---
title: "Connect to a bucket with the MinIO CLI or s3cmd"
description: "Set up the MinIO CLI or s3cmd for a TIR Object Storage bucket with the ready-made commands on the Setup tab, and copy a folder into the bucket."
content_type: "how-to"
product: "tir-object-storage"
platform: "TIR"
url: "/tir/tir-object-storage/how-to/connect-to-a-bucket-with-an-s3-tool/"
topic: ["create-and-connect"]
---

# Connect to a bucket with the MinIO CLI or s3cmd

Connect the MinIO CLI (`mc`) or `s3cmd` to a bucket from your own machine or from an instance. Any
S3-compatible tool works against a bucket, and the portal recommends the MinIO CLI.

## Before you begin

- A bucket; see [Create a bucket](/tir/tir-object-storage/how-to/create-a-bucket/).
- Permission to read datasets in the project. A Member gets it through a policy that allows reading datasets. With it, you can open the bucket's **Setup** tab.

## Open the Setup tab

In TIR, open your project. In the side menu, under **Storage**, select **Object Storage (EOS
Dataset)**, then select the row of the bucket. The **Setup** tab opens first. It says "Configure EOS
Bucket to upload data", and it has two sections, **Setup Minio CLI** and **Setup s3cmd**. Each has
ready-to-paste text with this bucket's endpoint and keys filled in. The secret key is written out in
full, so keep what you copy to yourself.

## Set up the MinIO CLI

The **Setup Minio CLI** section lists, in order:

1. Install `mc`, with tabs for **macOS**, **Linux**, and **Using Windows**.
2. Check the version.
3. Update `mc`.
4. **Setup Host**, which saves the bucket's endpoint and keys under a name of your choice.
5. **Copy Folder to Bucket**, which copies a local folder into the bucket.

The two commands have this shape. Replace each placeholder with the value the portal prints:

```bash
mc alias set <host name> <endpoint> <access key> <secret key>
mc cp -r $LOCAL_FOLDER_NAME <host name>/<bucket name>
```

The portal fills in the bucket's alias as the name in **Setup Host**. That name is only a nickname
that `mc` saves on your computer for this endpoint and key pair, so you can choose any name you
like.

An older `mc`, from before release RELEASE.2025-05-21T01-59-54Z, uses this command in place of
`mc alias set`. The **macOS** tab shows a note about it:

```bash
mc config host add <host name> <endpoint> <access key> <secret key>
```

## Set up s3cmd

The **Setup s3cmd** section gives the settings for your `s3cmd` configuration file. The endpoint goes
in both the host and the bucket-host lines, and your keys go in the key lines. The connection uses
HTTPS.

```text
host_base = <endpoint>
host_bucket = <endpoint>
use_https = True
access_key = <access key>
secret_key = <secret key>
signature_v2 = False
```

To copy a folder and list the bucket with `s3cmd`, run these commands. `<bucket name>` is the bucket's
**Bucket Name**, and `./local-data/` is the folder on your machine:

```bash
s3cmd put -r ./local-data/ s3://<bucket name>/
s3cmd ls s3://<bucket name>/
```

## Check the connection

Copy a folder into the bucket with **Copy Folder to Bucket**, then open the **Data Objects** tab and
refresh the list. The uploaded files appear in the list. If they have yet to appear, list the bucket
with your S3 tool to confirm the upload finished.

Your S3 tool is now connected to the bucket. For large uploads, see
[Upload data to a bucket](/tir/tir-object-storage/how-to/upload-data-to-a-bucket/). If the tool
answers "Access Denied", see
[Troubleshooting TIR Object Storage](/tir/tir-object-storage/troubleshooting/tir-object-storage/).