Getting started

Storj is the leading provider of enterprise-grade, globally distributed cloud object storage.

It is a drop-in replacement for any S3-compatible object storage that is just as durable but with 99.95% availability and better global performance from a single upload.

Storj delivers default multi-region CDN-like performance with zero-trust security at a cost that’s 80% lower than AWS S3.

Before you begin

To get started, create an account with Storj. You’ll automatically be on Storj's free plan that gives you access to try our storage with your third-party tool or project.

Sign up

If you've never used Storj before, sign up for a new Storj account

Log in

If you already have a Storj account, log in to get started

Generate S3 compatible credentials

Storj has an Amazon S3 compatible API and you'll need generate S3 credentials to use it. S3 credentials consist of an access key, secret key, and endpoint.

Create S3 credentials in the Storj console:

  1. Navigate to Access on the left side menu.

  2. Click Create S3 Credentials under the S3 Credentials block.

  3. When the Create Access screen comes up, set specifications according to the following guidelines:

    • Type: S3 Credentials

    • Name: The name of the credentials (e.g. my-access)

  4. Click Continue to provide permissions

    • Permissions: All

    • Buckets: Feel free to specify the bucket you created above (e.g. my-bucket), or leave as “All”

    • End date: provide an expiration date for these credentials (optional)

  5. Click Continue to provide Access encryption Information

    In order to see the data uploaded to your bucket in the Storj console, you must unlock the bucket with the same encryption passphrase as the credentials.

    • Use the current passphrase: this is default option

    • Advanced: you may provide a different encryption phrase either your own or generate a new one.

      • Enter a new passphrase: use this option, if you would like to provide your own new encryption phrase

      • Generate 12-word passphrase: use this option, if you would like to generate a new encryption phrase

  6. Click Create Access to finish creation of your S3 credentials

  7. Click Confirm the Confirm details pop-up message

  8. Your S3 credentials are created. Write them down and store them, or click the Download all button. You will need these credentials for the following steps.

Install command-line tools

Storj works with a variety command-line tools. Rclone is recommended for its compatibility with various cloud providers and ease of use.

However, some may already be familiar with AWS CLI which is also a suitable option.

  1. Install rclone

    sudo -v ; curl https://rclone.org/install.sh | sudo bash
    sudo -v ; curl https://rclone.org/install.sh | sudo bash

    Or use an alternative method

  2. Configure rclone

    Edit the rclone config file directly, you can find where it is stored by running the following:

    $
    rclone config file

    Configuration file is stored at:
    /Users/dan/.config/rclone/rclone.conf
    $
    rclone config file

    Configuration file is stored at:
    /Users/dan/.config/rclone/rclone.conf

    In rclone.conf, set the access_key_id and secret_access_key with the S3 compatible credentials created above.

    ~/.config/rclone/rclone.conf
    [storj]
    type = s3
    provider = Storj
    access_key_id =  access_key # REPLACE ME
    secret_access_key = secret_key  # REPLACE ME
    endpoint = gateway.storjshare.io
    chunk_size = 64Mi
    disable_checksum: true
    [storj]
    type = s3
    provider = Storj
    access_key_id =  access_key # REPLACE ME
    secret_access_key = secret_key  # REPLACE ME
    endpoint = gateway.storjshare.io
    chunk_size = 64Mi
    disable_checksum: true

Create a bucket

Now that the command-line tool is configured, let's make a bucket to store our files.

$
rclone mkdir storj:my-bucket
$
rclone mkdir storj:my-bucket

List buckets

The bucket will show up in our bucket list (not to be mistaken with a life's to-do list)

# `lsf` is non-recursive, while `ls` is recursive
$
rclone lsf storj:
my-bucket/
# `lsf` is non-recursive, while `ls` is recursive
$
rclone lsf storj:
my-bucket/

Upload file

Next we'll upload a file. Here is an example image of a tree growing hard drives (while Storj doesn't grow hard drives on trees, it does emphasize sustainability). Right-click on it and save as storj-tree.png to your Downloads.

Copy the file to your bucket.

$
rclone copy ~/Downloads/storj-tree.png storj:my-bucket/
$
rclone copy ~/Downloads/storj-tree.png storj:my-bucket/

Download file

To retrieve the file, use the same command as upload but reverse the order of the arguments

$
rclone copy storj:my-bucket/ ~/Downloads/storj-tree-2.png
$
rclone copy storj:my-bucket/ ~/Downloads/storj-tree-2.png

List files

Let's see what files we have in the bucket.

$
rclone ls storj:my-bucket

   133220 storj-tree.png
$
rclone ls storj:my-bucket

   133220 storj-tree.png

Yep there's the Storj tree!

Delete file

Okay time to remove the file.

$
rclone deletefile storj:my-bucket/storj-tree.png
$
rclone deletefile storj:my-bucket/storj-tree.png

Delete buckets

Last but not least, we'll delete the bucket.

$
rclone rmdir storj:my-bucket
$
rclone rmdir storj:my-bucket

Delete a non-empty bucket

$
rclone purge storj:my-bucket
$
rclone purge storj:my-bucket

Next Steps

Congratulations on getting started with Storj!

Previous
Overview
Next
Migrate