How to perform basic Object Storage operations using AWS CLI

This guide covers the fundamental operations you can perform with UpCloud Object Storage using AWS CLI. You'll learn how to create and manage buckets, upload and download files, generate temporary access links, and perform basic cleanup operations.

Before you start

You need the AWS CLI with the upcloud profile for your Managed Object Storage service, as in How to get started with UpCloud Managed Object Storage. Every command in this guide uses that profile.

Creating and managing buckets

Create a bucket

Create a new storage bucket:

aws s3api create-bucket --bucket <bucket-name> --profile upcloud

List buckets

View all your buckets:

aws s3 ls --profile upcloud   # simple list

aws s3api list-buckets --profile upcloud   # detailed list in json format

Delete a bucket

Remove an empty bucket:

aws s3api delete-bucket --bucket <bucket-name> --profile upcloud

Note: The bucket must be empty before it can be deleted. See the cleanup operations section below for removing bucket contents.

Working with objects

Upload a file

Upload a local file to your bucket:

aws s3 cp <local-file> s3://<bucket-name> --profile upcloud

List bucket contents

View all objects within a bucket:

aws s3 ls s3://<bucket-name> --profile upcloud   # simple list

aws s3api list-objects --bucket <bucket-name> --profile upcloud   # detailed list in json format

Download a file

Download a file from your bucket to your local machine:

aws s3 cp s3://<bucket-name>/<file-name> <local-destination> --profile upcloud

Copy between buckets

Copy an object from one bucket to another:

aws s3 cp s3://<source-bucket>/<file-name> s3://<destination-bucket> --profile upcloud

Move files

Move (copy and delete) files between buckets:

aws s3 mv s3://<source-bucket>/<file-name> s3://<destination-bucket> --profile upcloud

Generate a pre-signed URL

Create a temporary access link to a specific file:

aws s3 presign s3://<bucket-name>/<file-name> --expires-in <seconds> --profile upcloud

The pre-signed URL allows temporary access to an object without requiring credentials. For example, setting --expires-in 300 creates a link that remains valid for 5 minutes. After this time, the link expires and can no longer be used to access the file.

This is particularly useful when you need to:

• Share files temporarily with users who don't have storage credentials
• Generate time-limited download links
• Provide temporary access to private files

Note: If you need permanent public access to files instead of temporary links, see How to set up a public read bucket.

Cleanup operations

Delete a specific file

Remove a single file from a bucket:

aws s3 rm s3://<bucket-name>/<file-name> --profile upcloud

Empty a bucket

Remove all files from a bucket:

aws s3 rm s3://<bucket-name> --recursive --profile upcloud

Warning: This command permanently deletes all objects in the bucket. Use with caution.

In a bucket with versioning, this command keeps every file's older versions. To empty and delete such a bucket, see How to enable and manage S3 object versioning.