Object Storage Quick Start

Create your first S3-compatible bucket and start storing files in 5 minutes!

Prerequisites

A DanubeData account
Basic familiarity with object storage concepts

Step 1: Create a Bucket

Via Dashboard

Navigate to Object Storage in the sidebar
Click Create bucket
Enter your bucket configuration:
- Name: my-first-bucket (lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens; the form shows the S3 name it will have, dd-<team>-my-first-bucket, and how long the name can be)
- Region: EU (Falkenstein) - default
- Versioning: Disabled (can enable later)
- Public Access: Disabled (recommended)
- Size limit (optional): Cap the bucket at any size from 1 GB, or leave it unlimited. You can change the cap later, but not below current usage.
- Object Lock (optional): Enable write-once-read-many (WORM) protection. This can only be set at creation and turns on versioning automatically. See Object Storage security.
Click Create bucket

Your bucket will be ready in a few seconds!

Via API

Bash

curl -X POST https://danubedata.ro/api/v1/storage/buckets \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "my-first-bucket",
    "region": "fsn1",
    "versioning_enabled": false,
    "public_access": false
  }'

Step 2: Create Access Keys

Access keys are required to interact with your bucket via the S3 API.

Via Dashboard

Open your bucket's page
Open the Access tab and click Create an access key (or Create a key for this bucket, where keys can be scoped)
Give the key a name, such as my-app-key. A key scoped to buckets gets a level for each: read only, read and write, or full access.
Click Create access key
Important: Copy or download the secret key straight away. It is shown once, in the same drawer, and never again.

The bucket's Connect button shows its endpoint, region and example code for the AWS CLI, Python, JavaScript, PHP and Go.

Via API

Access keys belong to your team. Without a scope, a key is team-wide and has full access to every bucket; to limit it, list the buckets it may use with a level for each: read, readwrite or full. {bucket_id} is the bucket.id the create call returned.

Bash

curl -X POST https://danubedata.ro/api/v1/storage/access-keys \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "my-app-key",
    "scope": "buckets",
    "bucket_permissions": [
      { "bucket_id": "{bucket_id}", "level": "readwrite" }
    ]
  }'

Response:

JSON

{
  "id": "9d3c6a52-7a51-4c1e-9f0b-2f0f6f4d1a77",
  "name": "my-app-key",
  "access_key_id": "AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE",
  "secret_access_key": "wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY",
  "scope": "buckets",
  "bucket_permissions": [
    { "bucket_id": "{bucket_id}", "level": "readwrite" }
  ],
  "expires_at": null,
  "message": "Access key created. Make sure to save the secret key - it will not be shown again."
}

Step 3: Configure Your S3 Client

AWS CLI

Install the AWS CLI and configure it:

Bash

# Install AWS CLI (if not already installed)
pip install awscli

# Configure credentials
aws configure
# AWS Access Key ID: YOUR_ACCESS_KEY
# AWS Secret Access Key: YOUR_SECRET_KEY
# Default region name: fsn1
# Default output format: json

Create an alias for easier use:

Bash

# Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
alias danubedata-s3='aws --endpoint-url https://s3.danubedata.ro s3'
alias danubedata-s3api='aws --endpoint-url https://s3.danubedata.ro s3api'

Environment Variables

Set up environment variables for your applications:

Bash

export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID="YOUR_ACCESS_KEY"
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY="YOUR_SECRET_KEY"
export AWS_ENDPOINT_URL="https://s3.danubedata.ro"
export AWS_REGION="fsn1"

Step 4: Upload Your First File

Using AWS CLI

Bash

# Upload a single file
aws --endpoint-url https://s3.danubedata.ro s3 cp hello.txt s3://my-first-bucket/

# Upload a directory
aws --endpoint-url https://s3.danubedata.ro s3 cp ./my-folder s3://my-first-bucket/my-folder/ --recursive

# Upload with custom metadata
aws --endpoint-url https://s3.danubedata.ro s3 cp document.pdf s3://my-first-bucket/ \
  --metadata '{"author":"john","department":"sales"}'

Using the Dashboard

Open your bucket: it opens on its Objects tab
Click Upload and choose files, or drag them onto the list
The uploads start at once and show their progress in the corner of the page

Using Python

Python

import boto3

s3 = boto3.client(
    's3',
    endpoint_url='https://s3.danubedata.ro',
    aws_access_key_id='YOUR_ACCESS_KEY',
    aws_secret_access_key='YOUR_SECRET_KEY'
)

# Upload a file
s3.upload_file('local-file.txt', 'my-first-bucket', 'remote-file.txt')
print("File uploaded successfully!")

# Upload with progress callback
from boto3.s3.transfer import TransferConfig

def progress_callback(bytes_transferred):
    print(f"Transferred: {bytes_transferred} bytes")

config = TransferConfig(use_threads=True)
s3.upload_file(
    'large-file.zip',
    'my-first-bucket',
    'large-file.zip',
    Config=config,
    Callback=progress_callback
)

Step 5: Download Files

Using AWS CLI

Bash

# Download a single file
aws --endpoint-url https://s3.danubedata.ro s3 cp s3://my-first-bucket/hello.txt ./

# Download a directory
aws --endpoint-url https://s3.danubedata.ro s3 cp s3://my-first-bucket/my-folder/ ./my-folder/ --recursive

# Sync a directory (only downloads new/changed files)
aws --endpoint-url https://s3.danubedata.ro s3 sync s3://my-first-bucket/data/ ./local-data/

Using Python

Python

import boto3

s3 = boto3.client(
    's3',
    endpoint_url='https://s3.danubedata.ro',
    aws_access_key_id='YOUR_ACCESS_KEY',
    aws_secret_access_key='YOUR_SECRET_KEY'
)

