Storage (MinIO File Explorer)

The Storage page in the web console provides a file explorer for MinIO S3 buckets. Browse files, upload and download objects, delete files, make objects public, and generate shareable download links, all from the browser.

Prerequisites

You need at least one MinIO service running in your cluster:

bash

kip service add minio --name storage --project yourr-name

The Storage page automatically discovers all MinIO services in the cluster. If you have multiple MinIO instances across different projects, use the service selector dropdown to switch between them.

Browsing files

Open the Storage page from the sidebar. Select a MinIO service and a bucket to browse its contents.

Click a folder to navigate into it
Use the breadcrumb navigation at the top to jump back to any parent folder
Click the bucket name in the breadcrumbs to return to the root
Click a file name to open it in a new browser tab

The file list shows each object's name, size, and last modified date. Folders appear first, followed by files sorted alphabetically. Public objects display a globe icon next to their name.

Creating buckets

Click New bucket next to the bucket selector. Enter a name (lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens only) and click Create.

Bucket names must be unique within the MinIO instance and follow S3 naming rules:

3 to 63 characters
Lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens
Must start and end with a letter or number

Uploading files

Click the Upload button in the top-right corner. Select one or more files from your machine. Files upload to the current folder path. If you are viewing images/, a file uploads as images/yourfile.jpg.

You can also drag and drop files directly onto the file list to upload them.

Upload supports files up to 100 MB through the web console. For larger files, use the MinIO Client (mc). See Using mc from your app below.

Downloading files

Click any file name to open it in a new tab, or hover over a file and click the download icon to download it directly.

Deleting files

Hover over a file to reveal the delete button (trash icon). Click it once, then click Confirm to permanently delete the file.

DANGER

Deletion is permanent. There is no recycle bin or undo. Make sure you have backups of important files before deleting.

Bulk file operations

Select multiple files by clicking the checkbox next to each file name. A floating action bar appears at the bottom of the screen showing the number of selected files and available actions:

Delete: permanently delete all selected files
Make public: make all selected files publicly accessible
Make private: revoke public access for all selected files

A progress bar shows the status of bulk operations.

Hover over a file and click the share icon to generate a presigned URL. The link allows anyone to download the file without authentication.

Links expire after 24 hours by default
Choose a custom expiry from the duration selector (1 hour to 7 days)
Copy the link with the Copy button and share it with anyone who needs access

Presigned URLs are useful for:

Sharing files with external collaborators
Embedding download links in emails or chat messages
Temporary access to private files without granting bucket-level permissions

Share links survive console-api restarts because the signing key is stored in a Kubernetes Secret.

Public objects (permanent URLs)

For files that should always be accessible without authentication, make them public instead of using share links.

Hover over a file and click Make public. The file gets a permanent URL that does not expire:

https://console-203-0-113-10.kipper.run/api/v1/storage/storage/public/uploads/logo.png

Public objects are useful for:

Static assets (logos, icons, stylesheets)
Images embedded in emails or documentation
Files that need a stable, permanent URL

To revoke public access, hover over the file and click Make private. The permanent URL stops working immediately.

TIP

Share links are better for temporary access. Public objects are better for permanent, stable URLs.

Multiple MinIO services

If you run multiple MinIO instances (for example, one per environment), use the Service dropdown to switch between them. Each service has its own set of buckets and objects.

bash

kip service add minio --name storage --project yourr-name --environment staging
kip service add minio --name storage --project yourr-name --environment production

Both services appear in the dropdown. Select the one you want to browse.

Using mc from your app

When your app is bound to a MinIO service, Skipper injects S3 credentials as environment variables. You can use the MinIO Client (mc) to upload and download files directly from inside the pod. This is useful for data imports, batch operations, or files larger than the 100 MB web console limit.

Bind MinIO to your app

bash

kip service bind storage my-app --project yourr-name --environment test

This injects the following environment variables into your app:

Variable	Example value
`S3_HOST`	`storage.yourr-name-test.svc.cluster.local`
`S3_PORT`	`9000`
`S3_USERNAME`	`skipper`
`S3_PASSWORD`	`a1b2c3d4e5f6...`

Connect with mc

Exec into your app's pod and use the injected credentials:

bash

kubectl exec -it -n yourr-name-test deploy/my-app -- sh

# Download mc (single static binary, ~25 MB)
wget https://dl.min.io/client/mc/release/linux-amd64/mc -O /tmp/mc
chmod +x /tmp/mc

# Configure mc using the injected env vars
/tmp/mc alias set store http://${S3_HOST}:${S3_PORT} ${S3_USERNAME} ${S3_PASSWORD}

Common operations

bash

# List buckets
/tmp/mc ls store

# List files in a bucket
/tmp/mc ls store/uploads/images/

# Download a file
/tmp/mc cp store/uploads/images/photo.jpg /tmp/photo.jpg

# Upload a file
/tmp/mc cp /tmp/report.pdf store/uploads/reports/report.pdf

# Upload an entire directory
/tmp/mc cp --recursive /tmp/export/ store/uploads/export/

# Delete a file
/tmp/mc rm store/uploads/old-file.txt

# Mirror a local directory to a bucket (sync)
/tmp/mc mirror /tmp/assets/ store/uploads/assets/

Using S3 SDKs

The same injected credentials work with any S3-compatible SDK. Construct the endpoint from the host and port:

Node.js (AWS SDK v3):

javascript

import { S3Client } from '@aws-sdk/client-s3';

const s3 = new S3Client({
  endpoint: `http://${process.env.S3_HOST}:${process.env.S3_PORT}`,
  region: 'us-east-1',
  credentials: {
    accessKeyId: process.env.S3_USERNAME,
    secretAccessKey: process.env.S3_PASSWORD,
  },
  forcePathStyle: true,
});

Python (boto3):

python

import boto3, os

s3 = boto3.client('s3',
    endpoint_url=f"http://{os.environ['S3_HOST']}:{os.environ['S3_PORT']}",
    aws_access_key_id=os.environ['S3_USERNAME'],
    aws_secret_access_key=os.environ['S3_PASSWORD'])

s3.download_file('uploads', 'images/photo.jpg', '/tmp/photo.jpg')

Java (MinIO SDK):

java

MinioClient client = MinioClient.builder()
    .endpoint("http://" + System.getenv("S3_HOST") + ":" + System.getenv("S3_PORT"))
    .credentials(System.getenv("S3_USERNAME"), System.getenv("S3_PASSWORD"))
    .build();

Storage (MinIO File Explorer) ​

Prerequisites ​

Browsing files ​

Creating buckets ​

Uploading files ​

Downloading files ​

Deleting files ​

Bulk file operations ​

Share links (presigned URLs) ​

Public objects (permanent URLs) ​

Multiple MinIO services ​

Using mc from your app ​

Bind MinIO to your app ​

Connect with mc ​

Common operations ​

Using S3 SDKs ​

Storage (MinIO File Explorer)

Prerequisites

Browsing files

Creating buckets

Uploading files

Downloading files

Deleting files

Bulk file operations

Share links (presigned URLs)

Public objects (permanent URLs)

Multiple MinIO services

Using mc from your app

Bind MinIO to your app

Connect with mc

Common operations

Using S3 SDKs