with the free command line tool, S3cmd.

S3cmd allows you to upload, retrieve, and manage data in Object Storage. It has more than 60 command line options, including multipart uploads, encryption, incremental backups, S3 synchronisation, ACL and metadata management, bucket size, and bucket policies. S3cmd is available for Linux and Mac. It is written in Python.

Determine endpoint URL

  • Log in to your IONOS account.

  • Click on Menu > Servers & Cloud in the title bar. 
    Optional: If you have multiple server contracts, select the desired contract.

  • Click on Infrastructure > Object Storage in the navigation bar on the left.
  • Click on the three-dot icon in the line with the bucket name.
  • Click on Bucket Settings. The Bucket settings area opens.

The endpoint URL is displayed in the Bucket properties section. Make a note of the complete URL.

Determine Access Key and Secret Key

Requirement

You are in the Infrastructure > Object Storage section of the Cloud Panel.

  • Click on the Key management tab.
  • Optional: If you haven't generated a key yet, click on Generate a key.
  • Click on one of the generated keys under Access keys.
  • Click on Copy in the Access Key area.
  • Open a text editor and paste the copied Access Key.
  • Click on Copy in the Secret Key area.
  • Switch to the text editor and paste the copied Secret Key.

Note

Treat the secret key like a password and keep it in a safe place.

Install S3cmd

To install S3cmd, complete the following:

AlmaLinux 9 and 10, and Rocky Linux 9 and 10

  • Log in to the server as an administrator

  • To activate the EPEL repository, enter the following command:

    sudo dnf install epel-release -y

  • To update the package database, enter the following command:

    sudo dnf update -y

  • To install S3cmd, enter the following command:

    sudo dnf install s3cmd -y

Debian 12 and 13, and Ubuntu 22.04 and Ubuntu 24.04

  • Log in to the server as an administrator.

  • Update the package list. To do this, enter the following command:

    sudo apt update

  • To install S3cmd, enter the following command:

    sudo apt install s3cmd -y

Configure S3cmd for access to the Object Storage

  • To configure S3cmd to access the Object Storage, enter the following command:

    s3cmd --configure

  • Enter the Access Key.
  • Enter the Secret Key. The Default Region [US]: prompt is displayed.
  • Enter the region of your bucket. Example: eu-central-3. The S3 Endpoint [s3.amazonaws.com]: prompt is displayed.
  • Enter the complete endpoint URL. Example: s3.eu-central-4.ionoscloud.com. The DNS-style bucket+hostname:port template for accessing a bucket [%(bucket)s.s3.amazonaws.com]: prompt is displayed.
  • Enter the complete endpoint URL again. The Encryption password: prompt is displayed.
  • Optional: Enter an encryption password. The Path to GPG program [/usr/bin/gpg]: prompt is displayed.
  • Press the Enter key. The Use HTTPS protocol [Yes]: prompt is displayed.
  • Press the Enter key. The HTTP Proxy server name: prompt is displayed.
  • Press the Enter key. The Test access with supplied credentials? prompt is displayed.
  • Press the Enter key.
  • If the test is successful, save the configuration by entering [y] and pressing Enter. The configuration is saved in the .s3cfg file.

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