S3FS: Mounting Amazon S3 Buckets on CentOS & Fedora Systems

By RahulJanuary 29, 20234 Mins Read

Amazon S3 is a highly scalable and durable object storage service that allows you to store and retrieve any amount of data from anywhere on the web. S3FS is a FUSE (Filesystem in Userspace) interface for Amazon S3 that allows you to mount Amazon S3 buckets as a local file system on your CentOS or Fedora system. This allows you to easily access and manipulate your S3 data as if it were stored on a local file system. In this article, we’ll show you how to mount an Amazon S3 bucket on a CentOS or Fedora system using S3FS.

Before we begin, make sure that you have the following:

An Amazon S3 account with at least one bucket created
An access key and secret key with access to your S3 bucket
A CentOS or Fedora system with root access
S3FS installed on your system

Here’s the step-by-step guide to mounting an Amazon S3 bucket on a CentOS or Fedora system using S3FS:

Step 1: Remove Existing Packages

First, check if you have any existing s3fs or fuse packages installed on your system. If installed already remove it to avoid any file conflicts.

yum remove fuse fuse-s3fs

Step 2: Install Required Packages

After removing packages. First, we will install all the dependencies for fuse and s3cmd. Install the required packages to the system using the following command.

yum install gcc libstdc++-devel gcc-c++ curl-devel libxml2-devel openssl-devel mailcap

Step 3: Download and Compile Fuse

Download and compile latest version of fuse source code. For this article, we are using fuse version 3.13. Following the set of commands will compile the fuse and add the fuse module to the kernel.

Downlaod fuse source code:

cd /usr/src/ 
wget https://github.com/libfuse/libfuse/releases/download/fuse-3.13.0/fuse-3.13.0.tar.xz

Extract the archive file

tar Jxf fuse-3.13.0.tar.xz 
cd fuse-3.13.0

Configure the source code and compile it.

./configure --prefix=/usr/local 
make && make install

Set the environment variable and enable the fuse module.

export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig 
ldconfig 
modprobe fuse

Step 4: Download and Compile Latest S3FS

Download and compile latest version of s3fs source code. For this article, we are using s3fs version 1.74. After downloading extract the archive and compile the source code in the system.

Download the source code from the git repository.

cd /usr/src/ 
git clone https://github.com/s3fs-fuse/s3fs-fuse.git

Configure the source code

cd s3fs-fuse 
./autogen.sh 
./configure

Compile and install s3fs
```
make && make install 
```

Step 5: Create Credentials File

Also In order to configure s3fs, we would require an Access Key and Secret Key of your S3 Amazon account. Get these security keys from Here.

Create a password file to store your access and secret keys:

echo AWS_ACCESS_KEY:AWS_SECRET_KEY > ~/.passwd-s3fs 
chmod 600 ~/.passwd-s3fs

Note: Change AWS_ACCESS_KEY and AWS_SECRET_KEY with your actual Amazon S3 access and secret keys. This file stores your access and secret keys securely, and the permissions are set to prevent unauthorized access.

Step 6: Mount S3 Bucket

Create a directory to mount the S3 bucket:

mkdir /tmp/cache /s3-mount

This creates a directory where the S3 bucket will be mounted. You can choose a different directory name as desired.

Modify the permissions for the mount directory:

chmod 777 /tmp/cache /s3-mount

This sets the permissions for the mount directory to allow read/write access for all users.

s3fs -o use_cache=/tmp/cache BUCKET_NAME /s3-mount

Replace BUCKET_NAME with the actual name of your Amazon S3 bucket. This command mounts the S3 bucket at the specified mount directory.

Step 7: Verify Mount

The df command displays the disk usage and mounted file systems on your system. If the S3 bucket is successfully mounted, you should see the mount directory listed with its corresponding S3 bucket name.

df -h

That’s it! You have now successfully mounted an Amazon S3 bucket on your CentOS or Fedora system using S3FS. You can now access and manipulate the data in your S3 bucket as if it were stored on a local file system.

Conclusion

In conclusion, mounting an Amazon S3 bucket on a CentOS or Fedora system using S3FS is a simple and effective way to access your S3 data. With S3FS, you can easily access and manipulate your S3 data as if it were stored on a local file system, making it easier to work with your S3 data in your CentOS or Fedora environment.