# Download a file
s3.download_file('my-first-bucket', 'remote-file.txt', 'local-file.txt')

# Get file content directly
response = s3.get_object(Bucket='my-first-bucket', Key='hello.txt')
content = response['Body'].read().decode('utf-8')
print(content)

Step 6: List Objects

Using AWS CLI

Bash

# List all objects
aws --endpoint-url https://s3.danubedata.ro s3 ls s3://my-first-bucket/

# List with details
aws --endpoint-url https://s3.danubedata.ro s3 ls s3://my-first-bucket/ --human-readable --summarize

# List objects in a "folder"
aws --endpoint-url https://s3.danubedata.ro s3 ls s3://my-first-bucket/images/

Using Python

Python

import boto3

s3 = boto3.client(
    's3',
    endpoint_url='https://s3.danubedata.ro',
    aws_access_key_id='YOUR_ACCESS_KEY',
    aws_secret_access_key='YOUR_SECRET_KEY'
)

# List objects
response = s3.list_objects_v2(Bucket='my-first-bucket')

for obj in response.get('Contents', []):
    print(f"{obj['Key']} - {obj['Size']} bytes - {obj['LastModified']}")

Step 7: Generate Presigned URLs

Share files temporarily without exposing your credentials.

Using Python

Python

import boto3
from datetime import datetime, timedelta

s3 = boto3.client(
    's3',
    endpoint_url='https://s3.danubedata.ro',
    aws_access_key_id='YOUR_ACCESS_KEY',
    aws_secret_access_key='YOUR_SECRET_KEY'
)

# Generate download URL (valid for 1 hour)
url = s3.generate_presigned_url(
    'get_object',
    Params={'Bucket': 'my-first-bucket', 'Key': 'document.pdf'},
    ExpiresIn=3600  # seconds
)
print(f"Download URL: {url}")

# Generate upload URL (valid for 1 hour)
upload_url = s3.generate_presigned_url(
    'put_object',
    Params={'Bucket': 'my-first-bucket', 'Key': 'uploads/new-file.txt'},
    ExpiresIn=3600
)
print(f"Upload URL: {upload_url}")

Using AWS CLI

Bash

# Generate presigned URL (valid for 1 hour)
aws --endpoint-url https://s3.danubedata.ro s3 presign s3://my-first-bucket/document.pdf --expires-in 3600

Step 8: Delete Objects

Using AWS CLI

Bash

# Delete a single object
aws --endpoint-url https://s3.danubedata.ro s3 rm s3://my-first-bucket/hello.txt

# Delete multiple objects (folder)
aws --endpoint-url https://s3.danubedata.ro s3 rm s3://my-first-bucket/old-data/ --recursive

# Delete with confirmation
aws --endpoint-url https://s3.danubedata.ro s3 rm s3://my-first-bucket/important.txt --dryrun

Using Python

Python

import boto3

s3 = boto3.client(
    's3',
    endpoint_url='https://s3.danubedata.ro',
    aws_access_key_id='YOUR_ACCESS_KEY',
    aws_secret_access_key='YOUR_SECRET_KEY'
)

# Delete single object
s3.delete_object(Bucket='my-first-bucket', Key='hello.txt')

# Delete multiple objects
s3.delete_objects(
    Bucket='my-first-bucket',
    Delete={
        'Objects': [
            {'Key': 'file1.txt'},
            {'Key': 'file2.txt'},
            {'Key': 'folder/file3.txt'},
        ]
    }
)

Common Operations Cheat Sheet

Operation	AWS CLI Command
List buckets	`aws --endpoint-url https://s3.danubedata.ro s3 ls`
List objects	`aws --endpoint-url https://s3.danubedata.ro s3 ls s3://bucket/`
Upload file	`aws --endpoint-url https://s3.danubedata.ro s3 cp file.txt s3://bucket/`
Download file	`aws --endpoint-url https://s3.danubedata.ro s3 cp s3://bucket/file.txt ./`
Sync folder	`aws --endpoint-url https://s3.danubedata.ro s3 sync ./local s3://bucket/remote`
Delete file	`aws --endpoint-url https://s3.danubedata.ro s3 rm s3://bucket/file.txt`
Get bucket size	`aws --endpoint-url https://s3.danubedata.ro s3 ls s3://bucket/ --recursive --summarize`

Connecting over SFTP

If a tool or user needs SFTP instead of the S3 API, you can reach your bucket at sftp.new-s3.danubedata.ro on port 2222. Create an SFTP user from the bucket's SFTP section — it reuses one of your S3 access keys, so its permissions match that key. The dashboard shows the exact username; the password is the access key's secret.

Bash

# Connect with any SFTP client (username shown in the dashboard)
sftp -P 2222 <sftp-username>@sftp.new-s3.danubedata.ro

Next Steps

Now that you have your first bucket running, explore more features:

Object Storage Product Overview - Full feature documentation
S3 Access Keys - Team-wide vs per-bucket scoped credentials
Object Storage Security - Access control and encryption
Enable Versioning - Protect against accidental deletion

Troubleshooting

"Access Denied" Error

Verify your access key and secret key are correct
Check that your access key has the required permissions
Ensure the bucket name is correct (case-sensitive)

"Bucket Not Found" Error

Bucket names must be globally unique
Verify the bucket name spelling
Check you're using the correct endpoint (https://s3.danubedata.ro)

Slow Uploads

Use multipart upload for files larger than 100MB
Enable use_threads=True in boto3 TransferConfig
Check your network connection

SSL Certificate Errors

Ensure you're using https:// not http://
Update your SSL certificates: pip install --upgrade certifi

Need Help?

Check our FAQ
Contact support: support@danubedata.ro

Congratulations! You've successfully created your first bucket and uploaded files to DanubeData Object Storage!