S3/MinIO File Storage Setup for Web Application

S3 and MinIO File Storage Setup

S3-compatible storage stores uploaded files (photos, documents, videos) separately from the application server. MinIO is a self-hosted AWS S3 alternative with identical API.

AWS S3: Basic setup

# Terraform
resource "aws_s3_bucket" "uploads" {
  bucket = "myapp-uploads-production"
}

resource "aws_s3_bucket_public_access_block" "uploads" {
  bucket = aws_s3_bucket.uploads.id
  block_public_acls = true
  block_public_policy = true
  ignore_public_acls = true
  restrict_public_buckets = true
}

resource "aws_s3_bucket_versioning" "uploads" {
  bucket = aws_s3_bucket.uploads.id
  versioning_configuration { status = "Enabled" }
}

resource "aws_s3_bucket_server_side_encryption_configuration" "uploads" {
  bucket = aws_s3_bucket.uploads.id
  rule {
    apply_server_side_encryption_by_default {
      sse_algorithm = "AES256"
    }
  }
}

Presigned URLs for secure uploads

Client uploads file directly to S3, bypassing server. Server generates signed URL with limited lifetime.

// Laravel + aws-sdk-php
use Aws\S3\S3Client;

class FileUploadController extends Controller
{
    public function presign(Request $request): JsonResponse
    {
        $request->validate([
            'filename' => 'required|string|max:255',
            'content_type' => 'required|string',
        ]);

        $key = 'uploads/' . auth()->id() . '/' . Str::uuid() . '/' .
               pathinfo($request->filename, PATHINFO_BASENAME);

        $s3 = app('aws')->createClient('s3');

        $command = $s3->getCommand('PutObject', [
            'Bucket' => config('filesystems.disks.s3.bucket'),
            'Key' => $key,
            'ContentType' => $request->content_type,
            'ACL' => 'private',
        ]);

        $presigned = $s3->createPresignedRequest($command, '+15 minutes');

        return response()->json([
            'upload_url' => (string) $presigned->getUri(),
            'key' => $key,
        ]);
    }
}

MinIO: self-hosted deployment

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  minio:
    image: minio/minio:latest
    command: server /data --console-address ":9001"
    environment:
      MINIO_ROOT_USER: minioadmin
      MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${MINIO_PASSWORD}
    volumes:
      - minio_data:/data
    ports:
      - "9000:9000"   # S3 API
      - "9001:9001"   # Web console
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "mc", "ready", "local"]
      interval: 10s

volumes:
  minio_data:

MinIO has identical AWS S3 API — just change the endpoint in configuration:

AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=minioadmin
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=miniopassword
AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=us-east-1
AWS_BUCKET=uploads
AWS_URL=http://minio:9000
AWS_ENDPOINT=http://minio:9000
AWS_USE_PATH_STYLE_ENDPOINT=true

Laravel Filesystem integration

// config/filesystems.php
's3' => [
    'driver' => 's3',
    'key' => env('AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID'),
    'secret' => env('AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY'),
    'region' => env('AWS_DEFAULT_REGION'),
    'bucket' => env('AWS_BUCKET'),
    'url' => env('AWS_URL'),
    'endpoint' => env('AWS_ENDPOINT'),
    'use_path_style_endpoint' => env('AWS_USE_PATH_STYLE_ENDPOINT', false),
    'throw' => true,
],

// Usage
$path = Storage::disk('s3')->putFile('uploads', $request->file('photo'));
$url = Storage::disk('s3')->temporaryUrl($path, now()->addMinutes(60));

Lifecycle and cleanup

resource "aws_s3_bucket_lifecycle_configuration" "uploads" {
  bucket = aws_s3_bucket.uploads.id

  rule {
    id = "move-to-glacier"
    status = "Enabled"

    transition {
      days = 90
      storage_class = "GLACIER"
    }

    expiration {
      days = 365
    }

    filter {
      prefix = "temp/"
    }
  }
}

Timeline

AWS S3 with presigned URLs for Laravel/Node.js: 1–2 days. MinIO self-hosted with Docker: 1 day. Both with lifecycle rules and monitoring: 3 days.