39 Comments

Cristian on May 4, 2021 1:42 pm
cd fuse-3.1.0 Not exist ( just fuse-3.5.0)
[root@localhost fuse-3.5.0]# ./configure –prefix=/usr/local
-bash: ./configure: No such file or directory
Reply
donnyO on August 19, 2020 6:01 pm
any idea how to mount local S3 (not on AWS) created on PURE storage. I got the bucket name, Bucket Endpoint, Bucket Access Key and bucket Secret Access Key .
Reply
Herb Gilliland on December 9, 2019 3:40 pm
They use meson/ninja now, not make && make install nor ./configure
Reply
Deepak Kumar on April 14, 2019 8:47 am
I’m got error :
s3fs: HTTP: 403 Forbidden – it is likely that your credentials are invalid
are you have solved ??
Reply
jj on March 3, 2019 2:58 am
Can be compatible with the cheap wasabi.com instead of amazon s3?
Thank you.
Reply
Lau Seng Khung on January 19, 2018 3:55 am
Steps 4
./configure <== this will fail because there is no configure file
Reply
- Ronald on October 16, 2019 11:47 am
  Do you have a solution for this problem? Run into the same problem.
  regards Ronald
  Reply
- Yousef on October 28, 2019 2:13 pm
  Same here!
  Reply
Arkadiusz on December 28, 2016 7:59 am
On Ubuntu steps 1-4 can be replaced with one command:
sudo apt-get install s3fs
Do this instead of steps 1-4 and continue from step 5. It works – tested.
Reply
Thijs on October 25, 2016 10:33 am
Do NOT use fuse3* but stick to a fuse 2*, otherwise you will not be able to install s3fs.
Reply
Arunkumar on September 14, 2016 7:09 am
I am getting below error.
fuse: warning: library too old, some operations may not not work
# rpm -qa | grep fuse
libconfuse-2.7-4.el6.x86_64
fuse-libs-2.8.3-5.el6.x86_64
#
though latest package is not available in Yum repo. please suggest
Reply
Khan on June 18, 2016 10:09 pm
Hello, i followed your guide (on Ubuntu 14.04, Bitnami – EC2 ) , i am getting following error at “make”
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.8/../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/libcurl.so: undefined reference to `ldap_sasl_bind@OPENLDAP_2.4_2′
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.8/../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/libcurl.so: undefined reference to `ldap_get_dn_ber@OPENLDAP_2.4_2′
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.8/../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/libcurl.so: undefined reference to `ber_sockbuf_add_io@OPENLDAP_2.4_2′
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.8/../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/libcurl.so: undefined reference to `ldap_unbind_ext@OPENLDAP_2.4_2′
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.8/../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/libcurl.so: undefined reference to `ldap_get_attribute_ber@OPENLDAP_2.4_2′
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.8/../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/libcurl.so: undefined reference to `ldap_parse_result@OPENLDAP_2.4_2′
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.8/../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/libcurl.so: undefined reference to `ldap_set_option@OPENLDAP_2.4_2′
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.8/../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/libcurl.so: undefined reference to `ldap_abandon_ext@OPENLDAP_2.4_2′
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.8/../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/libcurl.so: undefined reference to `ldap_msgfree@OPENLDAP_2.4_2′
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.8/../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/libcurl.so: undefined reference to `ldap_result@OPENLDAP_2.4_2′
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.8/../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/libcurl.so: undefined reference to `ldap_search_ext@OPENLDAP_2.4_2′
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.8/../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/libcurl.so: undefined reference to `ldap_get_option@OPENLDAP_2.4_2′
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.8/../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/libcurl.so: undefined reference to `ber_memfree@OPENLDAP_2.4_2′
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.8/../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/libcurl.so: undefined reference to `ldap_memfree@OPENLDAP_2.4_2′
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.8/../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/libcurl.so: undefined reference to `ldap_pvt_url_scheme2proto@OPENLDAP_2.4_2′
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.8/../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/libcurl.so: undefined reference to `ldap_next_message@OPENLDAP_2.4_2′
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.8/../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/libcurl.so: undefined reference to `ber_free@OPENLDAP_2.4_2′
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.8/../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/libcurl.so: undefined reference to `ldap_err2string@OPENLDAP_2.4_2′
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.8/../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/libcurl.so: undefined reference to `ldap_init_fd@OPENLDAP_2.4_2′
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.8/../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/libcurl.so: undefined reference to `ldap_msgtype@OPENLDAP_2.4_2′
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.8/../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/libcurl.so: undefined reference to `ldap_free_urldesc@OPENLDAP_2.4_2′
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.8/../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/libcurl.so: undefined reference to `ldap_url_parse@OPENLDAP_2.4_2′
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.8/../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/libcurl.so: undefined reference to `ldap_first_message@OPENLDAP_2.4_2′
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
make[2]: *** [s3fs] Error 1
make[2]: Leaving directory `/tmp/s3fs-fuse-1.80/src’
make[1]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory `/tmp/s3fs-fuse-1.80′
make: *** [all] Error 2
Reply
Abu Kamal on April 19, 2016 5:04 am
use this if you get “bash: s3fs: command not found”
sudo /usr/local/bin/s3fs -o use_cache=/tmp/cache mydbbackup /s3mnt
Reply
Tom Fazakas on April 14, 2016 1:05 pm
Those of you having an error on CentOS: s3fs: error while loading shared libraries: libfuse.so.2: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
yum install fuse-libs
Reply
James on February 27, 2016 12:22 pm
Great article! Worked a treat….
only issue was my library path required updating as when I ran s3fs it couldn’t find the fuse dependancies.
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
That did the trick 🙂
Reply
Bhavesh on May 6, 2015 8:17 am
Hi..
i have mounted s3 sucessfully , but when i try to “cd ” to mounted dirs it says “operation not permitted”
cd: app_logs/: Operation not permitted
below is permission for dir
d———. 1 root root 1 May 6 2015 app_logs
below command used
s3fs -o use_cache=/tmp/cache s3bukcket /s3mnt
what permission i need to set for bucket or bucket folder ?
am i writing wrong command for mount?
Reply
Mehul on March 31, 2015 11:16 am
Hi Rahul,
Can you please share the steps to mount Amazon S3 bucket on windows OS for both 2008 & 2012?
Thanks & Regards,
Mehul
Reply
Mukta on December 26, 2014 12:08 pm
Thanks! This was quite helpful.
You can take a look at the docker image which I built, with S3FS and S3 bucket mounting capabilities:
https://registry.hub.docker.com/u/ihealthtechnologies/s3-mount/
Reply
David on December 23, 2014 2:37 pm
Hi all, I’m receiving the following error after trying to mount the bucker:
# s3fs -o user_cache=/tmp/cache lehar-backup /s3mnt
s3fs: /lib/libfuse.so.2: version `FUSE_2.8′ not found (required by s3fs)
I downloaded fuse 2.8 and compiled it per the instructions however if there is something I’m missing I’d love to know what that is. Let me know what information you might need. Thanks for any help you can provide.
~Dave
Reply
Srikanth on December 23, 2014 11:07 am
My disk is full after mount and not able to use the system. Ideally it should not take disk space.
How can i resolve the issue?
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/xvda1 10321208 10297608 0 100% /
none 847476 0 847476 0% /dev/shm
s3fs 274877906944 0 274877906944 0% /s3mnt
Reply
Raju on December 17, 2014 11:38 am
I’m got error :
s3fs: HTTP: 403 Forbidden – it is likely that your credentials are invalid
are you have solved ??
Reply
manoj on December 11, 2014 4:08 pm
I am getting error:
s3fs: unable to access MOUNTPOINT storingfiles1: No such file or directory
Reply
Murthi on November 28, 2014 7:08 am
Hi Team,
Very good it working fine in my ubuntu system
Reply
Anonimo on October 28, 2014 4:52 pm
So far so good but I get this error:
[root@ip-192-168-4-184 s3fs-1.74]# s3fs -o use_cache=/tmp/cache agarta /etc/httpd/imagestore/
bash: s3fs: command not found
any idea on how to resolve this?
Reply
Vineshkumar on August 22, 2014 5:24 am
Hi Rahul,
Thanks for the tutorial. All worked fine, except this messsage – Transport endpoint is not connected. Unmounted and mounted again using the link you shared in comments. I am using s3fs to connect to Google Cloud Storage.
Kindly share some pointers or might be issue with the permission level mentioned above.
Reply
Bruno on August 13, 2014 1:32 am
Willian
do it:
# vim /etc/ld.so.conf
/usr/local/lib
include ld.so.conf.d/*.conf
# ldconfig
# s3fs -o use_cache=/tmp/cache ****.******.*** /s3mnt
Reply
Bruno on August 12, 2014 11:26 pm
s3fs: error while loading shared libraries: libfuse.so.2: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Reply
William on August 1, 2014 8:57 pm
I have a problem, can you helpme?
[root@*********** s3fs-1.74]# s3fs -o use_cache=/tmp/cache ****.******.*** /s3mnt
s3fs: error while loading shared libraries: libfuse.so.2: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Reply
- kautilya on August 21, 2014 8:05 am
  hi
  install fuse-libs and it should solve your issue… it did in my case…
  sudo yum install fuse-libs
  hope that helps
  thanks
  Reply
  - Damien on August 5, 2015 1:40 pm
    yes, you could add this in the tutorial ! it solved it in my case too. Thanks
    Reply
  - ila on July 19, 2016 11:03 am
    thanks!
    Reply
bo on June 23, 2014 11:20 pm
Followed this tutorial – doesn’t work:
root@ip-10-0-0-188:/home/ubuntu# ls /s3mnt
ls: cannot access /s3mnt: Transport endpoint is not connected
root@ip-10-0-0-188:/home/ubuntu#
Reply
- Rahul on June 24, 2014 3:10 am
  Hi,
  Try to umount and mount s3bucket again and wait for few time to sync. Also visit this link.
  Reply
  - bo on June 24, 2014 5:05 pm
    The problem was permissions on S3 bucket. Maybe you could add some recommendations on this subject? It would make your article more complete.
    Thank you
    Reply
    - Rahul on June 26, 2014 3:12 am
      Hi bo,
      We would be thankful for your contributions and make the article more useful for users.
      We will also check for the permission problems.
      Reply
      - bo on July 3, 2014 9:37 pm
        I would also add info on automatic mounting the s3 bucket. Something like editing /etc/fdtab to add
        s3fs#bucketname mountpath fuse allow_other,_netdev,nosuid,nodev,url=https://s3.amazonaws.com 0 0
        Reply
      - Anil A on January 5, 2015 1:27 am
        I have followed the tutorial and get to the state of “Transport endpoint is not connected”. Any updates on what permissions need to be set on S3 bucket?
        Reply
        
        Chad on October 17, 2017 3:14 pm
        I had to add -o allow_other to the command line to get it to work fully.
Rogerio on May 27, 2014 10:31 pm
and about fstab?
How can I put cache dir
Reply